The Cultivation of Virtue by JadeTeng Shup’ingResearcher (retired), National Palace Museum, TaipeiINTRODUCTIONDr. Yang Chun-hsiung was an archaic jade collector of great renown in the collecting world of Taiwan. Not only is his refined collection of archaic jades the envy of others, those who knew him recognised unanimously his unique combination of piercing wisdom and humility. Perhaps these fine virtues were the result of being in close contact with archaic jade over a long period of time. It was probably why he named his collection Yangdetang, ‘The Hall of the Cultivation of Virtue’.There were three exhibitions in Taipei that featured Dr. Yang’s archaic jade collection. His first solo exhibition was held in the Chang Foundation in January 1993, and included over a hundred pieces. Subsequently, in October 1995 and October 1999, he lent 55 and 65 pieces/sets respectively to the joint exhibitions of private collectors in the National Palace Museum. These were published in two dedicated catalogues Collectors’ Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades and 1999 Collector’s Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades written by the current author.Dr. Yang’s collection is mainly focused on archaic jades made between the Neolithic and the Han periods, spanning almost 6000 years from the late Xinglongwa Culture to the Eastern Han Dynasty (circa 5500 B.C. to A.D. 220). This is the classical period in the history of Chinese jades, and each piece is imbued with a deep cultural significance.While editing 1999 Collector’s Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades, Dr. Yang expressed his wish for me to write a dedicated catalogue for his collection. I declined at the time due to an overflow of official engagements, but promised that I would consider when I retire. Regrettably, Dr. Yang passed away before I retired. This essay on the select pieces in his collection is my dedication and respect to the memory of an old friend.Eighteen years have passed since the exhibition and publication of 1999 Collector’s Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades. In this time, archaeology in China has advanced in leaps and bounds, and many important relics were unearthed. The earnest push to identify ‘the Origins of Chinese Civilization’ meant a more plausible framework was established for the development between the Neolithic period to early historical cultures. With such strong academic impetus, there is understandably much progress in the research of Chinese archaic jades. By using the examples in the Yangdetang Collection, I aim to illustrate this in three short chapters. (Note 1)Jade Takes on an Emblematic Role(Circa 6200-3500 B.c.)On the land mass across East Asia that would eventually become China proper lies a mountain range that stretches along the North-East and South-West axis: Greater Khingan Mountains (Daxing’anling), Taihang Mountains, Wu Mountains and Xuefeng Mountains. To the West of this range are mountains or high plateaux, constituting the dry Huaxi (China’s Western region) area. To the East, it is mostly plains and low hills bordering on the sea, forming the low and humid Huadong (China’s Eastern region) area. The differences in biogeography resulted in varied cultural landscapes. From very early on, the Chinese jade culture developed different styles in the East and West.From making and polishing stone tools, the prehistorical people discovered a special mineral that was hard, strong and durable, and gave a beautiful luster when polished – what we now call ‘jade’. It was first used for ornaments and tools. It was probably a symbol of special status for the owner, but not yet a conduit between man and spirit.Probably for geological reasons, it was difficult to extract jade in Western China area. Records show that the Eastern Chinese people were the first to develop jade workmanship. Around 6000 B.C., they started using nephrite to make ornaments and simple tools like axes and adzes. The Xinglongwa Culture at the border of Liaoning and Inner Mongolia, for example, yielded many circular ear-ornaments and knife-shaped ornaments. The Xinkailiu Culture located around the Amur River (Heilong Jiang) and its tributary the Ussuri River (Usulijiang), yielded many small jade huan and bi discs.Not until around 5000 B.C. did jade start to appear in the Western China area. The Yangshao Culture sites located around the upper to middle course of the Yellow River, such as the Longgangsi site in Hanzhong, Shaanxi and the Dadiwan site in Qin’an, Gansu, yielded many jade tools such as chisels, adzes, axes, shovels and knives, as well as some simple ornaments. Whether in Eastern or Western China, jades are normally excavated in larger tombs, accompanied often by various other funerary objects. This is a sign that societies are already becoming hierarchical around 6000- 5000 B.C., and fine jades were monopolized as a rare commodity by the ruling class. Jades during this period were emblems of the wearers’ high status.A pair of ear ornaments in the Yangdetang Collection (lot 