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拍品专文
THE CURTAIN FALLS, BUT NOT YET GOODBYE
Chang Wei-Hwa
‘The Jade Feast in the Clouds’ concludes this autumn with the last chapter – Qin and Han Dynasties.
Over the past four challenging years, this series of chronologically themed sales aimed at revitalizing the archaic jade market have rolled out according to plan, all on the back of support from jade-loving aficionados and fellow collectors, to whom I owe my deepest gratitude.
All good things must come to an end. The Jade Feast was fortunate to have enthusiastic participation over the past years, but my limited ability was barely enough to put together these four sales, even after over twenty years of collecting. I am acutely aware that there are many gaps and shortfalls in the collection, but I hope this meagre effort can have a ripple effect to entice more collections to come to the fore, thereby enriching the archaic jade market.
The current chapter Qin and Han Dynasties takes into account historical records, excavation reports, museum collections, my own observations over the years as well as the expertise of Mr. Hsiung Yi-Ching, who also authored and edited much of the content.
Lastly, I would like to thank Christie’s Chinese Works of Art Department for providing this platform, as well as all the specialists involved in the last four years.
End note:
There are a few remaining objects in the Yangdetang Collection and from Yunzhongju which will be offered at an opportune time in the future.
THE AWE INSPIRING BEAUTY OF THE TWO HAN DYNASTIES
Hsiung Yi-Ching
Duke Mu of Qin reached the position of one of the Five Hegemonsof Spring and Autumn in the mid-Spring and Autumn period; and Duke Xiao of Qin, advised by Shang Yang in regulatory reforms, was one of the Seven Powers of Warring States. In 221 BC, Ying Zheng, the King of Qin, conquered the other six states to become the first emperor of China, known as Qin Shihuangdi. The Qin Dynasty lasted only 15 years, and ended when Liu Bang entred the Guanzhong Basin, prompting Zi Ying to surrender.
The Qin Dynasty, although short-lived, has many accomplishments: the standardisation of the writing system, carriage width, measuring system and coinage system; the building of expressways, the Honggouand Lingqu canals; the systems of management and selection of officials. The basic structures of government, law, economy and taxation were formed during this time and inherited and built upon by theHan Dynasty. In art and culture, apart from the astounding discovery of the terracotta army, it is very rare to find examples from this period due to the short reign. The jade figures (lot 2701) are one of those rare examples.
Qin’s demise was followed by the short Chu-Han Contention War, won by Liu Bang, who established Han Dynasty. Han Dynasty was divided into Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD) and Eastern Han (25 – 220AD), and often called The Two Han Dynasties by historians. Western Han was established by Liu Bang, the Gaozu Emperor (256 or 247 – 195 BC), with its capital in Chang’an. Eastern Han was established by Liu Xiu, the Guangwu Emperor (5 BC – 57 AD), with its capital in Luoyang. There is a short Xin Dynasty (9 BC – 23 AD) established by Wang Mang (45 BC – 23 AD).
The Han culture and arts are nourished from various rich sources, incorporating the Chu Culture of middle Yangtze River region, the Qi-Lu Culture of lower Yellow River region around Mt. Tai, the Zhongyuan Culture in the middle Yellow River region; the Guanzhong Basin Culture of the upper Yellow and Wei River region, the Northern Culture (Yan-Zhao Culture) in Huabei, around the Haihe Riverregion. It also includes the Bashu Culture to the southwest, the Wu-Yue Culture in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, and the Lingnan Culture to the south of the Wuling Mountains.
The two western expeditions of Zhang Qian (164 -114 BC) saw the beginning of communications between China and the Central Asian countries, and the start of the flourishing trade between East and West, which enabled the forming of Silk Road and laid the foundation for the future establishment of Xiyu Duhu (Protectorate of the Western Regions). Ban Chao (32-102) of Eastern Han, stationed at the western frontier for 30 years, oversaw the continuing economic and cultural exchanges between Han and the western countries and secured the western borders. The Silk Road and the trade with the west brought many artistic and cultural influences, making Han Dynasty the first cosmopolitan culture in Chinese history.
Although Confucianism became the dominant philosophy after Wudi Emperor, Daoist and Legalist ideas were incorporated in the Han ideology. The Han period valued popular literature and art, showing the inclusivity of its culture. Classism and romanticism; stability and flexibility; gravity and dexterity; tradition and creativity; heroism and serenity; naivety and refinement; these contrasts make Han culture and art appear at the same time orthodox yet ground breaking, full of vitality as well as solemnity, forming an all-encompassing style.
