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Lot Essay
Qin-style Jades
Chang Wei-Hwa
The Qin a state lasted 550 years, from 770 BC when Duke Xiang of Qin was first invested with a dukedom by the King Ping of Zhou, until 221 BC when the first Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, conquered six other states to form a unified country. Emerging as a small insignificant state in the northwest corner, it rose to become one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period, then one of the Seven Strong States of the Warring States period, until the unification of China. Apart from various political, economical and military factors at play, it owes its success in large part to its constant assimilation of other cultures.
Compared to the other states in the Central Plain, Qin’s establishment is relatively late, and is situated at the north west corner, neighbouring the Rong and Di tribes. It is said in Shiji: Qin Benji (Records of the Grand Historian: Chronicle of Qin), ‘Qin is situated remotely at Yongzhou, and it did not attend the Alliance Meetings of the central states, but met with the Yi and Zhai tribes.’ It is in this isolated existence away from the eastern states that Qin was able to cultivate the land of Shaanxi and Guanzhong, incorporating the remnant Zhou people and their culture to form a localised ethnic ‘Qin Culture’, which, concurrently, includes many elements from tribal cultures.
From a stylistic point of view, Qin artifacts vary in form, decoration and techniques of manufacture to those of the eastern states and are very distinctive. Archaic jades from the Qin states are therefore categorised as ‘Qin-style jades’ in academia.
Qin-style jades have been excavated mainly at the Qin capital Yongcheng in Fengxiang County, Shaanxi; the tomb of Duke Jing of Qin at Zhihuicun, south of Fengxiang County; the Qin tomb No.2 at Yimencun in Baoji; Qin capital Xianyang; the sacrificial pit dated to late Warring States to Qin Dynasty to the north of Xi’an; as well as examples of Qin-style jades found in tombs dated to early Western Han. From excavated examples we could see that Qin-style jades first appeared in early Spring and Autumn period and reached a zenith during late Spring and Autumn period. Although the style continues through the Warring States period, it was already in decline.
Qin-style jades dated to the late Spring and Autumn period are the most numerous, and most varied in from as well as in function. They include ritual objects (such as gui, bi, huang and jue); ritual weapons (such as ge and jian); tallies (such as jade ‘soul’); display objects (such as reticulated rectangular plaques with serrated edges; trapezoidal plaques with dragon decoration); objects of art (such as jade horse heads); utility objects (such as jade belt hooks, jade belt rings, white jade ear pick, jade buttons); jade ornaments (such as jade bi, huang, huan, xing, xi, and other jade pendants and beads); burial jades (such as han and masks); and ornaments probably made for the sarcophagus (such as fish, shells, and slender plaques with angled ends decorated with dragons).
There are three distinct characteristics on Qin-style jades of the late Spring and Autumn period:
1. Form: predominantly geometric shapes, some that are unique to Qin-style jades, as well as three-dimensional forms such as wheat grain, horse head, duck head, bird head, tortoise, shell, cicada and snail.
2. Decoration: the most distinctive being the incised angular lines that form geometric dragon patterns; some complete with head, eyes, nose, mouth, lips, plume, antler, teeth, claw and body; others merely head without body or head without eyes; some use S scrolls or antlers to represent dragons. Only incised decorations are used on Qin-style jades, no relief carving has appeared as yet.
3. Carving techniques: piercing, drilling, cutting, polishing, inlay and incised decoration.
Since its inception, the harsh northwest environment, the lack of resources, the arduous living conditions and being surrounded by nomadic tribes have forged the stoic characters of the Qin State. This uniquely masculine quality manifests in the angled, clean geometric shapes and decorations of Qin-style jades.
* The content of the current introduction mainly derives from Shaanxi Chutu Dongzhou Yuqi (Excavated Eastern Zhou Jades in Shaanxi) by Liu Yunhui, former Vice Director of the Shaanxi Cultural Relics Bureau. This publication includes the most complete collection of Qin-style jades which is invaluable to researchers, for which I offer my gratitude.
In 1996, the Chinese Culture and Fine Arts Association published Zhouyuan yuqi (Jades of the Zhou Plain), which was penned by Mr. Liu Yunhui. This book took three years to finish and includes abundant materials, widely considered the standard for dating developmental Chinese jades. I still remember meeting Mr. Liu, who was Head of Cultural Relics Department of Shaanxi Cultural Relics Bureau, in the Chang Foundation on the 14th November 1998. I enjoyed our conversation very much and benefited greatly from it. The next time I met him was in the Taipei Palace Museum in 2012, at The Cultural Grandeur of the Western Zhou Dynasty exhibition. He was the vice director of Cultural Exchange Association of Shaanxi, which was responsible for this large scale exhibition and the publication of its catalogue, making incalculable contribution to cross-strait cultural exchange.
