Feb., 1912. Jade. 195 



way evil and depraved thoughts found no entrance into his mind. 

 Jade here appears as the embodiment of excellent qualities and in- 

 stilling virtue into the heart of its owner. 1 Its musical qualities caused 

 a joyful disposition, which may have led to the observance of laying 

 the pendants aside during the time of mourning, while otherwise 

 they were obligatory {Yii tsao III, 8). 



Special regulations were mapped out for the heir-apparent. "When 

 in the presence of his father, he was not allowed to let his girdle- jades 

 hang down freely nor to have them sound. Therefore, to prevent 

 this, he tied them together on his left side, while he wore on his right 

 side the usual instruments destined for the girdle. In his private 

 apartments, he allowed his girdle-ornaments to hang down as usually, 

 but at court, he tied them up. When an official purified himself by 

 fasting, he took the girdle-ornaments, but tied them up." {Yii tsao 

 III, 7.) 2 The tinkling of the jades as an occasion of joy had to give 

 way to the respect for the emperor, and during the religious act of 

 abstinence. In all other cases, it was a kind of moral obligation to 

 wear the girdle-jades, for "a gentleman, without special reason, never 

 took the jade off from his body, regarding it as emblematic of virtuous 

 qualities" {Ibid., Ill, 8 ). 



In a song of the Shi king (Legge, Vol. I, p. 102), a royal lady of the 

 house of Wei, married in another state, expresses a longing for her 

 former home and the scenes of her youth where she could freely ramble 

 with her companions, in elegant dress and happy chats. And she 

 remembers in her sorrow the girdle gems of her friends, how they 

 moved to their measured steps! In another song (Legge, Vol. I, 

 p. 198) in praise of a king, his subjects enjoy hearing the jades at his 

 girdle emit their tinkling, suggestive to them of wishing him long life. 

 The joy over the success of a victorious general is described by the 

 tinkling of the bells of his horses and the sounding of the gems of 

 his girdle-pendants (Legge, Vol. II, p. 286). 



It is not quite clear whether the jade pieces used for girdle-orna- 

 ments were strung on silk threads or sewed on to silk bands as applique 

 work. In the colors of the silk, 3 and in the kinds and qualities of jade 



1 In a song of the Shi king (Legge, Vol. I, p. 136) the beauty of a lady is praised 

 which is heightened by the fine gems of her girdle-pendant appearing as she moves in 

 her carriage. And the gems of her girdle-pendant tinkle. So far Legge. But I 

 understand the text in the sense that both the man and the lady Wear the tinkling 

 girdle-pendants, and that the last verse t& yin pu wang does not merely mean "his 

 virtuous fame is not to be forgotten." Tt yin is the voice of his virtue sounded by 

 his tinkling jades which those cannot forget who had occasion to hear them. 



I Legge's translation is here hardly correct, and I prefer to follow Couvreur. ■ 



I I omit the color-names of the silks, as they cannot be adequately translated. 

 Those who will compare Legge's and Couvreur's translations, will notice their 

 discrepancies in this regard. 





