232 Field Museum of Natural History — Anth., Vol. X. 



phenixes, and we shall soon perceive hereafter that also a deeper re- 

 ligious and philosophical idea is underlying this tendency. 



First of all, we are now able to recognize the general character of 

 these girdle-pendants: they are related to thoughts of friendship and 

 love, and in this sense, are closely joined to the ancient jewels of the 

 Chou period. But while they are expressive of the same range of 

 emotions, they differ from them in form and design, and this difference 

 was brought about by the tendency to lend a marked expression to 

 these emotional thoughts in the designs themselves. In other words, 

 the stiff and formal traditions of the Chou period were no longer suffi- 

 cient for the temperament of the people of the Han time who were 

 framed of a different mould. The girdle-ornaments of the Chou, as 

 we saw, were geometrical in shape, cut out in circles, half -circles, squares 

 and rectangles, in conformity with the whole geometric trend of mind 

 ruling at that time, which measured, surveyed and weighed everything; 

 the symbolism of these ornaments did not refer to their designs, but to 

 their designations only by way of a phonetic rebus, an esthetic pleasure 

 merely caught by the ear and eye, and a means of expression for poetry 

 only. But Art had to stand behind with empty hands. The Han 

 people broke with this spoken and written symbolism and created the 

 symbolism of the subject, giving, by so doing, a powerful impetus to the 

 development of art. They dropped all the nice words of their predeces- 

 sors, the kii, the kiu, the yii, the heng and the huang etc., and crystallized 

 their sentiments into the kiieh. In place of words, they enthroned the 

 artistic motive, and the sound of the verse was exchanged for an enliv- 

 ened rhythm of material form and line. They were, in fact, productive 

 creators, as we had occasion to admire in several types of Han ceramics 

 and, seeking forms for the expression of their emotions, their art became 

 essentially emotional and, as a consequence, the emotions instilled into 

 their productions of art must become our guides in attempting to 

 understand them. For this reason we must ransack all available 

 sources for tracing any real or alleged symbolism connected with them, 

 for this is the key to the treasury leading to the heart of their art, and 

 not only their art, but that of China in general whose ideals are still 

 based on and nourished by that memorable period. Neglecting or 

 disregarding the interpretations of the Chinese would not only result 

 in an absolute failure of a proper understanding and appreciation of 

 their art, but might also lead to such abortive caricatures as have un- 

 fortunately been drawn of China's culture-historical development. 



But to revert to our subject, — the girdle-pendant of the Chou was 

 the product of the impersonal and ethnical character of the art of that, 

 age; it was general and communistic, it applied to everybody in the 



