In
an illustrated work on ancient jades, in two quarto volumes, published
in 1889 by the well-known scholar and statesman, Wu Ta-cheng (b. 1833),
this writer conjectures that archer's rings of white jade were
reserved for the emperor's use. At the present day rings of this type
are made in Peking from the antler of a species of elk. The Catholic
missionary, Father Zi, states that the rings most highly valued are
those made out of jade of the Han period (Han yu), of a white
gray with red veining and green stripes. Rings found in the graves of
students who have passed the military examinations are of reddish hue,
and the opinion prevails that they afford protection against
malevolent spirits.58
In
the symbolism of the ring, the complete circle is regarded by the
Chinese as denoting the combination of all divine principles, as these
are supposed to move in an everlasting and unbroken circle, having
neither beginning nor end. An evil significance, however, attaches to
an incomplete or half-ring, called huéh, a sound that means "
to cut off, to slay; to pass sentence; to decide, to settle." An early
instance of the use of such a ring tò signify banishment is related of
the Prince Shên-shêng whose father sent him on a fatal military
expedition in 659 b.c., at
the instigation of one of his concubines. This ring, which was attached
to a girdle, was equivalent to a formal decree that the prince was cast
off and should never return. In consequence of the ambiguity of Chinese
spoken and written words, a half-ring or at least one not describing a
closed circle is said to have been worn at one time by Chinese
scholars, because one of the meanings of the sound hileh is " to de-
58 Berthold Laufer, " Jade, a Study in Chinese Archaeology and Religion," Chicago, 1912, pp. 284, 285.
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