[Yuen Shi Lui Pien And Yuen Ch'ao Tien Chang.] The Use Of The Hu-Fu Was Adopted By The Mongols Probably From The Kin." (Palladius, L.C. P. 39.)

Rubruquis (Rockhill's ed.

Pp. 153-154) says: - "And whenever the principal envoy [of Longa] came to court he carried a highly-polished tablet of ivory about a cubit long and half a palm wide. Every time he spoke to the chan or some great personage, he always looked at that tablet as if he found there what he had to say, nor did he look to the right or the left, nor in the face of him with whom he was talking. Likewise, when coming into the presence of the Lord, and when leaving it, he never looked at anything but his tablet." Mr. Rockhill observes: "These tablets are called hu in Chinese, and were used in China and Korea; in the latter country down to quite recent times. They were made of jade, ivory, bamboo, etc., according to the rank of the owner, and were about three feet long. The hu was originally used to make memoranda on of the business to be submitted by the bearer to the Emperor or to write the answers to questions he had had submitted to them. Odoric also refers to 'the tablets of white ivory which the Emperor's barons held in their hands as they stood silent before him.'"

(Cf. the golden tablets which were of various classes with a tiger for image and pearls for ornaments, Deveria, Epigraphie, p. 15 et seq.) - H. C.]

NOTE 3.

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