Feb., 1912. Jade. 201 



(No. 3912) " crosswise, horizontal" meaning also several objects 

 placed in such a position as the yoke of a draught animal, horse or ox, 

 the beam of a balance or steel-yard, and even the space between the 

 eyebrows. The name for the ornament would therefore imply that 

 it is placed transversely to serve as support to the six pendulous jewels. 

 An ancient commentator remarks that it resembles in shape the res- 

 onant stone k'ing, but is smaller than this one. Wu has succeeded 

 in identifying several specimens with this head-piece. The first of 

 these is shown in Fig. 96, made of white jade with russet spots; the 

 second in Fig. 97, of green jade with black veins, defined as ts'ung 

 heng ''onion head-piece" in allusion to a passage in the Shi king 1 

 where this phrase occurs. The word "onion" ceitainly refers to the 

 peculiar green tinge of the jade, and Bushell (in Bishop, Vol. I, p. 26) 

 correctly explains that the simile relates to the color of the young 

 sprouts, not to the bulb of the onion, the name corresponding to our 

 "grass green." 2 It will be seen that these two pieces are perforated 

 in the extreme ends for purposes of suspension. That in Fig. 98, 

 likewise "onion-green," has two perforations in one end and one in 

 the other. These three objects are plain, while that in Fig. 99 is 

 decorated, the two hanging tips terminating in dragon-heads; it is of 

 white jade spotted all over with red patches except the two dragon- 

 heads which are pure-white. 



In connection with the head-piece we deal also with the lower side- 

 pieces of the girdle-pendant, because they much resemble the top- 

 piece, as may be gathered from Fig. 100. In Fig. 101, an ornamented 

 piece of this type in green jade is shown, displaying two dragons with 

 bodies intertwined. A Chinese commentator remarks that, if the two 

 pieces forming a pair are placed together, they make the perforated 

 disk called pi, and maybe this ornament has originated in this way 

 by cutting a disk into halves, from a purely technical viewpoint. 

 It will be seen that it is somewhat difficult to distinguish between 

 the head-piece and these lower side-pieces, particularly when they are 

 undecorated. It seems that the only real difference between the two, 

 in the latter case, lies in their dimensions, the head-piece being of 

 larger size. A specimen in our collection may be identified with 

 one of these types. 



The objects united on Plate XXVIII are all burial jades of the 

 Han period, not amulets, however, to preserve the body from decay, 

 but personal ornaments of the dead, ornaments which a person had 



1 Siao ya, Tung kung, IV, 2 (Legge, Vol. II, p. 286; ed. Couvreur, p. 205). 



2 Wu Ta-ch'eng explains this color by the two words ts'ang tsui "sky-blue and 

 kingfisher-blue." 



