Note 24 — Chapter XIII · The Symbolism of Jade
Reading edition
De Groot, who is frankly puzzled over Chinese beliefs regarding pearls, and has to “plead incompetency” to solve the problem why they were “considered as depositories and distributors of vital force”,24 provides the translation of a passage in the Ta Tsʼing thung li that connects silver with pearls. It states in reference to burial customs that “in the case of an official of the first, second, or third degree, five small pearls and pieces of jade shall be used for stuffing the mouth; in that of one of the fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh rank, five small pieces of gold and of jade. The gentry shall use three bits of broken gold or silver; among ordinary people the mouth shall be stuffed with three pieces of silver.”