The earliest mention of night-luminous pearl in Chinese history is under the ruling of the Yan DI (the Fire Emperor). Shen Nong (the “Divine Husbandman) possessed the King of Stone Balls called “Essence of the Night”. During the spring and Autumn Period and the Warring State Period, the two night-luminous pearls “Descending Dawn” and “Recessed Light” were worth a city and comparable with the Jade of the He Family

Only the Tycoons Tao Laigong and Yi Dun were able to afford them. The State of Jin used “Recessed Light” as bait to use the State of Yu as the passage in a war. The government officials in the state of Chu, Qin & Wei, discussed national affairs and engaged in philosophical debates with reference to night-luminous pearl.

The first Emperor of Qin put the night-luminous pearl in his tomb in replace of candle lights. The brother of Emperor Guang Wu of Han’s queen, Guo Kuang, showed off his wealth by hanging night-luminous pearl against tapestry so that looked like stars in the day and the moon in the night.

Empress Wu gave her grandson (later Emperor Xuanzong of Tang) a jade dragon and night-luminous pearl. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang in turn gave his son (Emperor Shizong) a pearl with luminance able to -shine a room. A night-luminous pearl name “Water Droplet” in the Tang Dynasty was put on a price of over millions of dollars.

The royal families during the Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty were known for their love for night-luminous pearls. Genghis Khan’s Nightly Pearl was once stolen in Taiwan but eventually returned to the owner after the police cracked the case.

In short, night-luminous pearls have long been talked about in Chinese history, they are known as nocturnal lights, nightly radiance, sun-and-moon pearls.

The official history presented in a series of biographies, such as ShiJi (Historical Records) and ZuoZhuan (The Commentary of Zuo), as well as unofficial history and anecdotes, make mentions of famous night-luminous pearl such as the Pearl of the Marquis of Sui, Flowing Dawn and Recessed Light.

The oldest night-luminous pearl recorded is the one held by a swine-shaped beast to guide Yu the great with candle-like light to repair the Dragon Gate in order to stop the floods and control the waters. This is mentioned in the ShiYiJi (a mythological/historical treatise) compiled by Wang Jia in the Eastern Jin Period. There are also stories such as the use of night-luminous pearl for battles at night.

Night-luminous pearl claims a mysterious presence throughout the five-thousand years of Chinese history. They are the rarest and most precious jewels, and only the royals can own them. Night-luminous pearl is deeply ingrained in the Chinese culture and history, some accounts are nothing but legends, but their splendid radiance, noble elegance, and enigmatic existence demand a special mention in the Chinese history

In 1900, imperialist states the UK, France, Japan, Russia, Germany, the US, Italy, and Austria put together the “Eight-Nation Alliance” to invade Peking from TianJin. Empress Dowager CiXi Took Emperor GuangXu and fled from Peking to Xian. This marks the beginning of a sell-out policy by “combining the resources of China in order to please other countries”. The defeated and humiliated government of the Qing Dynasty signed the Boxer Protocol with invaders.

The story goes that Empress Dowager CiXi wanted to give her cherished four night-luminous pearls as a gift to invaders, she assigned the task of gifting to a maid in the palace, Patriotic and reluctant to give away the jewels to the foreigner, this angry maid hid the pearls in a secret place outside the Imperial City. As nobody knew where she ended up, the location of these pearls became a major unresolved case of modern times. The night-luminous pearl in the mouth of the deceased Empress Dowager CiXi was also gone after Sun DianYing, the Tomb Raider of Eastern Hills, opened her casket