Mr. He's jade or Heshibi was a sacred ceremonial bi (璧, "jade-disk with a round hole in center") used as regalia, which had an important role in Chinese history. First appearing during the mid-8th century BCE, it was cut into a ritual bi and recognized as an imperial treasure. The Heshibi became the object of contention among the Warring States, stolen from Chu circa 4th century BCE, acquired by the Zhao, and temporarily traded to Qin in 283 BCE. When the Qin dynasty was founded in 221 BCE, the Heshibi was carved into the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, symbol of the Mandate of Heaven, and subsequently transferred through successive Chinese dynasties until it was lost during the 10th century. The early historicity of the stone is uncertain, though its great antiquity seems clear. The earliest mention of it is from the 3rd century BCE. The story of its finding is likely apocryphal. Whether it was turned into the Heirloom Seal of the Realm is also a matter of dispute. If it was turned into the seal, it was certainly lost by the time of the Ming dynasty. It has been used as a metaphor for a precious object since its earliest mentions. Terminology Héshìbì (和氏璧, "Clan He's jade-disk") or Héshìzhībì (和氏之璧) using the Classical Chinese grammatical possessive affix zhī (之) was a Bì (璧, "carved jade-disk with a round hole in center") or ceremonial jade disk. Bi artifacts are dating back to the Liangzhu culture (3400–2250 BCE). Bi signified heavenly kingship in Zhou times, and were often used ceremonially as symbolic of a covenant or guarantee. The word can also be used to refer to jade in general. The Heshibi is named after Bian He, the person who first discovered the jade stone. Bian He (卞和) is a Chinese name, Biàn (卞) is the surname (e.g., Bian Lan) and Hé (和) is the given name. However, He is also an uncommon surname (e.g., He Qia) and early texts refer to Bian He as both Bianshi (卞氏, "of Bian clan") and Heshi (和氏, "of He clan"), with the word shì (氏, "Chinese clan; family"). Some alternate names are Heshi (龢氏, with the ancient variant character Hé), Heshi (咼氏, with the unique variant Guō (咼) only pronounced He in this name), and Jing He (荊和, "He from Jingzhou"). Most scholars translate Heshi as "Mr. He" with suffixed shi, some as "Master