384 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
Jade
ornaments of ancient workmanship have been found in Syria, and it is
quite likely that in many cases where the designation plasma is used by
ancient writers, true jade, or nephrite, was the material. As there was
no specific designation for jade, the different varieties were
assimilated to other stones of like color and appearance, so that,
among others, the names jasper, plasma and even smaragdus were used to denote jade.
Mortuary
tablets of jade have been used from time immemorial in China for the
reception of historic inscriptions, the toughness and durability of the
material making it especially desirable for this purpose. In the case
of rulers, such tablets not only bore the names of the deceased
sovereign but also an epitome of the leading events of his reign, and
additions were made to this record from time ίο time so that in
historic value they may be compared with the clay tablets of Babylonia
and Assyria. One of these interesting monuments found its way to San
Francisco, after the looting of the Forbidden City by the international
army of relief in 1901. On it appeared a record of the treaty between
the United States and China in 1868, and the other records went back to
the death of Shun Chi in 1661. Probably owing to exposure to the
weather the earlier inscriptions were not very legible.
At
all important Chinese marriage ceremonies the priest carries what is
known as a "marriage sword." This is usually about twelve or thirteen
inches in length and the sheath is often studded with various pink
stones, cut en cabochon. The stones most favored for this
decoration are pink tourmaline, rubellite from the Shan Mountains, or
rose-quartz, and the natural color of these gems is often intensified
by placing a pink paste or foil beneath them; occasionally the
coloration of the stones is enhanced by dipping them in a pink aniline
solution. A piece of green jade is usually
