6o JACKSON, Use of Cowry -shells for Currency, Amulets, etc. 



great tortoise attained the size of two cubits and a half. 

 Such a creature would hz esteemed very valuable, where 

 divination was much relied on"; and further, according 

 to Gan-Kwo, that " the tortoise was not a regular article 

 of tribute, but was presented when required by express 

 command." 



In the " Pwan-Kang" ("Shoo King," i\\, vii., 14), the 

 characteristic symbol, pei {Fig. 36') occurs in a passage 

 dealing with the hoarding propensities of government 

 officials, and is here translated by Legge as " cowries." 17 " 



From the above remarks it will be seen that the pei 

 symbol has been incorrectly interpreted in certain cases. 



Some interesting particulars concerning the use of 

 cowries in connection with the dead are given by Dr. J. J. 

 M. de Groot, in his work on " The Religious System in 

 China." 171 ' The ancient Chinese, he tells us, used several 

 precious articles for preserving their dead. To this end 

 the\- availed themselves of cowry-shells, which were so 

 valuable in ancient times for currency. This fact, well 

 known to Sinologists, is especially manifest in the ancient 

 hieroglyph denoting the cowry (see Fig. 3 C), which enters 

 into the composition of most characters signifying things 

 of value and acts connected with trade and barter (see 

 Fig. 3, E, F, G, H, I). 



These shells were used in association with rice for 

 stuffing the mouth of the dead. The)- were made to 

 support the last molar tooth on the left and the right side, 

 and the mouth was finally filled up with rice. 



According to the " Li Ki," or "Treatises on Cere- 

 monial Usages" (an important source of our knowledge 

 of China during pre-Christian times), the mouth of the 

 Son of Heaven was stuffed with nine cowries, that of a 



1 : 8 ll'id.. iii. . pt. i., p. 240. 



17 '-' Vol. i., bk. i., " Disposal of the Dead." Leyden, 1892, pp. 275-6. 



