Across the World since neolithic times, jade, along with other minerals, has been prized as a precious stone. The fundamental importance of archaic jade to Chinese culture was established from the late neolithic to the first dynastic empires in the skilful fashioning of ritual, funerary and ornamental artifacts, revealing the innate beauty and qualities of Yu, beautiful stone.
What is archaic Chinese jade?
The word Yu 玉 is commonly used for jade, but in fact can refer to any beautiful or valuable stone. It seems however that the jade used in ancient China was almost exclusively nephrite or nephrite-related minerals. It varied in colour and included the most precious white jade.
Jade is a very durable stone. Archaeological evidence along with examination of Maori techniques have informed theories of how jade was fashioned in ancient times. The complex process would have been labour-intensive, organised and expensive, in early times associated with spirituality and later coming to be connected with social hierarchy and status. (Lin, 2009).
The durability of jade linked it to longevity and immortality in Chinese belief. Jade is extracted and fashioned without the need for chemical or physical transformation, rather it is used in its pure form, the craftsman working to reveal its natural innate beauty. Salviati (2000) suggests that this gives jade, as a material, a special place in the Chinese scale of values.
... jade is inextricably at the core of Chinese civilization and played an essential role in its self definition as one of its constituent, founding elements.
Salviati, F, Radiant Stones: Archaic Chinese Jades, Myrna Myers, Paris, 2000
Neolithic
The earliest Chinese jade-carving began in the peripheral regions of eastern China from the 6th millenium BCE, developing regionally into major jade-carving neolithic cultures, highly skilled and widespread, such as the Hongshan and Liangzhu.
Hongshan Culture (c. 4500-3000 BCE)
Hongshan jades were carved in a wide variety of large, abstract and figurative designs with motifs such as coiled pig-dragons (zhulong), objects shaped like horses' hooves, 'hooked-cloud' pendants, square and round discs including bi-shaped (circular, with a hole in the middle, thought to have been associated with heaven) and animal shapes. They were ornamental, highly symbolic and widespread.
What truly distinguishes Hongshan Jades is their ability to convey elegance through simplicity. The surfaces are exceptionally smooth, with softly rounded edges inviting tactile exploration. These artifacts encompass both figurative and abstract elements, with intricacies often revealed upon close inspection. The judicious use of raised or grooved lines adds depth and complexity to these creations, eliciting awe and admiration.
Graham, Irv, Understanding Hongshan Jade: China’s Neolithic Masterpieces, online article chineseantiques.co.uk, 2023
Liangzhu Culture (c. 3300-2200 BCE)
Liangzhu culture developed 1500 km south of Hongshan. It produced large amounts of regionally and chronologically diverse jade burial objects discovered and excavated in the 20th century from the tombs of high-ranking individuals, around and on their bodies. (Lin, 2009)
Liangzhu is considered one of the two most important Neolithic jade cultures in China, marked by the development of principal jade forms. Cong tubes, bi discs, yue axes and other ornaments were discovered close to the entombed dead, which suggests a special function in burial rites. Many of the ornaments, utensils, vessels and tools point to the importance of farming, fishing and hunting as a way of life, while the works of sophisticated jade craftsmanship are remnants of highly stratified social structures and religious practices.
Liangzhu cong are square cylinders hollowed-out and decorated with stylised human and animal mask motifs. The cong shape is still found in Chinese art today. Plain bi discs were found in large quantities, those with uneven surfaces were placed at the feet, while those that were neatly cut were placed further up on or under the body (Bernstein, 2019). Yue axes were ceremonial, and found in high status tombs only.
During the carving process, one of the most delicate operations consisted in drilling the cong to extract the core, similarly to the Hongshan culture hollowed tubes ... In order to avoid breakage of the stone, the cong were perforated from both sides with the aid of tubular drills in bamboo: sands rich in quartz and jade powder derived from the polishing of the jades were used as abrasives.