Chang Wei-Hwa
The Qin a state lasted 550 years, from 770 BC when Duke Xiang of Qin was first invested with a dukedom by the King Ping of Zhou, until 221 BC when the first Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, conquered six other states to form a unified country. Emerging as a small insignificant state in the northwest corner, it rose to become one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period, then one of the Seven Strong States of the Warring States period, until the unification of China. Apart from various political, economical and military factors at play, it owes its success in large part to its constant assimilation of other cultures.
Compared to the other states in the Central Plain, Qin’s establishment is relatively late, and is situated at the north west corner, neighbouring the Rong and Di tribes. It is said in Shiji: Qin Benji (Records of the Grand Historian: Chronicle of Qin), ‘Qin is situated remotely at Yongzhou, and it did not attend the Alliance Meetings of the central states, but met with the Yi and Zhai tribes.’ It is in this isolated existence away from the eastern states that Qin was able to cultivate the land of Shaanxi and Guanzhong, incorporating the remnant Zhou people and their culture to form a localised ethnic ‘Qin Culture’, which, concurrently, includes many elements from tribal cultures.
From a stylistic point of view, Qin artifacts vary in form, decoration and techniques of manufacture to those of the eastern states and are very distinctive. Archaic jades from the Qin states are therefore categorised as ‘Qin-style jades’ in academia.
Qin-style jades have been excavated mainly at the Qin capital Yongcheng in Fengxiang County, Shaanxi; the tomb of Duke Jing of Qin at Zhihuicun, south of Fengxiang County; the Qin tomb No.2 at Yimencun in Baoji; Qin capital Xianyang; the sacrificial pit dated to late Warring States to Qin Dynasty to the north of Xi’an; as well as examples of Qin-style jades found in tombs dated to early Western Han. From excavated examples we could see that Qin-style jades first appeared in early Spring and Autumn period and reached a zenith during late Spring and Autumn period. Although the style continues through the Warring States period, it was already in decline.
Qin-style jades dated to the late Spring and Autumn period are the most numerous, and most varied in from as well as in function. They include ritual objects (such as gui, bi, huang and jue); ritual weapons (such as ge and jian); tallies (such as jade ‘soul’); display objects (such as reticulated rectangular plaques with serrated edges; trapezoidal plaques with dragon decoration); objects of art (such as jade horse heads); utility objects (such as jade belt hooks, jade belt rings, white jade ear pick, jade buttons); jade ornaments (such as jade bi, huang, huan, xing, xi, and other jade pendants and beads); burial jades (such as han and masks); and ornaments probably made for the sarcophagus (such as fish, shells, and slender plaques with angled ends decorated with dragons).
There are three distinct characteristics on Qin-style jades of the late Spring and Autumn period:
1. Form: predominantly geometric shapes, some that are unique to Qin-style jades, as well as three-dimensional forms such as wheat grain, horse head, duck head, bird head, tortoise, shell, cicada and snail.
2. Decoration: the most distinctive being the incised angular lines that form geometric dragon patterns; some complete with head, eyes, nose, mouth, lips, plume, antler, teeth, claw and body; others merely head without body or head without eyes; some use S scrolls or antlers to represent dragons. Only incised decorations are used on Qin-style jades, no relief carving has appeared as yet.
3. Carving techniques: piercing, drilling, cutting, polishing, inlay and incised decoration.
Since its inception, the harsh northwest environment, the lack of resources, the arduous living conditions and being surrounded by nomadic tribes have forged the stoic characters of the Qin State. This uniquely masculine quality manifests in the angled, clean geometric shapes and decorations of Qin-style jades.
* The content of the current introduction mainly derives from Shaanxi Chutu Dongzhou Yuqi (Excavated Eastern Zhou Jades in Shaanxi) by Liu Yunhui, former Vice Director of the Shaanxi Cultural Relics Bureau. This publication includes the most complete collection of Qin-style jades which is invaluable to researchers, for which I offer my gratitude.
In 1996, the Chinese Culture and Fine Arts Association published Zhouyuan yuqi (Jades of the Zhou Plain), which was penned by Mr. Liu Yunhui. This book took three years to finish and includes abundant materials, widely considered the standard for dating developmental Chinese jades. I still remember meeting Mr. Liu, who was Head of Cultural Relics Department of Shaanxi Cultural Relics Bureau, in the Chang Foundation on the 14th November 1998. I enjoyed our conversation very much and benefited greatly from it. The next time I met him was in the Taipei Palace Museum in 2012, at The Cultural Grandeur of the Western Zhou Dynasty exhibition. He was the vice director of Cultural Exchange Association of Shaanxi, which was responsible for this large scale exhibition and the publication of its catalogue, making incalculable contribution to cross-strait cultural exchange.