Chau Ju-Kua - University of Oregon Libraries

'^'^^
OPAQUE GLASS, 227
32.
OPAQUE GLASS {^ j^,).
Liu-li comes from several of the countries of the Ta-shi. The method
followed in melting it is the same as that of China, that is to say, it is made
5 by burning oxide of lead (|§), nitrate of potash (:gf ), and gypsum (;ff m).
To these materials the Ta-shii add southern borax (^ || |^>), which causes
the glass to be elastic without being brittle (^ f^ ;f '^J), and indifferent
to temperature, so that one may put it in water for a long time without
spoiling it. It is, therefore, more valuable than the Chinese product.
10 Note.
Liu-li, or as it was first written, pi-liu ^ J^) anipi-liu-K (^ *fe M), is a very
early transcription of the Sanskrit word vaidurya,'orjhe I'ali veluriija, whicl^robably meant lapislazuli
or rock-crystal. It occurs in the Shuo-won (=^ ^ published A. D. 100), and also in the
Ts len-Han-shu, 96A,ii, where it is said to be a product of Ki-pin (Cabul). Tuan Yu-ts'ai, the fa-
15 mous eighteenth century editor of the Shuo-w6n says in his Shuo-won kie-tzi-chu (19' "^
^ ^
j^ s. v., J^^),