2701) is carved in a thick rounded square form, similar to those excavated in Bai Yinchanghan in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. This type of square round and thick form ear ornaments is also found in the Kuwano site in Japan, and the Yakut site in Siberia. We can thus tentatively date it to the late Xinglongwa Culture to early Hongshan Culture (5500-4000 B.C.).Jade Takes on SacrificialFunctions (Circa 3500-1600 B.C.)From 3500 B.C. onwards, namely 5500 years ago, the social hierarchy became even more pronounced. Archeological data show that the people in Eastern and Western China areas developed jades of diverging forms and decorations, all made as a medium between man and spirit. This is evidence that the pre-historical people of these two areas had very different belief systems, and therefore different worshipping rituals. The current essay illustrates this with a map (page 13).Broadly speaking, the Eastern Chinese people were keen observers of different life forms and their transformations, and venerated the power of their metamorphosis from larvae or embryo to mature adult. They believed that animals can enhance shamans’ power of communication with the gods. Excavations of high-ranking, larger tombs, probably belonging to shamans, often found the occupant wearing on his head, chest or wrists various jade ornaments carved with representational or semi-abstract animalistic decorations. The jade animals found around the legs are normally drilled with attachment holes, presumably to be sewn to the lower hems of the ceremonial robe. Jade axes that symbolise power are sometimes carved with the god/ancestor pattern. Only jade bi discs are left plain and undecorated. Not until late Liangzhu Culture (circa 2600-2300 B.C.) were bi discs carved with symbols relating to heavenly phenomena, probably a form of ‘code of communication with the gods’.Thus, in the Eastern China area, jades are commonly carved into the embryonic forms of insects, reptiles or mammals (fig. 01 and 02), or with animal masks centered on a pair of large eyes (fig. 03). The ‘heavenly conduit’ - a cap-shaped object - is also frequently featured, and can be traced to the headdress with a rising point in the centre worn by the ‘round-eyed god/ancestor’ (fig. 04) on the pottery bowl of the Hemudu Culture, excavated from the third strata (circa 4500-4000 B.C.). The cap-shaped object in fig.3 is carved as a ‘pointed headdress’; the drilled holes along the base are for attachment of pins, to better secure the headdress to the head. It is considered a ‘heavenly medium’ that can help obtain divination or protection.The tradition of using the pointed design to symbolise ‘heavenly conduit’ is of great significance. In the Longshan Culture, developed after 2300 B.C., a decorative motif termed ‘Eastern China-style tooth marks’ appeared. Jades carved with ‘Eastern China-style tooth marks’, such as the jade qi axe in fig. 05, were used in votive rituals as a musical or dance instrument, as well as a ritual object. This point is highlighted here since there are several jades in the Yangdetang Collection carved with ‘Eastern-Chinastyle tooth marks’.To summarize, after 3500 B.C., the worship of ‘animal spirits’ was widespread in the Eastern China area, and shamans enjoyed an exulted status. Most examples from archeological excavations are jade carvings of ‘spiritual animals’ found in high-ranking tombs.By comparing the geographical locations and thematic similarities of excavated jades, Mr. Li Xinwei proposed the idea of an ‘elite communication network’ – the possibility of exchange of religious and cosmological ideas between the ruling classes of areas not adjacent to each other. The map here clearly illustrates that, the Liao River area in Dongbei (Northeast) and the Chao Lake - Lake Tai areas around the lower course of the Yangzi River share similar jade carvings of embryonic animals, animal masks and humanoid figures.However, a completely different system of ritual jades developed in the Western China area. In the tombs of mid-to-late Yangshao Culture in Xipo of Lingbao, Henan, both sexes were in possession of jade yue adzes, which were placed with the curved blades facing towards the head of the tomb occupants. The practice which allows both sexes to possess jade weapons, and of placing or holding the weapons with their blades upwards, is the Western Chinese tradition of using jades as emblems.More significantly, the Miaodigou Culture of Yangguanzhai in Gaoling, Shaanxi (circa 3500 B.C.) yielded a well-polished stone bi disc, and two fragments from square tube-shaped objects, each with a very slight collar around the hole (fig. 06, 07). (Note 2) This tangible representation of the ‘circular vs. square’ tradition continued to develop around the upper to middle course of the Yellow River, and, with future archeological excavations, we can hopefully piece together a more complete reconstruction of the development process of bi and cong around this area in the third millennia B.C.. By 2300 B.C., the ritual practice of combining