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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: use of years, often without a blemish or a spot, finds its way
into the hands of dealers. The finest furs,--seal, otter,
squirrel, sable and ermine,--are brought from Siberia, Manchuria
and elsewhere, for the officials and the court, and can be
secured for less than half what they would cost in America.
Pearls, of which the Chinese ladies and the court are more fond
than of diamonds, may be found in abundance in all the bazars,
which are many, and judging from the way they are purchased by
tourists, are both cheaper and better than elsewhere.
The Chinese have little appreciation of diamonds as jewelry. On
one occasion there was offered to me a beautiful ring containing
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