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1. The Finest Adornment fro Buddha Images
The practice of adorning Buddha images with Gzi beads can be traced back to the ancient times. The Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa offers the finest examples:
1) When Princess Wencheng of Tang China married the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo, the most precious item among her dowry was an image of the twelve-year-old Jowo Sakyamuni. It traveled thousands of miles from Chagn¡¯an, capital of the Tang Empire, to Tibet. At present it is housed and worshipped in the Jokhang.
The diadem, cape and decorative straps worn by the image of the young Buddha are studded with many pearls, agateds, turquoises, corals and gzi beads. They look extremely splendid. The most precious are the three pieces of nine-eyed Gzi on the diadem. Other Gzi beads, around a hundred in number, display various designs including waves and double-layered tiger teeth.

2) One of the principal Dharma Kings worshipped in the Jokhang has on his diadem, forehead and chest many pearls, agates, turquoises, corals and gzi beads of great preciousness. The center of his diadem is set with a unique two-eyed Gzi. Other Gzi beads carry three-eyed, tiger-tooth and striped design. Suspended from the conch are strings of Gzi beads offered by the worshippers.

3) Songtsen Gampo was known to have subdued a number of internal and external forces, and annexed some neighboring tribes to found the Tubo dynasty, the first dynasty in Tibetan history. During his reign he ordered to devise a script from the Tibetan language, established the code of law and official hierarchy, and set up a military system and a regime supported by the serf system. He entered into matrimonial alliance with his neighbors by marrying Princess Wengcheng of Tang China and Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal Since he was a Buddhist, he played a decisive role in the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the later ages. He was deified and his image was widely worshipped. Gzi beads are used to adorn his images.

4) Wehncheng was one of the princesses of Tang China during the reign of Emperor Taizong. She was married to Songtsen Gampo in AD 681(15th year of Zheguan reign of Emperor Taizong). A palace was erected in the present site of the Potala as here residence . Now the Potala still keeps her wedding chamber and her statue. At the request of Songtsen Gampo and Bhrikuti, Wencheng undertook to establish the Jokhang Monastery by draining and filling in Lake Wothang. Later, the Ramche Monastery was built on a sand beach in the northwest. After the death of Wencheng, a grand funeral was held in honor of her. She was buried together with Songtsen gampo in the mausoleum of the Tibetan Kings in Chongye. Since Wencheng was a devout Buddhist and a deified historical personage, detailed depiction of her deeds are found in vast number of murals, sculptures, literary works, poems and drams. Her image in the Jokhang is adorned with a string of Gzi beds.

(A rare and splendid necklace with Gzi and coral beads)

2. The Most precious Gemstone in Tibet.
The value of a gemstone, apart from being determined by its beauty, rarity and durability, is also determined by ethnic and national elements. Take jadeite from an example, for many years it has been highly treasured by the Orients and the Asians, and is considered the most precious of all jades and treasure among treasures. However, the Westerners hold a different view. The only rank it among ordinary gemstones and call it quasi-gemstone. Diamond, now recognized throughout the world as a rare gem worth of exorbitant price, once ranked next to ruby and emerald.

To the Tibetans, the most precious gemstone is neither jadeite nor diamond, but Gzi beads.
 
(Jadeite set with diamond is the most recious of all jades and the treasure among al treasures. But they are less precious than a three-eyed Gzi or half a piece of lotus Gzi in the eyes of the Tibetans.)

3. A Strong Collateral Security Accepted by Banks
It is hundred percent true that ancient and pure Gzi beads are accepted by the People¡¯s Bank and the City Credit Bureau in Tibet as collateral security for loans. Therefore, Gzi beads are equivalent to cash in the eyes of the Tibetans. They can be changed into cash anytime.

(A stately necklace comprising a pair of Gzi with six lotus petals enclosed in cells, a pair of Gzi with wave motif, a pair of double-striped and double-eyed Gzi, and a gilded ornament.)

