Ancient Jade Museum
Where
Ancient Jade Came From?
Country of Origin - China
A
Panorama Of Han Dynasty's Ancient Jade
Unearthed the Tombs
Of The King Of Nanyue
in Xianggang,
Guangzhou in 1983
The 244 pieces of
ancient jade unearthed from the Tombs of The King Of Nanyue, Han
Dynasty (BC203-BC111), consists of 19 types, shroud, nose plug,
arched dragon, disc, segment, ring, pectoral, figurine, pendant,
sword fitting, garment hook, seal, chessman, beaker, covered cup,
rhyton, covered box and beaker with basin stand.
In
short, these ancient jades found from the tombs, can be classified
into four categories:
1) Ceremonial
Jade
2) Mortuary Jade
3) Decorative Jade
4) Utensils and Daily Items
With the following techniques
applied:
A) Saw cutting
B) Drilling
C) Carving
D) Chiseling
E) Refashioning
F) Mounting.
Decoration:
Apart from the jade plagues
from the shroud, the chessmen, the nose plug and the small besides
on the pectorals, all the ancient jade found from tombs, are decorated
with designs executed in incised lines, low relief, high relief
or in full round, in short, the designs can be classified into geometric
and zoological.
Brief
Introduction (For academic study only)
Six Tablets
of Rank (Liu-Jui) and Six Sacrificial Utensils (Liu Chi)
- The most important
jade artefacts in early Chinese rituals and ceremony were the Six
Tablets of Rank (Liu-Jui)
and Six Sacrificial
Utensils (Liu Chi).
- Six
Tables of Rank
were used as insignia
of rank among the noble hierarchy for official palace ceremonial
functions.
- While the Six
Sacrificial Utensils were
used for various sacrifices to the deities of Heaven, Earth and
the Four Cardinal Directions. This category of jade is also known
as Jade
Ritual Objects.
Jade
Tallies
Jade tallies is one
of the important function of jade in early China. It was called
Fu-Chieh (Tallies),
these were used as a royal instrument when the emperor sent his
envoy on official duties .
Jade
Discs & Rings
This category of
jade, classified into " Pi", "Huan", "Yuan"
and "Chueh" are all variations on the form of a round,
flat disc, with a hole in the centre. The only difference to identify
them, is proportions of the centre holes.
Jade
Personal Ornament
The shapes and dimensions
of ritual objects and tallies were standardised and regulated by
royal palace with official decrees. Personal Ornaments provided
an unlimited outlet for the craftsmen to make it. Many of these
jade artefacts were found in late Palaeolithic and Neolithic
sites. These tooth-ornaments were the precursors of the jade
hsi, le,
yuan-le, fang-le,
chi,
hairpins etc.
Inset
Jade Ornaments
Inset
Jade Ornament (in
Chinese term) hsing-chen yu-chi
refers to the attachment of jade to the surfaces
of other articles by various processes.
The major category types
of jade is in the form of Wei,
Peng, Pin,
Hsiao, Huan,
Ring, Pi,
Pang etc.
Jade
Funerary Articles
Funerary rituals
developed very early in China, shall be in upper Palaeolithic
age. A large group of kuei,
huang,
pi, tsung,
hu and
huang were found in a Western Chou
tomb in Kansu Province.
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