Feb., 191 2. Jade. 303 



milk-white jade was used (Plate XXXVIII, Figs. 1 a and 1 b), pointed 

 and perforated at both ends, the silk cords having presumably been 

 tied all around the face and head. The two pieces constituting a pair 

 — the only instance to my knowledge of a pair ever found — are plain, 

 flat on the under side, and convex or arched over the surface. Their 

 present designation is ya yen-king ("pressing the eyes")- The object 

 in Fig. 3 of the same Plate carved from grayish jade with a chalk-white 

 clayish mass spread in the lower section, which the Chinese wrongly 

 attribute to the presence of mercury, served the same purpose and is 

 evidently moulded in the shape of a fish, as indicated by the lines 

 setting off the head; on the back, the same ornamentation is shown, 

 except that, in place of one spiral, two are engraved side by side. This 

 piece is flat on both sides with a uniform thickness of 2 mm. 



The fish as an object covering the eye of the dead may be interpreted 

 as the symbol of watchfulness. 1 Never closing its eyes, it is constantly 

 wakeful. A padlock, protecting from thieves, is called a "fish -eye" 

 (Petillon, p. 497). The night rattle used in Buddhist monasteries is 

 carved from wood in the shape of a carp (mu li, "wooden carp "). The 

 "wooden fish" in the Buddhist temples is well known, and Pischel 

 (Der Ursprung des christlichen Fischsymbols, p. 24) is quite right in 

 stating that the Chinese explanation furnished to him by Dr. Franke 

 from the Chi yen 2 does not agree with the Indian way of thinking ; 

 certainly because this idea is Chinese, and not Indian. Whether in 

 Fig. 2 a fish is intended, I cannot assert positively; on the reverse, an 

 eye is indicated by an engraved circle. Nor do I feel certain of iden- 

 tifying this object with an eye-amulet, though this is the Chinese ex- 

 planation given me. It mainly deviates from the others of its kind in 

 having a perforation only on one side in the extreme right tip drilled 

 vertically through the lateral edges (not as in the others from top to 

 bottom), which would warrant the conclusion that it was rather used 

 as a girdle-pendant. 



The amulets represented in Figs. 4-7 of the same Plate XXXVIII 

 were placed on the upper lip to cover and preserve the mustache (ya 

 hu-tse). They are curved in the shape of a half -circle, the two in 4 and 

 7 clearly imitating the form of a fish. The piece in 6 is plain, of a jade 



1 Compare the essay of Paul Carus, The Fish as a Mystic Symbol in China and 

 Japan, in the July Number of The Open Court, 191 1. 



2 The San ts'ai t'u hut and T'u shu tsi ch'eng have a different explanation as 

 follows: "The 'wooden fish' is carved from wood. It has the shape of a fish, and is 

 hollow. If one strikes its centre, it emits sounds. The Buddhist priests call it 

 'Jambuti.' It is a huge sea-fish which carries it. As it constantly feels an itching 

 sensation, its fins are excited, and mountains and countries are shaken by it. For 

 this reason they imitate its form and strike it, but this is merely idle talk. Nowadays 

 it aids the Buddhist priests in chanting their Sanskrit prayers, and all make use of 

 it." 