bi and cong had already been developed, and can be seen in the excavations of early Qijia Culture tombs (fig. 08, 09).We can surmise, therefore, that the Western Chinese prehistoric people observed cosmological changes of the four seasons, as well as those from dawn to dusk. They further contemplated the wax and wane of lifeforms, and the permanence and impermanence of things, thus developed their unique views of primordial essence and cosmology. By principle of synesthesia they created jade discs and square columns with a central aperture as ritual objects in sacrifices, and often buried sets of them in sacrificial pits. Currently a burial pit with as many as four bi discs and four cong was recorded in an excavation in the Jingning area in Gansu.In the third millennia B.C., this ‘circular-square cosmology’ and ‘bi-cong ritual practice’ could have spread to the lower course of the Yangzi river by means of the ‘elite communication network’ between unconnected areas. This caused the people of late Liangzhu Culture to abandon the previously prevalent ‘embryonic animal spirits’ theme, and started making tall, multi-sectioned, square-sided cong, adapted from shamans’ square bangles with slightly convex sides.There are many Hongshan Culture examples in the Yangdetang Collection: the jade silkworm pupa (lot 2702) and the jade dragon (lot 2703) illustrate the embryonic state of insects and reptiles; the jade staff pommel with animal masks (lot 2705) and the jade ornament with a toothed animal mask (lot 2704) are clearly decorated with animal masks; the representational jade bird (lot 2708) and the staff with abstract bird decoration (lot 2706) are both related to the worship of the ‘mythical bird’ in the ancient Eastern China area.There are also some Liangzhu Culture examples of jade bi and cong (lots 2709, 2710, 2712) in the Yangdetang Collection, with the latter decorated with animal masks. The Qijia Culture bi (lot 2713) and cong (lot 2714) are classically elegant; and the ‘triple- huang bi disc’ (lot 2711) have three almost equally-sized jade components. The author has previously written that the multi-huang bi discs originated in Qijia Culture, and the design makes use of the the gaps between the jade parts to denote the radiating light of the sun, so was possibly related to sun worship. From the excavations conducted in Shizhaocun and Lajia, it is evident that the ‘triple-huang bi discs’ were used in ritual worships, not as ornaments. (Note 3) The late Qijia Culture advanced aggressively eastward, reaching the present-day Shanxi area. The multi-huang bi discs excavated in Qingliangsi and Taosi were often made by joining pieces of jades of diverse sizes and quality, to be used as wrist ornaments.Around 2050 B.C., probably as a result of conflicts over the salt in Xiechi Lake in the Yuncheng Basin, the Shanxi area became the intersection of Eastern and Western Cultures. As shown on the map, the convergence of the decorated cong of Eastern China and the plain cong of Western China gave rise to the jade cong with vertical incised lines excavated at Qingliangsi: the single line-drawing in the centre of the map. It was wrongly recorded to be dated to the earlier Miao’er Culture in 2006, leading many scholars to believe that it was a by-product of Liangzhu Culture’s transmission towards the Northwest. Recently it was re-dated by the excavator to be from Longshan Culture tombs, and no earlier than 2050 B.C. This will hopefully put a stop to the erroneous theories in academia of the past many years.Some scholars argue that Qijia Culture originated around 2600 B.C. However, most Qijia Culture relics are dated to between 2300-1500 B.C. Concurrent in the Western China area was Shimao Culture in Northern Shaanxi, noted for its black jade yazhang blades and long knives.After Hongshan and Liangzhu Cultures diminished in succession in the Eastern China area, the Longshan Culture in Shandong (circa 2300-1700 B.C.), a continuation of Dawenkou Culture, developed around the lower course of the Yellow River. At the middle course of the Yangzi River, the Post-Shijiahe Culture (circa 2100-1700 B.C.) suddenly emerged on the Yangzi-Han Plain after Shijiahe Culture. Significantly, Shandong and Yangzi-Han, two unconnected areas, perhaps through the ‘elite communication networks’, exchanged the ideas of yin-yang binary deity-ancestor figures.The jade ancestor mask (lot 2722) is a typical example of Post- Shijiahe Culture. It was probably once fitted at the top with a ‘pointed headdress’ of jade or some other material, which is now lost.The bird-form hairpin (lot 2721) from the Post-Shijiahe Culture is inserted upright into the Shaman’s hair, and probably a ritual object to increase Shamans’ powers of communication with heaven.It was not until the excavation of Tanjialing in Hubei in 2015 were we able to date the jade tiger (lot 2723) to the Post-Shijiahe Culture. This invites further consideration on the identification of the jade yue adze (lot 2717) (fig. 10). Which ancient culture did it belong to? From its material of mottled