Page 82 - Chiense TExtiles, MET MUSEUM Pub 1934

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
IV. SYMBOLS FROM THE HuNDRED ANTIQUES
The Po ku. From these another set of Pa pao ("Eight
Precious Things") is made (fig. 28), which might be
designated as a secular category.
r. The Pearl that grants every wish.
2. The "Cash," a copper coin used to symbolize wealth.
3· The Painting.
4· The Lozenge, symbol of victory.
5· The Musical Stone.
6. The Pair of Books.
7· The Horn.
8. The Leaf of the Artemisia, a fragrant plant of
good omen and a preventive of disease.
Favorite independent symbols of no definite origin but
,surely inspired by Buddhist ideas are a branch of coral,
piles of jewels, a pair of paintings, and elephant tusks.
These things are used ad lib. in secular and priestly robes
and are derived, we think, from the heaps of offerings
placed before the deities, a £1miliar subject in Buddhist
paintings. A case in point is the swastika, in China called
the wan character and used as a Buddhist symbol of
good luck and as a synonym for the character also pro-
nounced wan which means ten thousand, hence the
symbol wan shou (ten thousand long lives). Another
favorite representation is an assortment of books, brush-
es, vases, stands, etc., which symbolize the Po ku, or the
Hundred Antiques. Nor must we forget such things as
the crane, emblem of longevity; the "three friends"-
the pine, the bamboo, and the plum; the four seasons-
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