page_title: Marquis of Sui's pearl
section_title: Terminology
hierarchical_section_title: Marquis of Sui's pearl / Terminology
caption_attribution_description: English: Exhibit in the Tokyo National Museum - Tokyo, Japan.
context_page_description: The Marquis of Sui's pearl or Chinese Suihouzhu was a famous gemstone in a Warring States period folktale about a ruler of Sui state who was given an amazing luminous pearl by a grateful snake whose life he had saved. In the history of folkloristics, this legend is the earliest known example of the "Grateful Animals" motif. The Marquis of Sui's pearl, which is frequently paired with another famous regalia, the Heshibi, became a literary Chinese metaphor for underestimating a valuable person or thing.
context_section_description: Many Chinese classics refer to the Marquis of Sui's pearl in context with other legendary gems, jades, and swords associated with the ceremonial regalia of ancient Chinese states.
  Suíhóuzhū (隨侯珠, "the Marquis of Sui's pearl") has a literary synonym Suíhóuzhīzhū (隨侯之珠) with the Classical Chinese grammatical possessive affix zhī (之). Suí (隨, lit. "follow; pursue; comply with; adapt to") is the name of a small ancient state during the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties, located in present-day Suizhou, Hubei—not to be confused with the Sui dynasty (隋, 581–618 CE). Sui was originally one of the Ji states (11th-7th centuries BCE) and became a vassal state of Chu (Hawkes 1985: 336) . The rulers of Sui held the Chinese feudal title Hóu (侯), the second of five Zhou dynasty peerage ranks. This is usually translated as English "Marquis" or "Marquess", but more generally means an "honorific term applied in pre-imperial times to all rulers of states, regardless of actual rank" (Kroll 2017: 162). Alternate translations of Suihou include "Duke Sui" (Mei 1929: 215; DeWoskin and Crump 1996: 239) and "Lord Sui" (Knechtges 1987: 312). Zhū (珠, "pearl; gem; bead; orb") is used in many Chinese names for shining pearls/gems, such as yèmíngzhū (夜明珠, "night-luminous pearl"), yèguāngzhū (夜光珠, "night-shining pearl"), and míngyuèzhū (明月珠, "luminous-moon pearl"), which is exemplified by Marquis of Sui's pearl.
  Suihouzhu ("Marquis of Sui's pearl") frequently occurs in context with one of the most famous jades of Chinese antiquity, Héshìbì (和氏璧) or Héshìzhībì (和氏之璧, both meaning "Clan He's jade-disk").
  Bian He 卞和 was a man from the late Warring States Period [8th century BCE] who came upon a stone containing a rare piece of jade. However, when he presented it to King Li of Chu, it was judged to be a fake, and he was punished by having his left foot cut off. Not deterred, Bian He presented the stone again when King Wu took the throne. It was again judged to be a fake, and Bian He suffered the loss of his right foot. He was so distraught that he withdrew to the foot of a mountain, clutching his jade, and cried until he wept blood. This so moved King Wu that he ordered the stone reexamined. When cut and polished it was shown to be a rare treasure. (Ivanhoe 2009: 164) 
  When Bian He is read as a typical Chinese name, Biàn (卞, lit. "law; rule; impetuous; impatient") is the surname and Hé (和, "harmonious; agreeable; comfortable") is the given name. However, He is also an uncommon surname and early texts refer to Bian He as both Bianshi (卞氏, "(of) Bian clan") and Heshi (和氏, "(of) He clan"), with the word shì (氏, "clan; family; [a suffix after surnames]"). Bì (璧, "carved jade-disk with a round hole in center") is an ancient Chinese artifact, which first became important grave goods in the Liangzhu culture (3400–2250 BCE). Bi were "often used ceremonially as symbolic of a covenant or guarantee, as between persons, states, heaven and a dynastic house, etc." (Kroll 2017: 17).
  Tài'ē or Tài'ā (太阿) is the name of a legendary 5th century BCE sword. The master bladesmith Ou Yezi made three iron swords for King Goujian (r. 496–465 BCE) of Yue, named Lóngyuān (龍渊, Dragon Gulf), Tài'ē (泰阿, Great Riverbank), and Gōngbù (工布, Artisanal Display). Master Ou described the patterning on Tai'e to the king, "it is majestic and vigorous, like the waves of a flowing river." (tr. Milburn 2010: 285).
caption: Bi jade-disk with dragon designs, 4th-2nd century BCE
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