Tinder bag with a Chinese inscription

This article analyzes a tinder bag of the type that became widespread among the Turkic- and Mongolian-speaking peoples of Siberia and Central Asia in the Late Middle Ages and ethnographic period. The tinder bag is decorated with a metal plate containing the Chinese hieroglyphic inscription , which renders traditional Chinese good wishes, “Let precious/noble sons be born constantly.” This wish is one of the cultural universals related to the archetypal beliefs on the connection of fi re with the birth of a child.