4. Indispensable Ornaments of Tibetan girls during the Adulthood Ceremony and their Wedding.
Despite diverse sayings, it is generally agreed that Tibetan boys and girls come of age respectively at thirteen and sixteen. Tibetan girls in Lhasa are considered ready to get married when they are sixteen. To mark their adulthood, a ceremony is held in front of a prayer pole at the entrance of the Jokhang. The girls will bedeck themselves with strands of beaded necklaces and wear a splendid headdress. Of thee ornaments, the most precious are the Gzi beads. When they get married, their dowry also consists of necklaces strung with red coral and Gzi beads. The number, quality and design of the Gzi are determined by the affordability of their family.

(A golden Gau-amulet box with tuquoise, pearl, coral and other gemstone inlay. Inside the Gau are protective scriptures, nectar pills and important treasures. The Gau is held by a necklace comprising strings of coral and Gzi beads. The set is considered the most precious ornament in Tibet.)

5. The Handiest Property

Due to their small size, Gzi beads are easy to keep and carry. For this reason, aristocrats and rich people in Tibet use domestic animals and wherever necessary, use money, to exchange for Gzi beads.

When the Fourteenth Dalai lama fled from Tibet in 1959, his entourage comprised a large number of Rinpoche, lamas, aristocrats, officials and attendants. They traveled across Nepal to reach India, and from there, some moved to Bhutan, Sikkim and overseas. They were considered refugees and some countries offered them asylum, allowing them to establish Tibetan communities. Apart from outher jewels and precious items, the valuables they managed to carry were largely Gzi beads. They sold these beads only in times of extreme finacia difficulty. This explains why many unique Gzi beads fell into Taiwanese hand.

As the life of the sojourning Tibetans improves and their financial situation slackedns, some of them seek to retrieve the gzi beads they sold during those hard days. Many rich families in Tibet still keep on collecting gzi beads. Sometimes they will go to the People¡¯s Bank or the city Credit Bureau to select those Gzi beads deposited as security by the debtors.

A couple of years ago, the author managed to acquire a nine- eyed Gzi from the City Credit Bureau in Barkhor Bazaar with the recommendation of a Tibetan friend.


6. A Precious medicinal Ingredient

(Gzi bead with rectangular and circular design known as " Quadruple Heaven-and- Earth", and other Gzi-type beads. )
The Four Medical Tantras, the classical canon of Tibetan medicine, was compiled in the 8th century by Yutok Yonten Gompo, Tibet¡¯s foremost medical authority. Before printing method was introduced into tiet, the knowledge in the book was passed down from medical masters to their disciples who copied the book by hand. Throughout the ages, many Tibetan physicians had contributed to the augmentation and annotation of its content. At the end of the 17th century, a new annotated version of this book was compiled and printed by Desi Sangye Gyatso. This perfected version was called the Lazuri Version of the Four Medical Tantras.

Apart from introducing the biological structure, various diseases and symptoms, and anatomic studies of the human body, this book also gives an account of various types of medicines and their healing effects. It records over nine hundred kinds of medicine, two- fifth of which zoological, tow- fifth botanical and one- fifth mineralogical.

Traditional Tibetan physicians paid special attention to the rendering of medical charts, especially in giving lectures on the The Four medical tantras. Without the large quantity of charts depicting different kinds of medicine and analyzing the anatomic structure of the human body, it would be extremely difficult to conduct effective teaching. Therefore from the 8th century onward, there were people specializing in painting these charts, and their content appended continuously. Seventy-nine hanging charts were incorporated in Charts for the Four Medical Tantras published in 1703.

It is recorded in Tibetan medical history that the purpose of preparing these charts was to facilitate the learning of The Blude Glazed Version of the Four Medical Tantras, so as to make the knowledge accessible to erudite scholoars as well as junir medical students. These charts allowed them to have a clear picture of the content of every chapter.
Agate and Gzi beads are clearly illustrated in the bottom left corner of Char 25(Medicine I) in Comprehensive Collection of Charts for the Four medical Tantras. They are among the vast repertory of Tibetan medicines. Obviously they were seen as separate ingredients with different healing properties, otherwise it is unnecessary to represent them separately. A Gzi bead is also illustrated in the top left corner of Chart 31(Supplementary Medicine I)among other precious ingredients necessary for curing a special kind of illness.