Spanning 426 years, the Han Dynasty was mostly a prosperous trading nation with immense power, and its vigor as a great nation and its cosmopolitan characteristics are reflected in excavated objects of this period, especially in the high quality craftsmanship and use of material of the jades.
Due to the success of the Silk Road, the lustrous and fine ‘Khotan jade’ was now obtainable from thousands of miles away, and became the preferred material to make jades for the Han aristocracy, replacing the locally sourced materials of mixed quality that have been popular since the Shang and Zhou periods. The reverence placed on jade by Confucianism also makes jade the de rigueur ornament of choice.
Han dynasty jades have a wide variety of shapes and forms. The ritual objects mostly follow the traditions of Warring States jades, while ornamental, utility or burial jades are much more inventive and many new styles appeared after Wudi Emperor’s reign. In ornamental jades, new forms such as jade dancers, archer’s-ring pendants, Weng Zhong figures, gangmao pendants and ‘compass’ pendants appeared. Animal carvings in the round such as bixie, bear, tiger, buffalo, ram, pig, tortoise, eagle etc. are lifelike and animated, in beautifully lustrous materials, and have become important symbols of Han Dynasty jade carving.
As iron tools became more widely used, lapidary techniques greatly advanced in the Two Han Dynasties. Hollowing, pierced designs, polishing, inlay work, wheel cutting, loose rings, relief work etc. were well developed by this time. In particular, Han badao (eight-cut) and yousi ke (curving-string thread carving) are two of the most important techniques developed in the Han period.
The Beijing Palace Museum has a concise description for Han badao: ‘There is a unique recess carving technique in ancient Chinese lapidary. This technique first appeared on jade bi discs of late Warring States period, and reached maturity in the Han period. It is often seen on jade cicadas, pigs, Weng Zhong figures and some jade bi discs decorated with kui dragons or phoenixes. The technique does not consist of eight knife cuts as its name suggests, but involves the use of angled wheel cut, so is also called daxiedao (very angled cut). The carving is very sharp and done neatly as if in one stroke, almost without any traces of individual wheel marks. Also the recess is polished right down to the end, giving the illusion that it has been cut by a knife, and looks very minimal and effective.’
Yousike was developed in late Spring and Autumn period, became fashionable in mid to late Warring States and reached its zenith in the Two Han Dynasties. It is a technique involving very fine incised lines, including ‘single line’, ‘double line’, ‘straight line’, ‘curved line’ and ‘short diagonal line’ etc., made by connecting minute wheel cuts that varied in thickness, complexity and depth according to different designs. This technique is used to denote fine parallel lines, cloud scrolls, floral scrolls, leaves, animal hair, scales, crisscrosses, facial features on animals, human hair and details of clothing etc.
The varieties of decorations on Han jades are also kaleidoscopic, and can be roughly divided into two types: the first type is geometric designs, most commonly grain pattern, rush-matt pattern and nipple pattern, often found on ritual objects such as huan, bi and huang. The other type is animal patterns, such as dragon, phoenix, chi tiger, bear, eagle and various mythical beasts. These are mostly done in a realistic manner and rendered using recess carving, pierced carving, low relief and high relief carving etc. They differ from the more static and symmetrical compositions found on Shang and Zhou jades, and are much more dynamic and elaborate.
The existing Chinese belief in mythical beasts mixed with tales of strange beasts from the west, further augmented by exotic animals that arrived in China from overseas, gave rise to the creation of jade bixie in the Han Dynasty. Other decorations of mythical beasts are also popular, such as the siling (the four sentients): blue dragon, white tiger, vermilion bird and turtle-snake, which often appears on jade bi discs. Singular dragons or phoenixes are often used to decorate jade bi discs; and on the flanges of bi, or on the outer registers of bi discs with grain and rush-mat patterns we often see decorations of chi dragon, chi tiger, silkworm or leiwen, which make a striking design.
The Han culture and art is inclusive in nature. The jade production became much more centralised and there were many palace as well as private workshops making an unprecedented variety and quantity of jades, which were unsurpassed in terms of their craftsmanship and artistry. They are the most iconic cultural symbols of this illustrious period in Chinese history.
