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



4. Jade Clasps 



In the Ku yii t'u p'u (Ch. 59) a number of jade ornaments are 

 illustrated, rectangular in shape, and with a long loop, rectangular in 

 section, attached to the back (Fig. 161); these are interpreted as wet, 

 i. e. as decorations placed on the top of .a sword-scabbard to fasten it 

 to the girdle by this means. It is not difficult to see that this mode 

 of use is impossible, and that this explanation, also given in the Ku yii 

 t'u (Ch. 2, p. 9), is erroneous. Wu Ta-ch'eng has not failed to correct 

 this mistake in his book, and to define these objects justly as plain 

 girdle-clasps (suei, Giles No. 10407). But even without this authori- 

 zation of a competent Chinese critic, commonsense could lead us to no 

 other result. The word suei is very old and occurs as early as in the 

 Shi king; 1 it is defined in the Erh ya, but not in the Shuo wen. Wu is 

 presumably also right in making out that this clasp was employed in 

 connection with leather belts which passed through the loop on the back, 

 — I suppose in such a way that the end of the belt was drawn througl 

 the loop and then tightly sewed on in a seam running parallel with the 

 long side of the loop. The clasp was accordingly closely attached tc 

 this end of the belt and remained in the centre hanging down in a verticz 

 position ; while the other end of the belt was fastened, probably by mear 

 of metal hooks, to the upper and lower ends of the clasp curved inwarc 

 and grooved. 2 Or, it could be imagined that to this end of the belt 

 two metal plaques were attached by means of hinges, one above, the 

 other below, corresponding in size to the spaces above and below the 

 loop on the clasp, and that these plaques were slipped in there and helc 

 between the grooves. At all events, this can be supposed only, 

 there is no account extant illustrating the mode of wesr. Certain it 

 is — and also Wu expressly insists on it — that these clasps were woi 

 pendent in a vertical position as they are here reproduced. This is 

 evidenced by the loop and further by the way in which the ornaments 

 are arranged; note the animal-heads on the top looking downward 01 

 Plate XXXIII. 



The most interesting point with reference to these clasps is that the) 



1 Legge, Vol. II, p. 355. Legge missed the right meaning of the word by trans- 

 lating: "If we give them long girdle-pendants with their stones, they do not thinl 

 them long enough," which does not make sense. The meaning is, if we give there 

 long-shaped jade clasps for their girdles, they find fault with them as to the length of 

 their loops, since indeed this clasp was useless, unless it fitted the belt. Couvreub 

 (p. 265) has the same mistranslation. Giles: jewels or ornaments hung at the girdle 



2 In one specimen delineated in the Ku yii t'u (Ch. 2, p. 12 a) the upper and lower 

 ends are provided with angular projections to which it would have been possible to 

 fasten the belt by means of cord or hooks. 



