Feb., 191 2. Jade. 199 



A. Conrady 1 has happily recognized in the two words kii and kiu 

 the foundation of a rebus: the former contains the word kii "to dwell, 

 to remain," the latter the word kiu "long." 2 The verses from the 

 Shi king prove that these stones were presented as tokens of a lasting 

 friendship: thus, the gift of the jewel kii may have implied the wish: 

 "May you remain my friend!" and that of the jewel kiu: "May we 

 long be friends!" This symbolism of the gem kiu is especially notice- 

 able in the pretty song "Hemp grows on the Hill" (Legge, Vol. I, 

 p. 122): a maiden is longingly awaiting the presence of her lover who 

 she imagines may be detained by another woman; she expects that 

 he will soon appear and present her with kiu stones for her girdle. 

 Here the desire for this very ornament is doubtless of symbolical 

 meaning too: she is longing for the long-stay- with -me stone. And 

 the gift of such a stone may have alluded also to lasting love. On 

 the other hand, the jewel kii seems to have alluded to the happy union 

 of two lovers possessing each other, as may be inferred from Song VII, 

 9 (Legge, Vol. I, p. 136) where the couple is driving in the carriage 

 (note the word Vung "together") and wearing the girdle-ornament kii 

 as emblem of their communion. 



We have no exact information in regard to the symbolism expressed 

 by the arrangement of the seven jewels in the girdle-pendant of the 

 Chou. But the names assigned to them allow of the conclusion that 

 they related also to the nature-cult prevalent in that period. The 

 name heng for the top-piece appears as yii heng "the regulator of jade" 

 for one of the stars in the Great Bear, or for the three stars forming 

 its tail (Schlegel, Uranographie chinoise, p. 503), and the word 

 huang for the lower side-piece is at the same time the designation for 

 the semicircular jade symbol under which the quarter of the North 

 was worshipped (p. 169). In short, the fundamental idea under- 

 lying this girdle-pendant seems to be associated with that cosmological 

 formula of six terms, the basic dogma of the Chou culture pervading 

 the official hierarchy, the astronomic and cosmic system, the sacrificial 

 rites, the religious beliefs and the interment of the dead. 3 



We shall now submit the single parts of the girdle-pendant to a 

 closer inspection. The head-piece is called htng (Giles No. 3910), 

 a word identical in sound with and supposed to be derived from heng 



1 In the preface to Stentz, Beitrage zur Volkskunde Sud-Schantung's, p. 10, and 

 China in Pflugk-Harttung's Weltgeschichte, p. 511. 



2 It should be remembered that the Chinese have a double enjoyment in these 

 puns, by the ear and by the eye; the written character conveys to the mind as much 

 of it as the sound. 



'Compare L. de Saussure, Les origines de l'astronomie chinoise (T'oung Pao, 

 1910, pp. 257 et seq.). 