Half a century ago, the Austrian Tibetologist Rene de Nebesky- Wojkowitz mentioned that¡± Powdered gzi(Gzi) are mixed with silver and gold dust, officinal herbs, and powdered pearls, and formed into pills(ril bu). Pills of this kind are an expensive but allegedly very efficacious medicine against numerous ailments.¡±(Oracle and Demons of Tibet, p.506). this proves that Gzi beads were highly priced treasures of his time. This is still the case now, and possibly in future also.

A few year ago in Taiwan there was an incident of suing powdered Gzi to prepare nectar pills. Inn the course of performing devotional practice in the Nyingmapa Society, Beino Choje mixed a pulverized nine-eyed Gzi with other metallic and herbal ingredients to prepare the ¡° Five-colored Nectar Pills of Avalokitesvara¡±. During a congregation held in Tienmu in Taiwan, he distributed the pills to the benefactors. There were many participants in the congregations. These disciples of Tantric Buddhism could serve as witnesses. 

7. Bartering for Houses
Around two year ago when I was staying in a Tibetan friend¡¯s house, I witnessed the bartering of three Gzi beads fro a three- story building situated near Barkhour Bazaar behind the Jokhang Monastery. This building was originally the property of a monastery in the Gzntze(Khma) Autonomous Region in Sichuan. In order to raise money to renovate the monastery, they entrusted my friend to sell the building at the original price of 380,000RMB. At the same time, a Tibetan came to my friend with a three-eyed Gzi and a pair of four-eyed Gzi, each 5cm in length. The beads were noted for their strong color, well delineated pattern and perfect shape. The owner would like to trade them for 350,000RMB. Since I did not have enough cash, we could not come to any deal.
Seeing that these Gzi were beautiful in appearance, desirable in quality, reasonable in price and likely to parreciate and dispose of within a short time, my friend propose to barter the three-story building for the beads. Two days later, the owner of the Gzi agreed and they make the deal.

Later this friend told me that the three beads changed hands quickly. He had fulfilled his task of selling the building for the monastery and at the same time made some profit for himself.
                                    
               

      
(Tibetan girls wearing stings of sea corals refined in Taiwan. Maybe someday these corals will e sold as mountain corals in Taiwan. Consumers have to be careful when they make the purchase.)

Coral beads refinded in Taiwan can be red or pink in color. They come either in the shape of a drum or a rosary bead. Red corals are intended for the Tibetan market while pink ones are sold to Qinghai. In earlier times, they were sold for cash but recently it is common for Tibetans to barter Gzi beads for coral. Many famous coral traders in Taiwan are familiar with this form of trade. Similarly, they will exchange Gzi beads for jades and gemstones in other places. This serves to prove that bartering is commonly accepted within the circle of Gzi and gemstone traders.

9. The Best and Most Precious Amulet

(A pair of Gzi beads with Longevity Bottle and Lotus design.)

Amulets, magic figures and incantations are the most important evil-expelling means in Tibet. The simplest form of amulet is just a tiny piece of paper written with votive scripts and mantras. The paper is folded, sealed and carefully wrapped around with color threads. It is tied around the waist or the neck. Another popular form of amulet is Tsha Tsha, miniature stature of a deity made from a mixture of soil, flour , powdered rosary and herbs blessed by senior lamsa. Rings once worn by oracles and knotted ribbons that have undergone devotional practice are also considered efficacious amulets.

These amulets are said to serve many functions. Apart form averting accidents, harms and diseases caused by various demons, some are specially designed to expel bad dreams, bad mantras, epidemic diseases and poisonous substances, or to protect the owner from being harmed by weapons, hailstones, thunder and lightning. Others are meant to promote business and increase wealth. Of all kinds of amulets in Tibet, Gzi beads are considered the most precious and efficacious.

I once sought advice from some Choje and Rinpoche about the merits of Gzi beads. Though they did not specify the talismanic property of each kind of Gzi, they held similar opinions towards their general functions. The beads are believed to have the miraculous power of expelling bad karma, gaining merit, preventing apoplexy, safeguarding from being injured by demons, increasing physical strength and multiplying wealth. These are yet to be confirmed by collectors and owner of Gzi beads. They would know in their heart how efficacious the beads are.

(A stately necklace consisting of pair of Gzi with double-striped and six-eyed design, a Gzi with double-striped and Dorje-thunderbolt design, and for red coral beads. Collection of an American Chinese. )