FACTS AND FANCIES ABOUT PRECIOUS STONES 385
set
as a boss at the hilt of this symbolical sword. In one remarkable
specimen the guard consisted of a piece of white jade with the figure
of a dragon carved in relief upon it; the sword-blade was of bronze. At
the marriage ceremony the bridegroom is given the sword to hold, and
the bride the sheath ; as the wedding ring is placed upon the bride's
finger, sword and sheath are brought together.
Among
the innumerable forms of jade decoration or carving, produced by the
indefatigable and painstaking .Chinese artists, is a small curved wand
often having a trefoil termination; sometimes the entire wand is of
jade, and at other times it is of teakwood adorned with jade
medallions, frequently showing birds and flowers. This wand was used as
a kind of sceptre of office, and the official entitled to bear it would
hold it in both hands when standing before the emperor. Its name, ju-i, means "may all be," and is to be taken as a wish that everything may turn out fortunately. In modern times the ju-i is
carried as a lucky charm, although its official significance is not
forgotten. This form of wand is said to have been introduced into China
from India, at the time of the Buddhist propaganda, and in
representations of Buddhist priests they are sometimes shown carrying
one of them. In ancient India it was taught to be one of the seven
precious objects, the septa-ratna, mentioned in the Vedas.14
This Indian origin is, of course, highly probable, but it is strange
that in ancient Egypt also, curved wands of a somewhat different type,
made of ivory and embellished with symbolical figures, possessed the
same blended significance of marks of official dignity and magic wands.
A large mass of lapis lazuli was found in one of the
"See
The Morgan-Whitney Collection of Chinese Jades and other Hard Stones,
donated to the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art, City Park, New Orleans
1914, p. 32 ; plate opp. p. 33.
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