妙法蓮華經玄贊 2.164

2.164

Among the seven treasures: First, gold. The Shuowen says: "Gold has five colors, yellow being the foremost; it does not rust when buried for long, does not lighten when smelted a hundred times, and does not alter when reshaped. The phase of the west emerges from earth; it follows the earth left and right, so the character jīn (金) resembles the shape of gold within the earth." It is now also phonetic. Second, silver, which is white metal. Third, coral, a red stone resin resembling the shape of a tree. Fourth, pearls, that is, red pearls. The Buddhabhūmi-vyākhyāna says: "Produced from red worms, or the body of the pearl being red, it is called a red pearl." Fifth, maṇi, the wish-fulfilling divine jewel. Since there is no lapis lazuli (vaiḍūrya), pearls are split into two. Sixth, musāragalva, in Sanskrit called musāragalva, variegated blue and white. Seventh, agate, in Sanskrit called aśmagarbha, translated here as "pestle-womb," or called "embryo-womb," because it is hard and solid. Its color resembles a horse's brain, so taking that name it is written with the characters mǎ nǎo (馬腦). Because it is a category of treasure, the character takes the jade radical (瑪瑙); or as it is of the category of stone, the character sometimes takes the stone radical. These seven vary according to what is valued in each region, as in the Shangsheng shu.