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A RARE INSCRIBED WHITE JADE GE BLADEHsiung Yi-ChingCompiled by Xiong Yi-JingThe white jade blade is dated to late Shang period, and is 29.5 cm. long with a 20.5 cm. shaft; the handle is 7.5 cm. wide and 9 cm. long. It is opaque white in colour with some light brown inclusions. The blade tapers to a sharp triangle with a downward tip, and has a spine and twin knife edges. It has a straight handle with an L-shaped profile at the end. There is a circular aperture at the top of the handle between the guard, and incised decoration on the handle consisting of a band of lozenges flanked by double lines. There is a vertical four-character inscription Qi hou Mi yong（㠱侯彌用）in oracle bone script near the top edge before the guard. The inscription and the decoration are carved with sharp and unlaboured lines. It is polished overall with sophisticated craftsmanship, and made for ceremonial purposes. This dagger-axe, ge, is closely related to the Shang Dynasty jade dagger-axe (fig. 1) inscribed with the characters Zuo Ce Wu, excavated in Yelin Village in Qingyang county, Gansu province, and now in the Gansu Qingyang Municipal Museum (fig. 1); it is also comparable to several jade dagger-axes excavated in 1976 from the tomb of Fuhao in Henan province. It is extremely rare to find archaic jades from the late Shang, Western and Eastern Zhou periods bearing inscriptions. Notable examples include those excavated in the Guo Kingdom tombs, such as the jade ge inscribed with four characters xiao chen Xi, the jade cong with the characters xiao chen Tuo jian and the jade cylindrical bead with wang Bai, all from the tomb of Guo Zhong excavated in 1990; the jade pendant inscribed wang Bai from the tomb of Meng Ji excavated in the same year; and another jade ge inscribed with three characters xiao chen from the tomb of Madame Guo Ji excavated in 1991. There is also the jade ge inscribed with the characters Bi gong zuo yu excavated in 1996 from the Warring States tomb in Tanggonglu, Luoyang, Henan Province. In the Tianjin Municipal Art Museum there are the Shang Dynasty jade fragment carved with cyclical-date characters, and the jade staff finial inscribed with Xing qi ming (‘Maxim on the Circulation of Qi’ with 45 characters) previously in the collection of Republic collector Li Mugong (1877-1950). In the Freer Gallery in Washington there is the jade ge inscribed with the characters tai bao, dated to the Early Western Zhou period and once in the collection of late Qing collector Duan Fang (1861-1911). Each of these pieces is an important example in the fields of Chinese philology and history. The current white jade ge inscribed Qi hou Mi yong (For the use of Marquis Mi of Qi) appears to be the only jade known to bear the character Qi, while Mi is possibly the name of the Marquis of Qi. The character Qi appears on Shang oracle bones, such as the one inscribed with lao Qihou (old Marquis of Qi) (Heji , 36416); as well as the one recording military activities of the Qi state (Jia, 2398 and 5877) - evidence that Qi was the name of a vassal state since the Shang period.Amongst archaic bronze vessels dated to the Shang and Zhou periods, those bearing the name Qi were excavated in a wide variety of locations, including Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi and Liaoning. Some scholars postulate that perhaps the Qi armies regularly accompanied the Shang and Zhou Kings on their military campaigns. Furthermore, the inscription on the ‘Wangfu’ yi vessel (fig. 2), now in the Shanghai Museum, indicates that Lady Mengjiang of Qi was married to the King, showing the close alliance of the two houses. Several other excavated vessels bearing this clan name attest to the wide ranging influence of the Qi state in the Shang and Zhou periods, including the ‘Qi Bozi An Fu Zheng’ xu vessels (fig. 3), ‘Qi Bo An Fu’ yi vessel (fig. 4), ’Qi Bo An Fu’ pan vessel (fig. 5), all excavated in Nanfucun in Shandong, 1951; ‘Qi Hou’ ding vessel (fig. 6) excavated in Shangkuangcun in Shandong, 1969; the ‘Pei’ fangding vessel excavated in Beidongcun in Liaoning, 1973; the ‘Qi Mu’ ding vessel excavated in Qizhen in Shaanxi, 1973.Even though there are many oracle bone and bronze examples of this clan name, Qi did not appear in ancient textual references until the Eastern Han period, when historian Wei Hong wrote in Gu Wenguan shu: Qi (㠱)is the name of an ancient state, synonymous with Qi (杞). Although he did not provide any textual evidence for this claim, it was taken as true by successive scholars such as Ding Du (990-1053) when he was chief editor of official dictionaries, Xue Shanggong (?