Note 109 — Chapter XIII · The Symbolism of Jade

Jade links with pearls in the ocean surrounding the world, in which lies a gigantic oyster that gapes after rain falls, and sends forth the gleaming rainbow. The Greek historian, Isidorus of Charace (c. 300 B.C.), referring to the pearl-fishing in the Persian Gulf, relates a story about the breeding of pearls being influenced by thunder-storms.109 The jade ceremonial object, which roused the dragon, had thus indirectly a share in pearl production. Pearls were, as we have seen, likewise produced by dragons, who spat them out during storms. As certain pearls were supposed to be formed by dew that dropped from the moon, it may be that the Chinese gigantic oyster was, when it gaped to send forth the rainbow, receiving the substance of a gigantic pearl from the celestial regions. The life-prolonging and youth-renewing “Red Cloud herb” came into existence during a thunder- and rain-storm.