July, 1913. Ncttes on Turquois, 53 



Standard Dictionary published in 1908 by the Commercial Press of 

 Shanghai (Vol. II, p. 1561) the word onyx translated by this very term 

 pi yii ^ (also by tai wen ma-nao, "streaky agate"), and I have no doubt 

 that also in ancient texts the word pi yii designates the onyx. Thus, 

 for example, in the account of Ta Ts'in given in the Wei Ho ^ where the 

 five-colored (that is, variegated) pi, in my opinion, is onyx; likewise 

 the pillars in the country of Fu-lin, as reported in the Kiu T'ang shu 

 (see above p. 27) were of onyx or se-se. In the older account of the 

 Wei Ho compiled prior to the year 429 a. d., the Chinese designation is 

 still retained, while in the epoch of the T'ang a preference was manifested 

 for the West-Asiatic name which was then transferred also to the home 

 product. In this manner, a plausible explanation may be found for 

 the occurrence of se-se on Chinese soil, for the use of this word with 

 reference to the Roman Orient, and particularly for the carvings 

 described in the traditions of the T'ang period and in the archaeological 

 works of the Sung d\aiasty, which could have indeed been made of 

 onyx, a stone material ranking next to jade in Chinese eyes.^ The 

 difficulty of research in this line is enhanced by our lack of knowledge of 

 the mineralogy of China, so that we are still deprived of a solid scientific 

 foundation for our studies. 



1 This is likewise the case in the German-Chinese Dictionary pubUshed by the 

 Catholic Missionaries of South-Shantung, p. 613 (Yen-chou £u, 1906). 



- HiRTH, China and the Roman Orient, pp. 73, 1 13. 



^ There are two references pertaining to Herat and Samarkand in a text of the 

 fifteenth century where the word se-se, without any doubt, signifies a building-stone. 

 In 1415 Ch'Sn Ch'eng returned to China from a journey through Central Asia which 

 had taken him through seventeen different countries. He published the information 

 gathered by him in a book entitled Shi si yii ki, "Record of an Embassy to the 

 Western Regions" (compare Ming shi, Ch. 332, and Bretschneider, China Review, 

 Vol. V, 1876, p. 314). The original seems to be lost, but extracts from it are quoted 

 in the Imperial Geography of the Ming Dynasty {Ta Ming i t'ung chi, edition of 

 1461). Under the heading of Herat {Ho-lie), Ch'en Ch'eng is cited as saying 

 (Ch. 89, fol. 23 b): • "They are fond of clean clothing which is white in color, and 

 which is exchanged for dark in case of mourning. The windows and walls of the 

 palace in which the ruler of this country lives are adorned with gold, silver, and se-se." 

 With reference to Samarkand the same author reports {ibid., fol. 22 b): "There are 

 many workmen there skilful in all handicrafts and clever in erecting palaces, build- 

 ings, gates, and pillars, with carvings in open work, and with windows connected by 

 se-se." Both turquois and balas ruby are out of the question in these two cases; it 

 is a building-stone, and most probably the onyx, which is here referred to. — As our 

 knowledge of ancient Chinese sculpture advances, we may hope to obtain several 

 exact definitions for the ancient names of stones, as in many of the votive inscriptions 

 engraved in the monuments the name of the stone is expressly stated (though most 

 frequently only the designation "stone image" is employed). The term yti shi 

 {lit. jade stone) mentioned by Pelliot {T'oung Pao, 1912, p. 435) is also well known 

 to me as occurring on Buddhist statuary of the Wei and T'ang periods, and it had 

 never been assumed by me that it has the meaning of jade; yii shi, as also Pelliot 

 says, means a jade-like stone, probably only a highly prized or valuable stone. The 

 term yii Fu {lit. jade Buddha) may have well been employed in the figurative sense 

 of "precious Buddha." The word se-se I have not yet traced in the inscription of 

 any sculpture, but it is possible that it will turn up some day or other. 



