|
PEARLS AMONG THE ANCIENTS
|
|
||
|
|
|||
|
foreign princes to the emperor. One of the very earliest of books, the Shu King (dating from about 2350-625 b.c.), notes that, in the twenty-third century b.c., Yü received
as tribute oyster pearls from the river Hwai, and from the province of
King Kau he received "strings of pearls that were not quite round."1
That ancient Chinese dictionary, the Nh'ya, originating thirty
centuries ago, speaks of them as precious jewels found in the province
of Shen-si on the western frontier.
Many
fantastic theories regarding pearls are to be found in ancient Chinese
literature. Some writers credited them as originating in the brain of
the fabled dragon ; others noted that they were especially abundant
during the reign of illustrious emperors, and they were used as amulets
and charms against fire and other disasters. Curious allusions were
made to pearls so brilliant that they were visible at a distance of
nearly a thousand yards, or that rice could be cooked by the light from
them. And one found about the beginning of the Christian era, near
Yangchow-fu, in the province of Kiang-su, was reported so lustrous as
to be visible in the dark at a distance of three miles.
In
Persia, the popularity of pearls seems to date from a very early
period. Professor Jackson states that if they are not mentioned in the
extant fragments of the ancient Zoroastrian literature, the Avesta and
the Pahlavi, or by the Middle Persian books from the seventh century b.c. to the ninth century a.D., it
is probably a mere accident, due to the character of the work or to the
fragmentary condition of the literature ; for pearls were well known
during that entire period, and seem to be indicated in extant
sculptures. The coin and the gem portraits of Persian queens commonly
show ear-pendants of these. The remains of a magnificent necklace of
pearls and other gems were recently found by J. de Morgan in the
sarcophagus of an Achaemenid princess exhumed at Susa or Shushan, the
winter residence of the kings of Persia. This necklace, perhaps the
most ancient pearl ornament still in existence, dates certainly from
not later than the fourth century b.c., and is now preserved in the Persian Gallery of the Louvre.2
Even if we had no other evidence, it would be natural to assume that
the knowledge of pearls was as wide-spread among the Iranians in
antiquity as it was among the Hindus, since the Persian Gulf, like the
Indian Ocean, has been famous for its fisheries from ancient times.
In
the ruins of Babylon no pearls have been found ; indeed, it would be
surprising if they could survive for so many ages in the relatively
moist soil which contains much saltpeter. Inlays of mother-of-pearl and
decorations of this material have been secured from the ruins of
Bismaya, which Dr. Edgar J. Banks refers to about 4500 b.c.
'Legge, "The Shu King," Oxford, 1879, pp. 67, 69. 2See p. 404.
|
|||
|
|
|||