Note 15 — Chapter XIII · The Symbolism of Jade

Laufer notes in his The Diamond15 that “the name lychnis is connected with the Greek lychnos” (“a portable lamp”), and that, “according to Pliny, the stone is so called from its lustre being heightened by the light of a lamp”. He thinks the stone in question is the tourmaline. Laufer reviews a mass of evidence regarding precious stones that were reported to shine by night, and comes to the conclusion that there is no evidence on record “to show that the Chinese ever understood how to render precious stones phosphorescent”. He adds: “Since this experiment is difficult, there is hardly reason to believe that they should ever have attempted it. Altogether,” he concludes, “we have to regard the traditions about gems luminous at night, not as a result of scientific effort, but as folk-lore connecting the Orient with the Occident, Chinese society with the Hellenistic world.” As Laufer shows, the Chinese imported legends regarding magical gems from Fu-lin (“the forest of Fu”), an island in the Mediterranean Sea, which was known to them as “the Western Sea” (Si hai).16 At a very much earlier period they imported other legends and beliefs regarding metals and minerals.