298 Field Museum or Natural History — Anth., Vol. X. 



mourning, ascended the hall by the steps on the western side, and 

 kneeling, his face turned to the west, he took the jade ring. Then he 

 descended the same western steps, going in an eastward direction. " 

 The mouth-jade was, accordingly, presented with rules of strict formal- 

 ity, and it is obvious from this passage that it could be presented even 

 after the funeral had taken place without serving its purpose proper, 

 and that also then the mourner was obliged to accept it; he doubtless 

 kept it, but in what way, and to what end, is unknown. In a similar 

 manner, also messengers with clothes to adorn the corpse, and others 

 with the gift of a carriage and horses were despatched, communicating 

 their messages in the same style as previously, the whole procedure 

 being identical (Tsa ki II, 32, 33). But it is noteworthy that the bearer 

 with the present of a chariot and a team of four yellow horses made his 

 report by holding in his hands the jade tablet kuei which he afterwards 

 deposited in the south-east corner of the coffin, whence the adjutant 

 took it up to leave it for safe-keeping in a building situated in an easterly 

 direction. It is further worth mentioning that it was the adjutant, 

 a high official in immediate attendance of the prince, who cared for the 

 jade ring pi and the jade tablet kuei, while his assistants took charge of 

 the garments and the other gifts. A higher value was therefore at- 

 tached to those. It is not expressly stated that the tablet kuei was 

 intended for burial too, but since it was included among the objects 

 given for this purpose, there is reason to believe that it was, and this 

 conclusion would furnish a good explanation for the fact that such tab- 

 lets have been found in tombs. On the other hand, it is clear from the 

 accounts of the Li ki that the tablet is not a han yii, "a mouth-jade," 

 but is distinct fiom it, moving on another line of thought. It had no 

 reference to the body of the dead, but was a mark of honor bestowed on 

 him. 



Such were the customs of the feudal lords with one another, the 

 offering of condolences, mouth-jade, grave-clothes, and chariots, and 

 all this had to be accomplished on one and the same day, in the order 

 prescribed (Tsa ki IV, 14). 



A curious instance of an alleged or allegorical use of the mouth-jade 

 in the case of live persons is narrated in the history of the kingdom of 

 Wu, when King Fu Ch'ai (b. c. 494-472) joined the duke of Lu to attack 

 the principality of Ts'i. At the point of giving battle, General Kung- 

 sun Hia ordered his soldiers to chant funeral songs; another general 

 requested his men to take into the mouth a piece of jade as used for a 

 corpse, while still another bade his men carry a rope eight feet long to 

 fetter the soldiers of Wu (A. Tschepe, Histoire du royaume de Ou, 

 p. 1 2 1) . It can hardly be surmised that the second clause is to be taken 





