page_title: Marquis of Sui's pearl
section_title: Mozi
hierarchical_section_title: Marquis of Sui's pearl / Early textual references / Mozi
caption_attribution_description: English: Exhibit in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This work is old enough so that it is in the public domain. Photography was permitted in the museum without restriction.
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: The c. 4th-3rd centuries BCE Mozi ([Sayings of] Master Mo) mentions Marquis of Sui's pearl and Mr. He's jade-disk with the legendary Nine Tripod Cauldrons, namely, a set of Chinese ritual bronze ding "tripod cauldrons", said to have been cast by mythical Yu the Great after controlling the Great Flood. In response to criticism from his disciple Wu Mazi (巫馬子) that "To leave contemporaries alone and to praise the early kings is to praise rotten bones", Mozi (c. 470-391 BCE) explains how a state's yi ("righteousness; justice") is more important its ritual treasures.
  Motse said: The jade of Ho, the pearl of Duke Sui, and the nine tings—these are what the feudal lords value as excellent treasures. Can they enrich the country, multiply the people, put the government in order, and place the state in safety? Of course they cannot. Excellent treasures are to be valued for their efficacy. Now since the jade of Ho, the pearl of Duke Sui, and the nine tings cannot benefit men, then they are not the excellent treasures in the world. On the other hand, if righteousness is employed in the government of the state the population will be increased, the government will be in order, and the state will be secure. The excellent treasures are to be valued for their efficacy. Now righteousness can benefit men. So then righteousness is the excellent treasure of the world. (11, tr. Mei 1929: 215-216)
caption: Shang dynasty (c. 1300-1046 BCE) bronze ding
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