Feb., 1912. Jade. 311 



has merely shaped, influenced and furthered the decorative composi- 

 tions as e. g. occurring in the modern Peking embroideries figured by 

 Grube. In the present case, it is quite obvious that the association of 

 the butterfly with a floral design rests on natural grounds, and was, at 

 least not originally, provoked by a mere desire of punning, which is the 

 product of a subsequent development. 



A very curious feature of this specimen is that the two upper large 

 plum-blossoms are carved out in loose movable rings turning in a deeply 

 hollowed groove but in such a way that they cannot be taken out, a 

 clever trick such as the later authors designate as "devil's work" (kuei 

 kung). This peculiarity certainly had also a significance with reference 

 to the mortuary character of the object. Such movable pieces are 

 designated by the Chinese as "living" (huo); so we have here two "liv- 

 ing" plum-blossoms in distinction from the two "dead" plum-blossoms 

 below, and the two former might have possibly conveyed some allusion 

 to a future life. 



The carving of the frog (Plate XLII, Fig. 2) has been mentioned 

 above p. 307. 



In the ancient jades and bronzes the human figure is conspicuously 

 absent. And the jade carving representing a human figure (Plate XLII, 

 Fig. 3) and ascribed to the Han period is the only exception of this kind. 

 This figure, carved from a milk-white and black jade, is treated in an 

 almost geometric style. It is flat (9 mm thick, 6.4 X 2.3 cm). An 

 old man with long pointed beard is apparently intended; he is wearing 

 a round cap elevated over the hind-part of the head. The eyes are 

 marked by two incisions, and the brows by two slight depressions 

 above them. The nose is not represented nor are the ears. The mouth 

 is a line incised. The head is sitting right on the shoulders without a 

 neck. There is no intention to outline a body; even arms and hands 

 entirely disappear under the long gown, the folds and borders of which 

 are marked by engraved lines. The feet are not represented, but the 

 figure terminates in a trapezoidal base, on which two half -circles are 

 incised. These represent the uppers of the shoes as seen from the front. 

 Exactly the same trapezoidal base is found in a certain type of archaic 

 mortuary clay figures of men where the uppers of the shoes stick out 

 from the surface just above the lower edge of the base. 



Nothing is known about the meaning of a figure like this one in the 

 grave, nor have I found as yet an allusion to this subject in a text of the 

 time of the Han dynasty. 



The only specimen of the Han period that could be regarded as an 

 independent work of plastic art is the carving of a reclining monster 

 shown on Plate XLIII. It is cut out of a solid piece of onion-green jade 



