Feb., 1912. Jade. 219 



jade; their fins are connected, and they are holding in their mouths 

 the leaved branch of a willow (liu), according to the Chinese explana- 

 tion. It should be added that, during the Han period, it was customary 

 to pluck a willow -branch (che liu, see Giles No. 550), and to offer it 

 to a parting friend who was escorted as far as the bridge Pa east of 

 Ch'ang-ngan where the branch of separation (kiiehl) was handed to the 

 departing friend. 1 The double fish is a pattern familiar to us on bronzes 

 of the Han period and symbolizes the mutual harmony between spouses 

 and friends. 2 The significance of this ornament is therefore simple 

 enough: we must part, but we shall remain friends as these two fishes 

 are inseparable. It reveals to us at the same time how the kiieh, so 

 formidable in the beginning with its message of absolute divorce, was 

 mitigated into a more kind-hearted attitude which made it acceptable 

 to all people, — it became a parting-gift, a farewell trinket. The date 

 of this piece is set at a period covering the Wei and Tsin dynasties, 

 i. e. roughly the third and fourth centuries a. d., but I have no doubt 

 that the pattern goes back to the creative period of the Han. 



Figure 119 displays a similar design of a pair of fishes, the same carving 

 being brought out on both faces. Also here, the editors explain the 

 plant design as that of a willow. The leaves are represented here on 

 the bodies behind the gills, and a leaf -shaped wreath (with the perfora- 

 tion of the ancient kiieh) appears between the lower fins. Another 

 diversity is that the tips of the tails here touch each other which seems 

 to hint at a more intimate union of the party concerned, while there is 

 a gap in the previous piece in correspondence with the break in the an- 

 cient half -ring. The editors, not un wittily, comment as follows: 

 "Wen-ti (535-551 a. d.), the Emperor of the Wei dynasty, presented 

 the belle, Sieh Ling-yun by name, 3 with a girdle-pendant of green jade 

 representing a double fish. Though it is not necessary to assume that 

 our specimen under consideration is identical with just that one of the 

 Wei, still its examination shows that it must be an object from that 

 period (535-554 a. d.)." 



The fish, as a symbol of power and rank, came into vogue with the 

 rise of the T'ang dynasty. In the year 618, the first year of the reign 

 of the Emperor Kao-tsu, the T'ang, doubtless for the reason of marking 

 the change of dynasty, abolished the silver badge having the shape of 

 a certain plant and substituted for it the silver tally of the form of a 



1 P£tillon, Allusions litteraires, p. 172. 



2 See Paul Carus, The Fish as a Mystic Symbol in China and Japan (The Open 

 Court, July, 191 1). 



3 She was the emperor's concubine and noted for her skill in accomplishing 

 marvels of needlework in the dark, hence styled the genius of the needle (P£tillon, 

 Allusions litteraires, p. 438). 



