186 Field Museum of Natural History — Anth., Vol. X. 



5. Jade Images of the Dragon 



The dragon, in intimate connection with the growth of vegetation, 

 appears as a deity symbolic of fertile rain, of rain-sending clouds, of 

 thunder and lightning; it is therefore invoked in times of drought with 

 prayers for rain. A carving of jade, cut out in the shape of a dragon 

 is (in this case) placed on the altar. 1 This object is called lung (Giles 

 No. 7491), 2 the character being composed of the classifier yii (jade) 

 and the complement lung (dragon). It seems that such offerings of 



Fig. 91. 

 Jade Carving of Dragon used in Prayers for Rain. 



dragon-figures carved from jade come into existence as late as the Han 

 period; they are not made mention of in the Chou li or in the Li ki. 



Wu Ta-ch'eng has figured three pieces of this type here reproduced 

 in Figs. 91-93. The first, made of white jade with black stripes, is 

 shaped in a half -circle, the centre of which is occupied by a trapezoidal 

 escutcheon-like medallion overlapping the ring; it is filled with designs 

 known under the name "sleeping silkworm cocoons" doubled up, in 

 five rows containing 7, 6, 5, 4 and 3 of them. From this centre-piece 

 two dragon-heads spring forth, their faces turned towards each other; 



1 The source for this statement is the dictionary Shuo win: "The lung (dragon- 

 shaped jade) is the jade for prayer on behalf of a drought; it has the form of a dragon, 

 and a jade designed with this motive has also the dragon's voice." Hence the 

 phrase ling lung denotes the tinkling of jade. In earliest times, prayers for rain 

 were addressed to Shen-nung, the father of husbandry (Legge, Shi king, Vol. II, 

 P- 378). 



2 The definition given of this word in Prof. Giles's Dictionary is perfectly correct, 

 while that given by Couvreur (Dictionnaire de la langue chinoise classique, p. 588) 

 "tablet bearing the figure of a dragon and serving to demand the cessation of rain" 

 is erroneous. 



