What's the story behind the Pearl of Lau Tzu?

Although it lacks the quality of a gem pearl, the Pearl of Lau Tzu has a worldwide reputation due to its enormous size. The pearl originates in a giant clam, and therefore lacks the shine gem pearls naturally possess. It earned its other name, The Pearl of Allah, from its turban-like shape. As of January 2007, the pearl has been appraised for $61,850,000. While it has been displayed in the Museum of Natural History in New York in the past, the Pearl of Lau Tzu is currently unavailable for public display.
The mythic significance of the Lau Tzu Pearl results in the history that surrounds it.
The pearl originates in China. It has influenced the history of China, and legends tell of its spiritual significance. The pearl has been the property of a Chinese family called Lee (Li), where it has been passed from generation to generation, growing larger each time. The pearl is known to contain an ancient amulet its first owner of the Lee dynasty has given his son prior to his willful exile. The pearl was believe to bring wealth and good fortune to its owners, and indeed, the Lee family has had its share of good luck, when its future generations have all become successful merchants. Years later, the pearl has disappeared in a typhoon, later to be discovered off a shore in the Philippines.
The Pearl of Lau Tzu is priceless. When it was rediscovered, it has passed from one owner to another as a token of gratitude, and not by exchange of large sums of money. It is believed that no amount of money could equate to its true value. The owners of the pearl refused to sell it for whatever sum, no matter how outrageous, since they claimed the pearl was priceless. No financial value could account for it, apart for the sacrifice of human life.
There is no evidence to support the stories that surround the origin of the pearl, and the legends that surround it remain unverifiable. Nonetheless, the mystery around its origin, as well as its immeasurable value, add on to its charm and increase its mythic significance.

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Just to make things clear - Lao Tzu is a legend, not a man who actually existed! Any argument about descendants of Lao Tzu whatsoever is also a myth, in which some people in China believe in, but that has absolutely no historical evidence (or has contradicting evidence).

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The Pearl of Lao Tze (or Tzu), which is also referred to as the Pearl of Allah is the largest pearl ever reported, weighing 6.5 kg with almost 10 inches of diameter. This pearl was found in 1934 by a Filipino diver. Wilburn Cobb, an American who lived in the Philippines at that time, managed to obtain the pearl after curing the disease of the chief of the village which owned the huge pearl.

In the late 30's Cobb showed this pearl in NYC and it was authenticated by the Natural History Institute. Though Cobb didn't agree to sell the pearl for any price, after his death Victor M. Barbish finally managed to purchase the mystic pearl. But the journey of the pearl didn't end there. Barbish donated the pearl to the Pearl for Peace Foundation, which it's current value is somewhere between 40 and 50 million dollars.

So how is the Pearl of Allah connected to China? Mr. Lee a descendant of Lao Tzu has viewed the pearl in New York in 1939, and claimed with deep emotion that the pearl is in fact the Pearl of Lao Tzu, the great Chinese thinker on which the Taoism philoshopy is based upon. The pearl has supposably disappeared in a typhoon many years ago. According to the story, Lao Tzu wanted to create a new legendary pearl, symbolizing the big "Tao" (way of life). Lao Tzu's nephew in fact first "cultivated" this pearl by placing an amulent in a clam, and the pearl moved from one generation to the next, becoming bigger and bigger.

Not only did the pearl begin with Lao Tzu's initiative, it is supposably engraved with symbols of the three founders of the main philosophies (or religions) in China - Lao Tzu, Confucius and Buddha.

The pearl had mystical powers as you could guess. According to the myth, a descendant of Lao Tzu who possessed the pearl in the last years of the Sui Dynasty (581-618 AD), named Lee, had a dream in which the pearl spoke to him. During this time a young boy took shelter in his house. In this dream the three sages (Lao Tzu, Confucius and Buddha) told him to take care of the kid become one day his father will become emperor of a new dynasty and the kid himself will be the successor. Surprise, surprise, things indeed turned out this way, with the boy's father, Li Yuan, becoming Emperor T'ang Kao Tsu, the first Li Emperor in the new inspiring Tang Dynasty.  The boy, Li Shih Min
succeeded his father, becoming Emperor T'ang T'ai Tsung.

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