Agate— Archaeology and Folk-lore 33 
circular and cylindrical shapes, rings and bangles, as 
well as small disks of translucent moss agate are 
traceable in graves of the T'ang (a.d. 618-906) and 
later periods. An ancient necklace or rosary found in 
a grave of Shen-si Province and shown in Case 38, 
East Gallery, consists of beads carved from agate, 
lapis lazuli, jade, and jujube-stones. 
In A.D. 662 a tree three feet high made of agate 
in the shape of a lamp was sent by the country To- 
khara as a gift to the Chinese emperor. The branches 
of this agate tree were presumably fashioned in such 
a manner that they could hold an oil-lamp or candle. 
In more recent times jade trees were made by the 
Chinese as wedding gifts. In many of these leaves and 
flowers are carved from jade, but agate and carnelian 
are much used for the petals of the blossoms, as may 
be seen in a good example of the Blackstone Chinese 
Collection (Case 1). A paper-weight of white and red 
agate in which eight lizard-shaped dragons are carved 
is on view in the same case. 
Formerly agate was also wrought in China into 
hair-pins, fish-hooks, and chessmen; and large slabs 
were used for desk-screens and table tops. The art- 
loving emperors of the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1278) 
had a high appreciation of agate. In A.D. 1118 some 
large agate blocks were found and transported into 
the imperial atelier, where they were wrought into 
precious objects like vases and ornamental plaques for 
girdles which were preserved in the imperial treasury 
for more than a century. Finally the colors are said 
to have faded away, and the stones assumed the color 
of white bone, whereupon the objects were discarded 
and disposed of to the people. In A.D. 1272 the Mongol 
emperors established in their capital Ta-tu and other 
places an "Agate Bureau" in charge of a director who 
supervised five hundred workmen. 
t 137] 
