July, 1913. Notes on Turquois. 63 



At the present time there are two distributing centers in China for 

 the trade in turquoises, — Peking commanding the market of MongoHa, 

 and Si-ngan fu controlHng the trade with Tibet. In Si-ngan fu there 

 may be a dozen traders engaged in the business. They are all settled 

 in the same street and work up the raw material in their own shops. 

 They produce beads and fiat stones (Plate VI, Fig. i) in any desired 

 dimensions, by grinding and polishing, and drill perforations through 

 them. The latter is an essential operation as Tibetans are averse to 

 accept any others (except the small beads to be set in rings or the 

 plaques for inlaying earrings and charm boxes). The first experiment 

 that a Tibetan will make with a turquois offered is to ascertain the 

 quality of the perforation by blowing or spitting through it, or by boring 

 it with a needle. If the experiment is unsuccessful, he will return it at 

 once. At Si-ngan the stones are sold by weight, prices ranging according 

 to quality from 5-8 Taels (about $3.50 to $5.60) a catty (i>^ pounds). 

 Exceptionally beautiful stones or very small and carefully polished 

 beads are sold as individual items only. Beads and stones are pur- 

 chased there by Chinese commercial travelers trading with Tibetans 

 and employed by them as a means of barter. Their example was duly 

 adopted, and a great many specimens were secured by me in Tibet in 

 exchange for turquoises. 



Of worked articles of the Chinese the quadrangular, flat stones 



(Plate VI, Fig. i) and the large beads for use in rosaries come first. 



Then there are fanciful carvings formed into the appearance of rocks 



(Plate VI, Figs. 2-4) or birds (Plate VII, Fig. i) destined to adorn the 



table of a Lama and to serve as paper-weights ; further, figures of animals 



like that of a tiger or a fish to be suspended as ornaments from a girdle 



(Plate VII, Figs. 3 and 4); snuff bottles (Fig. 2) skilfully hollowed out, 



and buttons (Fig. 5) with double edge cut into the petals of a flower to 



be sewed on to a cap, or a fillet worn by women. The image of carved 



turquois on Plate VII, Fig. 6, represents the Dhyanibuddha Amitabha, 



made in Peking. The twelve animals of the solar zodiac (Plate VIII) 



constituting a cycle of twelve years, each year being named for one 



animal, are each carved from turquois, of Peking workmanship; they 



represent rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse, sheep, monkey, 



cock, dog, pig or boar. Such sets are made for wealthy Mongols to 



facilitate the counting of years.' 



^ The carving of such sets is not a modern idea. It was practised as early as the 

 T'ang period when marble was listed for this purpose. A complete set of the animals 

 does not seem to have survived from that epoch, at least none has come to my notice; 

 but a certain number of single animals belonging to different sets, obtained by me in 

 Si-ngan fu, is in the collections of the Field Museum. A curious set carved from 

 nephrite is in the Bishop collection in New York (see Bishop, Investigations and 

 Studies in Jade, Vol. II, p. 241, No. 730); the representatives of the zodiac have hu- 