-?) in the Southern Song period, and Xu Han (1797-1866) and Chen Jieqi (1813-1884) of the mid-Qing period. However, linguist and philologist Duan Yucai (1735-1815) in the Qianlong/Jiaqing period had a different theory: ‘According to Jiyun, Qi is the name of an ancient state. Wei Hong claimed that it is synonymous to Qi (杞). This is because Wei Hong claims Qi is the Qi of Qi Song (杞宋)，however this claim is from a Tang source citing spuriously Wei Hong’s Guwen Guanshu, and is unreliable.’ Late Qing bronze-script scholar Fang Ruiyi (1815-1899) offers a more substantial theory with his research on bronze scripts. His research shows that Qi (杞) state was formed by the Si Clan, while the Qi (㠱) state was formed by the Jiang Clan, so are therefore two separate states. His study of the ‘Wangfu’ yi vessel in the Shanghai Museum concludes that Qi (㠱) is actually synonymous with Ji (紀) in the Classics. Unfortunately his book was not published until 1935, so his theory did not become influential until later. As an example, renowned oracle-bone script scholar Dong Zuobin (1895-1963) stated in his 1932 publication Jiaguwen duandai yanjiu li (‘Examples for dating Oracle bone scripts’) that ‘Marquis of Qi was written as 杞 in the time of King Wuding, but became 㠱 at the time of King Xing. 杞and 㠱are old and new forms of the same character.’ This is in line with Wei Hong’s claim. However in his 1936 publication Wudeng jue zai yinshang (‘Five Classes of Nobilities in the Shang Dynasty’), he switched to the view that Qi is synonymous with Ji in the Classics, very possibly influenced by Fang Ruiyi. Moreover, most philologists and historians in more recent times, such as Yang Shuda (1885-1956), Guo Moruo (1892-1978). Zeng Yigong (1903-1991), Chen Mengjia (1911-1966) etc., all agree with Fang Ruiyi’s theory.The Qi State was formed by the Jiang clan, which was descended from Shennong the Yan Emperor, and was one of the ancient ‘Eight Great Surnames’. In the Baijiaxing (‘Hundred Surnames’) compiled in early Norther Song period, all of the five hundred surnames included were supposedly ‘descended from the Eight Great Surnames of Antiquity’. Ancient Chinese societies were matriarchal, and the character for ‘surname’, xing (姓), is written with the particle nü (女‘woman’) and sheng (生‘to give birth’), just as all Eight Great Surnames are written with a nü particle. There are two groupings of Eight Great Surnames, the first: Ji (姬), Jiang (姜), Si (姒), Ying (嬴), Yun (妘), Gui (媯), Yao (姚), Ji (姞); the second: Ji (姬), Jiang (姜), Si (姒), Ying (嬴), Yun (妘), Gui (媯), Yao (姚), Ren (妊). In matriarchal societies polyandry is practiced and a wife can have multiple husbands, so children have many fathers without knowing for certain which is the biological father. Interestingly, some societies in southern China still call their mothers die (爹 dad). The character die is written with the particle fu (父father) and duo (多many), and is how children called their mothers in ancient matriarchal societies. It is said that during the time of the Yellow Emperor, men gradually became dominant in matrimony, but women still played an important role in society. For example, Fuhao, whose tomb was excavated in 1976 in Henan, was one of Shang Dynasty King Wuding’s many concubines, and became well-known to scholars because we were able to identify her from oracle bone inscriptions not only as a high level priestess, but also a combative female general who conquered many neighbouring states, a very unique case in history.According to Diwang shiji (Chronicles of Emperors and Kings) written by historian Huangfu Mi (215-282) of Western