Feb., 1912. 



Jade. 



229 



The carving of a tiger in Fig. 135 is called "ornamented (/*/. embroi- 

 dered) tiger-spirit (siu hu shen), graceful and yet ferocious, severe and 

 yet majestic, with a flavor of the idea that he is the king of the animals, 



a Fig. 136. b 



Jade Girdle- Pendant, Upper and Lower Faces, Single Hydra (from Ku yii t'u P'u). 



a curious object of the San-tai." I am under the impression that this 

 design has been influenced by pictorial art (note the word siu) and may 

 be of mediaeval origin (T'ang or Sung). 



The following ornaments are arranged together in a separate chapter 

 (Ch. 65), and it will be seen that they are, with the exception of Fig. 137, 

 built up on the same principle as 

 we found in Fig. 122. The dragons 

 are, as the Ku yii t'u p'u says, laid 

 around the kiieh; in Fig. 136 it is a 

 single hydra, in Fig. 138 a couple 

 of hydras engaged in "loveplay" 

 (kiao hi), with teeth and claws 

 "true to nature," while the finesse 

 of detail is extolled in Fig. 136 and 

 "the admirable life's motion" is 

 emphasized in the coiled hydra 

 of Fig. 137. All three are beyond 

 cavil productions of the Han period. 



The carvings in Figs. 13 9-1 41 represent fine variations of the same 

 motive. The editors justly become enthusiastic over the beauty of 

 these little artworks. The one in Fig. 139, carved out of a pale blue 

 jade, — the two hydras as gentle and genial creatures gracefully playing 

 around the upper and lower edges of the oval ring, — is defined as a 



Fig. 137. 



Jade Girdle-Pendant, Coiled Hydra 



(from Ku y& t'u p'u). 



