WORLD CULTURES

Object Name: PIPE
Description: Chinese metal tobacco pipe, referred to as a “horsehead pipe” (馬頭烟嘴/马头烟嘴) due to its distinctive curved end. The Chinese text on the side reads “胡馬嘶東風” (胡马嘶东风), followed by an unidentified sixth character. The text means “The nomadic horse neighs at the east wind”, which is often used as a poetic image of homesickness or longing for one’s native land. The last character has not been identified in any dictionary. “The structure of the final character resembles the character 廣 (simplified 广, guǎng, meaning “broad,” “wide,” or “vast”) enclosed within 囗 (wéi), which denotes an enclosing border. At first glance, this combination does not appear to relate directly to the meaning of ‘east wind’. However, it is possible that 囗 functions purely as a framing or enclosing element, rather than contributing semantic meaning. In that case, the inner component may represent a name, brand, or maker’s mark, rather than a standard character used for its lexical meaning.” Liang Wang, Queen’s University Belfast Another possibility is that the unidentified character is an ancient form of 嚝; as 囗 became 口, so the square instead of encircling the rest of the traits is on the left hand side. If this is the case, it means 不錄 “not copied/recorded”.
Catalogue Number: BELUM.C5887
Notes: National Museums NI

National Museums NI holds over a million objects in the collection, as well as this we manage the records and associated images for each object through a working database. The national collection has been almost 200 years in the making, and we recognise that thinking about collecting and collections has evolved over this time and continues to evolve. As a result, some of our records may contain language and views that we now consider offensive and unacceptable, for example, reflecting racist attitudes. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to reviewing and updating our records accordingly. Working with researchers, communities and academic partners we are learning more about the stories behind objects, and we are committed to sharing these with our audiences. We welcome feedback. Please email [email protected]