CHINE, DYNASTIE QING, XVIIIEME SIECLE

Of the six ritual jade forms mentioned in the Zhouli ('The Rites of Zhou', probably compiled in the 3rd century BC), the bi disc with central hole seems to have appeared earliest in Chinese material culture, and remained popular to the present day. Jade bi were being made in the Neolithic period (c. 6000- c. 1700), and in the Liangzhu culture, which flourished in eastern China between 3000 and 2000 BC, the bi and the cong appear most frequently in tombs. Two sections in the Zhouli provide particular information on jade bi. One section contains an instruction to 'Use jade to make six auspicious [objects], to rank the various states', noting that: 'The fourth-ranking noble holds the gu bi; The fifth-ranking noble holds the pu bi' (translated by Ming Wilson in Chinese Jades, London, 2004, p. 10). Another section contains the instruction to 'Use jade to make six [ritual] objects, to sacrifice to Heaven, Earth and the Four Directions', noting 'A blue bi to sacrifice to Heaven' (ibid.). While the ritual use of jade bi was revived in a number of periods, over centuries its ritual importance diminished and in the Qing dynasty both antique and contemporary bi were often used for decorative purposes.
In the reign of the Qianlong Emperor jade carving received new impetus both in terms of imperial patronage and also in the availability of jade material. The Qianlong Emperor's passionate interest in jade was expressed in a variety of ways, including that approximately 800 of his poems took jade as their subject, whether commenting on their aesthetic qualities or aspects of their manufacture.