Jin, the ancestor of Qi state, Shennong the Yan Emperor ‘... was surnamed Jiang. His mother was surnamed Rensi, daughter of Youqiao, and named Nüdeng. She once travelled to the south of Mt. Hua, and conceived Yan Emperor while strolling when she came in contact with a divine dragon. He was born with a human body and a buffalo head, grew up in the Jiang river and had great virtues. As fire follows wood, and he was born in the South, he was called Yan (inflame) Emperor. First he settled in Chen, then moved to Lu. He was also called Kuisou, Lianshan and Lieshan. He was emperor for 120 years before he passed away, and his dynasty lasted eight generations to Yugang, totalling 530 years. The Zhoushu recorded: During Shennong’s times, the heaven rained down grains, and Shennon planted and cultivated them. He also invented pottery and the axe. The Gushi kao recorded: The Yan Emperor corresponds to fire, so all his ministry and troops are named after fire. Lu Jing recorded in Dianyu: Shennong tasted all the herbs and distinguished those that bore grains, thereafter people started eating grains.’ Furthermore, it is recorded that Shennong‘…was the first to teach people to plant the five grains as food, so that killing can be averted. He tasted plants to distinguish those that can be used as medicine, thereby saving many from premature death or injury. Common people benefit from this daily while oblivious. He wrote four scrolls on herbology.’ This expounds on the tradition of Yan Emperor being the founder of Chinese medicine, and the first ever book of Chinese herbology, Bencaojing of the Han Dynasty, is also called Shennong Bencaojing. In Shiji it is recorded: ‘The Shennong clan went into decline during the time of Xuanyuan.’ According to ancient accounts, the Shennong clan existed for over 500 years before the Yellow Emperor (of Xuanyuan clan) appeared. The Yellow Emperor rose to replace Shennong as the leader, and one of the tribes of the Shennong clan joined forces with the Yellow Emperor to defeat Chiyou in the Battle of Zhulu. Historian Xu Zhuoyun considers the amalgamation of Yan and Yellow Emperors’ tribes the beginning of the ancient Huaxia tribe. This is why the Huaxia people are known as the ‘offspring of Yan and Huang’, out of respect for these two figures. Academic research is indeed daunting work with a vast amount of information to consider, however, with new excavations and progressive textual comparisons, I believe the history of ancient Qi State will gradually come to light. As an actual relic, the current white jade ‘Qihou Mi yong’ ge blade will no doubt shed new light, both in academia and in the collecting world, in the research of inscriptions on archaic jades.
A HIGHLY IMPORTANT INSCRIBED ‘MARQUIS MI’ WHITE JADE GE-HALBERD BLADE
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, C. 1300-1100 BC
Details
A HIGHLY IMPORTANT INSCRIBED ‘MARQUIS MI’ WHITE JADE GE-HALBERD BLADE
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, C. 1300-1100 BC
The blade is carved with a median ridge extending on both sides with bevelled edges continuing to where the blade begins to taper to the point, with a hole drilled through the tang below incised cross-hatching design between horizontal lines. A four-character inscription in oracle-bone script, Qi hou Mi yong, ‘for the use of the Marquis Mi of Qi ’, is incised in a vertical line next to the hafting bar. The jade has a superb even creamy-white tone with an unctuous texture.
11 ½ in. (29.8 cm.) long, box
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, C. 1300-1100 BC
The blade is carved with a median ridge extending on both sides with bevelled edges continuing to where the blade begins to taper to the point, with a hole drilled through the tang below incised cross-hatching design between horizontal lines. A four-character inscription in oracle-bone script, Qi hou Mi yong, ‘for the use of the Marquis Mi of Qi ’, is incised in a vertical line next to the hafting bar. The jade has a superb even creamy-white tone with an unctuous texture.
11 ½ in. (29.8 cm.) long, box
Provenance
Jinhuatang Collection, acquired in Taipei in 1998