green nephrite, and its trapezoid form, it should be categorized as a jade weapon from the Longshan Culture in Shandong. However, the head of the incised profile of tiger is stylistically closely related to Post-Shijiahe Culture. Below the tiger’s mouth is a deity-ancestor wearing a capsized boat-shaped hat and with loose hair, also frequently seen in Post-Shijiahe Culture.Why would a Longshan Culture jade yue adze be carved with Post-Shijiahe Culture decorations? Is the decoration illustrating ‘tiger eating man’ or ‘tiger spirit protecting deity-ancestor’? This calls for further research.The Erlitou Culture (circa 1800-1550 B.C.) located around Erlitou in Yanshi, Henan, was probably the political centre of late Xia Dynasty. There are many examples in the Yangdetang Collection that may be dated to the Erlitou Culture, and many are carved with the ‘Eastern China-style tooth marks’ design evolved from the ‘pointed headdress’. One of them are clearly adapted from a jade bi disc (lot 2718).THE FUSION PERIOD OF EASTERN AND WESTERN CULT URES (circa 1600-220B.C.)The Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties are called ‘The Three Dynasties’ by historians, and were governed by Western, Eastern and Western Chinese peoples respectively; they were three successive dominant dynasties in Central China.The Erlitou Culture, probably of the Xia Dynasty, yielded jades of both the Western Chinese style, such as large knives, yazhang and ge blades; and the Eastern Chinese style, with its unique forms and symbolisms, such as the ‘handle-shaped object’ evolved from the deity-ancestor figures of Post-Shijiahe Culture, as well as weapons like qi blade and knives that are decorated with ‘Eastern Chinastyle tooth marks’ around the edges.When the Shang Clan of Eastern China toppled the Xia Dynasty, the yazhang blade and long knife disappeared from Central China, and the ‘handle-shaped object’ which symbolized deity-ancestor became the predominant ritual object in the Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties. Professor Minao Hayashi’s research shows that the undecorated ‘handle-shaped object’ evolved from elongated deity-ancestor figures (figs. 11, 12, 13). The sixteen ‘handle-shaped objects’ inscribed in cinnabar with names of ancestors, excavated in Hougang of Anyang, Henan, further corroborates this theory. Fig. 14 illustrates two of them, inscribed in cinnabar with the names ‘Grandfather Geng’ and ‘Grandfather Jia’. In the Western Zhou period, a new type of handle-shaped object appeared, with added decoration of a phoenix standing above a ‘dragon/man’ pattern, and the edges decorated with ‘Eastern China-style tooth marks’ to emphasise its power to communicate with gods.There are three ‘handle-shaped objects’ in the Yangdetang Collection. Only Lot 2743 is intact and in its original form, while the other two have been altered. Lot 2748 is a undecorated ‘handle-shaped object’, and its slender form is very similar to the example excavated from the Western Zhou tomb in Liutaizi of Jiyang, Shandong. However, its lower half has been trimmed, and it has been sliced open into two halves and drilled with holes. After inspecting it in person, Prof. Minao Hayashi suggested that it has been altered as tallies. Lot 2744 was a ‘handle-shaped object’ finely carved with phoenix pattern, but has been sliced into two trapezoidal jade plaques. The edges have been drilled with rows of holes for the attachment of small agate beads or cylinders, to be used as novel jade pendants around the areas on the sides of the head and shoulders of a lady. Research indicates that this style of jade pendants could have originated from the Northern steppes. (Note 4)The end of the Western Zhou was very turbulent, and rituals were completely overhauled. The belief in the ancient deity-ancestors from the Neolithic period, as represented by ‘handle-shaped objects’ and ‘Eastern China-style tooth marks’, gradually became obsolete. The fact that these sacred ‘handle-shaped objects’ have been altered for other use is an unmistakable proof of this process.Shang, Zhou and Han jades feature predominantly in the Yangdetang Collection, and are mostly of fine material and workmanship. These are often carved with dragons, tigers, birds or humans, a witness to the enduring tradition of the Eastern China area’s ancient ‘animal-spirits’ worship.The pottery, bronze and jade pieces from the Erlitou Culture are seldom decorated with animals. When Shang replaced Xia around 1600 B.C., the two shared fairly similar decorative styles. It was not until late Mid-Shang period, as the state prospered, that the dormant ‘animal-spirits’ worship tradition of ancient Eastern China re-emerged. Animal subjects such as dragon, tiger, bird etc. became more fashionable. In the late Shang period post 1250 B.C., jade animal carvings were very popular. There are many examples of these three-dimensional or flat carvings in the Yangdetang Collection, and all of them were probably ritual objects that were once sewn onto the Shaman’s robes to aid their communication with