Chang Wei-Hwa
‘The Jade Feast in the Clouds’ concludes this autumn with the last chapter – Qin and Han Dynasties.
Over the past four challenging years, this series of chronologically themed sales aimed at revitalizing the archaic jade market have rolled out according to plan, all on the back of support from jade-loving aficionados and fellow collectors, to whom I owe my deepest gratitude.
All good things must come to an end. The Jade Feast was fortunate to have enthusiastic participation over the past years, but my limited ability was barely enough to put together these four sales, even after over twenty years of collecting. I am acutely aware that there are many gaps and shortfalls in the collection, but I hope this meagre effort can have a ripple effect to entice more collections to come to the fore, thereby enriching the archaic jade market.
The current chapter Qin and Han Dynasties takes into account historical records, excavation reports, museum collections, my own observations over the years as well as the expertise of Mr. Hsiung Yi-Ching, who also authored and edited much of the content.
Lastly, I would like to thank Christie’s Chinese Works of Art Department for providing this platform, as well as all the specialists involved in the last four years.
End note:
There are a few remaining objects in the Yangdetang Collection and from Yunzhongju which will be offered at an opportune time in the future.
THE AWE INSPIRING BEAUTY OF THE TWO HAN DYNASTIES
Hsiung Yi-Ching
Duke Mu of Qin reached the position of one of the Five Hegemonsof Spring and Autumn in the mid-Spring and Autumn period; and Duke Xiao of Qin, advised by Shang Yang in regulatory reforms, was one of the Seven Powers of Warring States. In 221 BC, Ying Zheng, the King of Qin, conquered the other six states to become the first emperor of China, known as Qin Shihuangdi. The Qin Dynasty lasted only 15 years, and ended when Liu Bang entred the Guanzhong Basin, prompting Zi Ying to surrender.
The Qin Dynasty, although short-lived, has many accomplishments: the standardisation of the writing system, carriage width, measuring system and coinage system; the building of expressways, the Honggouand Lingqu canals; the systems of management and selection of officials. The basic structures of government, law, economy and taxation were formed during this time and inherited and built upon by theHan Dynasty. In art and culture, apart from the astounding discovery of the terracotta army, it is very rare to find examples from this period due to the short reign. The jade figures (lot 2701) are one of those rare examples.
Qin’s demise was followed by the short Chu-Han Contention War, won by Liu Bang, who established Han Dynasty. Han Dynasty was divided into Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD) and Eastern Han (25 – 220AD), and often called The Two Han Dynasties by historians. Western Han was established by Liu Bang, the Gaozu Emperor (256 or 247 – 195 BC), with its capital in Chang’an. Eastern Han was established by Liu Xiu, the Guangwu Emperor (5 BC – 57 AD), with its capital in Luoyang. There is a short Xin Dynasty (9 BC – 23 AD) established by Wang Mang (45 BC – 23 AD).
The Han culture and arts are nourished from various rich sources, incorporating the Chu Culture of middle Yangtze River region, the Qi-Lu Culture of lower Yellow River region around Mt. Tai, the Zhongyuan Culture in the middle Yellow River region; the Guanzhong Basin Culture of the upper Yellow and Wei River region, the Northern Culture (Yan-Zhao Culture) in Huabei, around the Haihe Riverregion. It also includes the Bashu Culture to the southwest, the Wu-Yue Culture in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, and the Lingnan Culture to the south of the Wuling Mountains.
The two western expeditions of Zhang Qian (164 -114 BC) saw the beginning of communications between China and the Central Asian countries, and the start of the flourishing trade between East and West, which enabled the forming of Silk Road and laid the foundation for the future establishment of Xiyu Duhu (Protectorate of the Western Regions). Ban Chao (32-102) of Eastern Han, stationed at the western frontier for 30 years, oversaw the continuing economic and cultural exchanges between Han and the western countries and secured the western borders. The Silk Road and the trade with the west brought many artistic and cultural influences, making Han Dynasty the first cosmopolitan culture in Chinese history.
Although Confucianism became the dominant philosophy after Wudi Emperor, Daoist and Legalist ideas were incorporated in the Han ideology. The Han period valued popular literature and art, showing the inclusivity of its culture. Classism and romanticism; stability and flexibility; gravity and dexterity; tradition and creativity; heroism and serenity; naivety and refinement; these contrasts make Han culture and art appear at the same time orthodox yet ground breaking, full of vitality as well as solemnity, forming an all-encompassing style.
