Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Ix. (1916), No. 1£. 29 



and would seem to suggest that it was through the 

 influence of these traders that the Chinese commenced to 

 fish for the pearls contained in the mussels of the local 

 rivers. 



About the 5th century B.C., Erythrean merchantmen 

 began to use Hang-tchou Bay as a calling station, in 

 addition to their earlier and more northern ports in the 

 Gulf of Kiao-tchou, bringing with them large pearls from 

 the Persian Gulf, and mother-of-pearl from the Indian 

 Ocean. This latter commodity is stated to have been 

 used to adorn the tomb of Duke Yii of Tsin, who died in 

 419 B C. That the real pearl was a novelty at this period 

 is gathered from the expressions used by writers of the 

 4th century Meh-ti, Lieh-tze, Tsou-hien, and others. In 

 some cases it is associated with the Ye-Kwang — the stone 

 which shines at night, otherwise yakut ruby of Bardak- 

 shan. " And the name of Ming-gwet, a transfer and folk- 

 etymology of the western word for it, shows moreover its 

 western origin, most probably from the pearl fisheries of 

 the Persian Gulf, not of Ceylon." 79 



From this time onwards pearls were among the staple 

 articles imported into China by these same traders, though 

 the latter had several times to change their stations 

 and retreat southward owing to civil wars and the advance 

 in power of the Chinese. They used Kwei-ki, near the 

 present Ning-po, as their emporium until the Han Empire 

 extended its sway there in 201 B.C., when they made Tung- 

 yeh (present Fuhtchow of Fu-kiang) their station for a 

 time, importing big pearls from the Persian Gulf. These 

 were transhipped from there to Kwei-ki, which was a 

 market for them. In 187 — 140 B.C., one Tchu-tchung was 



70 Lacouperie, op. cit., pp. 180-1 and 365; Ming-gzvet, mod. Ming- 

 yueh, shining moon. — Cf. Sanskrit, marakata ; Greek, maragdos ; Latin, 

 margarita ; Persian marvid; etc. (fide Lacouperie). 