the spiritual world.The Zhou people of Western China advanced eastward and replaced Shang, establishing a dynasty that lasted 800 years (circa 1046-221 B.C.). In reality, the Zhou ruling class did not control the middle-to-lower course of Yellow River until the Duke of Zhou conquered modern-day Shandong and made Qi and Lu states hereditary land. The typical jade ritual objects of the Zhou Clan were the ‘gui tablet and bi disc combination’ and the ‘multihuang pendant sets ’. The former effectively became the de rigueur jade ritual objects of the succeeding dynasties in the next three thousand years. The two large and magnificent jade ge blades (lot 2720) in the Yangdetang Collection dated to late Shang/early Western Zhou period, are the ‘gui-tablet’ featured in the ‘gui and bi combination’.The components of the ‘multi-huang pendant sets’ in Western Zhou are often pieces taken from Qijia Culture ‘triple-huang bi discs’, reworked with decorations of dragon, tiger etc., and strung together with beads and small cylinders, as shown in fig. 15, were worn around the neck. After mid-Spring and Autumn period, as dresses changed, the formations of pendant sets became less rigid, as shown in figs. 16 and 17, and were often worn from the belt.I would like to make a special mention of Chu-style ritual jades, often neglected by collectors, but containing great cultural significance.During the Eastern Zhou period, Zhou rulers gradually lost their control of power, and the Chu State at the Yangzi River region grew rapidly. The ‘animal-spirits worship’ of ancient Eastern China and the deep-rooted ‘bi-disc worship’ enjoyed a renaissance. Hubei, Hunan and Anhui were the centre of the Chu culture.At some unknown location a jade mine of grass-green-coloured nephrite was uncovered, and the Chu people used it to make sizeable grain-patterned bi discs, grain-patterned huang pendants, as well as a type of pendant seemingly in dragon form, but probably actually denoting a tiger (fig. 18), which I propose calling a hulong (jade tiger/dragon). At the end of the Warring States period a type of bi discs decorated with a band of hulong appeared, the ‘twin-bodied-hulong bi discs’ (fig. 19). The Han ruling family originated from the Chu area, and it is evident from the burials of Early to Middle Western Han nobilities that the ‘twin-bodied-hulong bi discs’ were considered to possess immense powers, able to guide the departed souls to heaven.The grain-patterned bi disc (lot 2777) in the Yangdetang Collection is very similar in material and size to the one recently excavated from the sacrificial pit JSK1 in Xiongjiazhong of Jingzhou, Hubei. These were probably ritual objects in the offering to heaven by the King of Chu. The grain-patterned huang pendant (lot 2776) and the ‘twin-bodied-hulong bi disc’ (lot 2778) are also Chu-style ritual jades. The latter had been extensively altered to opaque white colour due to burial.ConclusionElegant, restrained and lustrous, the beauty of fine jades resonates with the noble, enduring and harmonious aesthetics of the Chinese people. This is the reason Confucians compare a gentleman’s virtue to jade. The Yangdetang Collection is a fine testament to this cultural tradition.Note:1 The colour plates used in the current essay are all examples from the Yangdetang Collection. The line drawings are either of excavated objects or examples in museum collections.2 The line drawing published here is not very accurate. I have been shown a clear colour photograph by the excavator Mr. Wang Weilin, vice director of the Shaanxi History Museum, and it shows a very slight collar around the aperture.3 Teng Shup’ing, ‘Observing the Heaven and Perceiving the Earth, Worshipping the Sun and Adoring the Moon: the mysterious nature of jades from the Qijia Culture’, The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art no. 409: April 2017.4 Huang, Tsuimei, ‘Gleaming and Exuberant: Bead-strings with Trapezoidal Plaque from Western Zhou to the Early Spring and Autumn Period’, Chen Kwang-tzuu ed., Radiance between Bronze and Jade: Archaeology, Art, and Culture of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Taipei, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, 2013.

A PAIR OF JADE EAR ORNAMENTS, JUE

LATE XINGLONGWA CULTURE-EARLY HONGSHAN CULTURE, CIRCA 5500-4000 BC

Details

A PAIR OF JADE EAR ORNAMENTS, JUE
LATE XINGLONGWA CULTURE-EARLY HONGSHAN CULTURE, CIRCA 5500-4000 BC
Each thick disc is carved with a slit from one edge towards the central aperture, the stone is of a green tone with areas of calcification.
1 1/4 in. (3.3 cm.) wide, box

Provenance

The Yangdetang Collection, Taipei, acquired prior to 1999

Literature

Teng Shu-p’ing, Collectors’ Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades, Taipei, 1999, pl. 20

Exhibited

National Palace Museum, Collectors’ Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades, Taipei, 1999, Catalogue, pl. 20

Brought to you by

Stephenie Tsoi

stsoi@christies.com +852 2978 9955

More from Chinese Archaic Jades from The Yangdetang Collection

View All