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



pieces of a different type, shaped like nails or spikes with an ear in the 

 top (Fig. 1 60). There is nothing on record in regard to the shapes of 

 these earrings, and Wu simply makes a plausible guess, but one more 

 satisfactory indeed than the fancifully decorated figure invented by the 

 Chinese draughtsmen of later ages to supply an illustration of this 

 object (figured in Couvreur's Dictionnaire, p. 883). We see more and 

 more that the ornaments of the earliest times were plain and dignified, 



Fig. 160. 

 Jade Earrings. 



and that all the complicated pretentious designs are products of later 

 ages. Also the Ku yii t'u (Ch. 2, pp. 3 b and 4 a) offers two designs of 

 such earrings, the one heart-shaped, the other a short tube perforated 

 longitudinally. 



Instruments to scratch the head, worn by women are mentioned 

 as early as in the Shi king (Legge, Vol. I, p. 77). It was a rudimentary 

 comb, explains Legge, consisting of a single tooth, and is said therefore 

 to correspond to the modern comb. Being elegantly made of ivory, 

 it was worn in the hair as an ornament. Men wore the same implement 

 suspended from the girdle (Ibid., p. 164). A boar's tooth is still used 

 for this purpose, also among the Tibetans, and forms one of the five 

 articles of the chatelaine mentioned above, p. 203. There was certainly 

 a deep-felt necessity for this instrument in ancient times as nowadays. 1 



1 The ancient Chinese also scratched their heads when in perplexity, as seen from 

 a verse in the Shi king (Legge, Vol. I, p. 68). 



