Feb., 1912. Jade. 209 



the crane forming the handle gray-black; its beak and the cloud-orna- 

 ments on its left surrounding the sun-ball as indicated by the character 

 ji engraved in the circle are yellow; the fungus of immortality {ling 

 chili) on which the crane sets one of its feet, and the tip of its longest 

 tail-feather are again of the same gray-white color as the axehead. 

 The colors are by no means artificial, but natural in the stone, and it 

 is a source of astonishment how the artist planned the working out 

 of the rough stone into this harmonious arrangement of colors. The 

 agreement of its ornamentation with the large ornamental axes (p. 42) 

 will be noticed; the blade is brought out, but blunt. 



This design apparently expresses a wish by means of punning; the 

 word ling in the name of the fungus standing for another ling meaning 

 "duration of life," ji "the sun" meaning also "day," so that we can 

 read the sentence 7*' hao ling, "May your days be long like those of 

 the crane!" The crane, as well known, is a symbol of longevity (com- 

 pare Grube, Zur Pekinger Volkskunde, p. 95). 



Figure 4 of this Plate XXVIII represents a little masterpiece of 

 carving. Around an axehead with gracefully sloping blade, as nucleus, 

 two dragons are carved out in open work, the one of the type of a 

 hydra resting its head in relief on the surface of the axe and winding 

 its body elegantly around the edge, while the handle is formed by a 

 coiled dragon in hollowed-out carving, leaning on the end of the axe 

 and continued on the lower side in high undercut relief. The jade 

 is of a dark grayish-green gradually assuming in about the middle a 

 tinge of delicate light-brown, passing into a deep chocolate brown in 

 the handle. The harmonious proportion of all parts, the clever utiliza- 

 tion of the coloration in the stone and the fine execution of the carving 

 are equally worthy of admiration in these two pieces. 



In Fig. 3, we recognized the crane in connection with the fungus 

 of immortality as a symbol of longevity. In Fig. 5 reproduced in 

 the original size we meet with a girdle-pendant carved in the shape 

 of a double fungus with spiral ornaments engraved in the surface; 

 the jade is gray in the handle and upper zone and light-brown in the 

 lower portion. 



This fungus is a species of Agaric and considered a felicitous plant, 

 because it absorbs the vapors of the earth (see Bretschneider, Bot- 

 anicon Sinicum, Part II, p. 40 and Part III, p. 480). 



In the Li ki (ed. Couvreur, Vol. I, p. 643), it is mentioned as an 



edible plant. As a marvellous plant foreboding good luck, it first 



appeared under the Han dynasty in b. c. 109 when it sprouted in the 



1 imperial palace Kan-ts'uan. The emperor issued an edict announcing 



this phenomenon and proclaimed an amnesty in the empire except 