Spanning 426 years, the Han Dynasty was mostly a prosperous trading nation with immense power, and its vigor as a great nation and its cosmopolitan characteristics are reflected in excavated objects of this period, especially in the high quality craftsmanship and use of material of the jades.
Due to the success of the Silk Road, the lustrous and fine ‘Khotan jade’ was now obtainable from thousands of miles away, and became the preferred material to make jades for the Han aristocracy, replacing the locally sourced materials of mixed quality that have been popular since the Shang and Zhou periods. The reverence placed on jade by Confucianism also makes jade the de rigueur ornament of choice.
Han dynasty jades have a wide variety of shapes and forms. The ritual objects mostly follow the traditions of Warring States jades, while ornamental, utility or burial jades are much more inventive and many new styles appeared after Wudi Emperor’s reign. In ornamental jades, new forms such as jade dancers, archer’s-ring pendants, Weng Zhong figures, gangmao pendants and ‘compass’ pendants appeared. Animal carvings in the round such as bixie, bear, tiger, buffalo, ram, pig, tortoise, eagle etc. are lifelike and animated, in beautifully lustrous materials, and have become important symbols of Han Dynasty jade carving.
As iron tools became more widely used, lapidary techniques greatly advanced in the Two Han Dynasties. Hollowing, pierced designs, polishing, inlay work, wheel cutting, loose rings, relief work etc. were well developed by this time. In particular, Han badao (eight-cut) and yousi ke (curving-string thread carving) are two of the most important techniques developed in the Han period.
The Beijing Palace Museum has a concise description for Han badao: ‘There is a unique recess carving technique in ancient Chinese lapidary. This technique first appeared on jade bi discs of late Warring States period, and reached maturity in the Han period. It is often seen on jade cicadas, pigs, Weng Zhong figures and some jade bi discs decorated with kui dragons or phoenixes. The technique does not consist of eight knife cuts as its name suggests, but involves the use of angled wheel cut, so is also called daxiedao (very angled cut). The carving is very sharp and done neatly as if in one stroke, almost without any traces of individual wheel marks. Also the recess is polished right down to the end, giving the illusion that it has been cut by a knife, and looks very minimal and effective.’
Yousike was developed in late Spring and Autumn period, became fashionable in mid to late Warring States and reached its zenith in the Two Han Dynasties. It is a technique involving very fine incised lines, including ‘single line’, ‘double line’, ‘straight line’, ‘curved line’ and ‘short diagonal line’ etc., made by connecting minute wheel cuts that varied in thickness, complexity and depth according to different designs. This technique is used to denote fine parallel lines, cloud scrolls, floral scrolls, leaves, animal hair, scales, crisscrosses, facial features on animals, human hair and details of clothing etc.
The varieties of decorations on Han jades are also kaleidoscopic, and can be roughly divided into two types: the first type is geometric designs, most commonly grain pattern, rush-matt pattern and nipple pattern, often found on ritual objects such as huan, bi and huang. The other type is animal patterns, such as dragon, phoenix, chi tiger, bear, eagle and various mythical beasts. These are mostly done in a realistic manner and rendered using recess carving, pierced carving, low relief and high relief carving etc. They differ from the more static and symmetrical compositions found on Shang and Zhou jades, and are much more dynamic and elaborate.
The existing Chinese belief in mythical beasts mixed with tales of strange beasts from the west, further augmented by exotic animals that arrived in China from overseas, gave rise to the creation of jade bixie in the Han Dynasty. Other decorations of mythical beasts are also popular, such as the siling (the four sentients): blue dragon, white tiger, vermilion bird and turtle-snake, which often appears on jade bi discs. Singular dragons or phoenixes are often used to decorate jade bi discs; and on the flanges of bi, or on the outer registers of bi discs with grain and rush-mat patterns we often see decorations of chi dragon, chi tiger, silkworm or leiwen, which make a striking design.
The Han culture and art is inclusive in nature. The jade production became much more centralised and there were many palace as well as private workshops making an unprecedented variety and quantity of jades, which were unsurpassed in terms of their craftsmanship and artistry. They are the most iconic cultural symbols of this illustrious period in Chinese history.