Feb., 1912. Jade.. 211 



a man to the frontier, and the exiled K'ii-yuan, the celebrated poet of 

 the elegies Li-sao, according to Conrady, wore such an ornament 

 in his girdle. 1 But as kiieh means also to decide, the wearer of this 

 ring intended to indicate his ability to decide all sorts of intricate 

 questions and problems; according to Chuang-tse the scholars used to 

 wear such a ring in his time. 



Pan Ku, the author of the Pat hu Vung whom we quoted above 

 in regard to the professional symbolism of girdle-pendants, makes the 

 following remarks on the rings and half-rings: 



"The objects which are to be worn suspended from the girdle 

 make known one's intentions and display one's abilities. Hence he 

 who cultivates moral conduct (tao "the way" in the sense of the Con- 

 fucian school) without end, wears a ring. He who makes reason and 

 virtue (tao teh in the sense of Lao-tse) the foundation of his conduct, 

 wears the jewels kun. 2 He who is able to decide (kiieh) questions of 

 aversion and doubt, wears a half -ring (kiieh). This means that from 

 the kind of visible girdle-ornaments which a man wears an inference 

 on his abilities can be drawn." 



The Ku yii Vu p*u (Chs. 55 and 56) contains the following seven 

 girdle-rings (Figs. 110-116). Figure no is a ring decorated with "con- 

 nected clouds" as they occur on the Ju-i sceptres (Plate LXVIII); 

 a ring of this design was apparently given as a present implying every 

 good wish (ju i). The design in Fig. in is the same, but treated in 

 another technique, the whole being carved in open-work (lou k'ung). 

 Both rings are made pre-Han. Figure 112 is designated as a girdle-ring 

 with "coiled clouds" and attributed to the Han period. Figure 113 

 shows a coiled phenix of which it is said "that feathers, wings, crest 

 and beak are filled with life's motion (sheng lung) like in painting (or 



1 1 cannot find this passage in the Li-sao. In stanza 21, K'u Yuan mentions that 

 he wore a belt consisting of two aromatic plants symbolic of moral qualities (d'Her- 

 vey de Saint^Denys, Le Li-Sao, p. 15). In another stanza, he plucks a branch of 

 the fabulous tree k'iung (Mayers, Chinese Reader's Manual, p. 99) to enrich his 

 belt (/. c, p. 39). He further alludes to the honorary decorations conferred upon 

 him to wear in the girdle, in remembrance of his former high position (p. 20), and 

 if he asks himself whether his girdle will be again ornamented (p. 21), he hints at 

 the hope of future splendor. The fragrant girdle is to K'u Yuan the emblem of 

 his virtues and merits (p. 58). — As we have popular traditions of gold and pearls 

 foreshadowing calamities, gold and jade may also in China augur bad luck. Hiao- 

 Ch'£ng, king of Chao (b. c. 265-245), had an extraordinary dream in B. c. 262; he 

 saw himself clad in a costume the two halves of which cut lengthwise on the back 

 showed two different colors; in this garb, he mounted a chariot drawn by dragons 

 taking their flight towards Heaven; but he soon fell from the clouds to land on a 

 heap of gold and jade. The interpretation of this dream by the soothsayer was as 

 follows: the grotesque costume foreshadows distress; the flight towards Heaven and 

 the fall indicate a deceitful phantom void of reality; and the hillock of gold and jade 

 announces great grief (A. Tschepe, Histoire du royaume de Han, p. 135). 



2 Giles No. 6521 "a precious stone resembling a pearl." I do not know on what 

 foundation this symbolism rests. 