Salviati, Filippo, 4000 years of Chinese Archaic Jades, Edition Zacke, Vienna, 2017, p 50
Early Bronze Age
The emergence of bronze casting was accompanied by radical shifts that occurred in China in the 2nd millennium BC ... Gradually and inexorably the central role that jades had in the previous late Neolithic diminished, and vessels cast in bronze replaced them as symbols of prestige and authority.
Salviati, Filippo, 4000 years of Chinese Archaic Jades, Edition Zacke, Vienna, 2017, p 86
Qijia culture (c. 2100-1600 BCE)
Qijia culture covered a wide area in the upper and middle Yellow River region, overlapping the late neolithic Longshan culture, famed for its black pottery. Despite the emergence of metallurgy, jades still figured in grave sites. Qijia used different varieties of jade often of bright colours, white, green, yellow and black. They were mostly plain with unpolished surfaces. Objects included plain cong, bi discs and huang (arc-shaped) pendants, ceremonial blades and beads. A peculiarity of Qijia production of jade discs was that they were cut from the same block.
As in the Liangzhu culture, jade discs were highly valued in the Qijia. In the fourth excavation at the site of Huangniangniangtai at Wuwei, dating to the late Qijia culture, 264 discs made of jade and stone were excavated from 62 tombs ... These discs were found near the body, either on top of or underneath the corpse. These discs were cut into slices from a block. A hole was drilled in the middle from one side, so the diameter of the hole is not even.
Lin, James CS, The Immortal Stone, Scala (2009) p 19
Early Dynastic
Shang Dynasty (c 1600-1050 BCE)
The Shang is the first historic Chinese dynasty, documented by inscriptions on 'oracle bones' and later texts, ruling in the Yellow River valley of north-eastern China.
During the Shang period, bronze took precendence as a ritual material. Nevertheless the intact tomb of Fu Hao, a king's consort at the height of the Shang era, revealed a large number of bronze vessels and over 700 jade objects. They showed a new variety of designs including ceremonial sceptre-like blades, handle shapes, small animal shapes, some of which are semi-naturalistic and dragon-like creatures. They may have been collected from different parts of China. (Salviati, 2017).
One of the innovations of Shang jade carving was the creation of figures in the round. The artists further ornamented this water buffalo with spirals that recall bronze decorative motifs. They created the illusion of the patterns being raised by engraving the surface with two slightly beveled parallel lines. A hole piercing the figure’s mouth and lower lip suggests it was probably worn as an ornament or a talisman.
Western Zhou Dynasty (c 1050-771 BCE)
The Shang was replaced by the Zhou, moving in from the west. The Zhou established a new dynasty (Western Zhou) in c. 1050 BCE, the early transition phase of which saw a decline in the use of jade in burials. This changed dramatically however from the middle Western Zhou period when new ritual traditions appeared. New carving techniques using both old and new motifs saw a great resurgence in the placing of jade objects in tombs with increased sophisication, complexity and intricate carving. (Salviati, 2017)
Eastern Zhou Dynasty (c 771-221 BCE)
This period began with political upheaval following the collapse of the Western Zhou. The Eastern Zhou era is divided into the Spring and Autumn (770-476 BCE) and the Warring States (475-221 BCE), a time of regionalisation with smaller kingdoms fighting each other for supremacy. Rituals, burial characteristics and artistic styles were therefore also regionalised, which was reflected in jades. (Lin, 2009)
The great majority of the Eastern Zhou jades were fashioned as personal, portable items of status.
Salviati, Filippo, 4000 years of Chinese Archaic Jades, Edition Zacke, Vienna, 2017, p 166
Personal items such as slit-rings (jue), pendants and beads increased. Old shapes like the arc-pendant (huang) remained popular becoming increasingly elaborate, while new types emerged such as weaponry fittings, belt hooks, dragon pendants and plaques, motifs such as tigers, dragons, snakes, birds, phoenix-like birds and coiled venomous snakes (panhui).
Empire - a golden age
Han Dynasty (c 202 BCE to 220 CE)
Jade played an important role in burial rituals of the Western Han, bringing together regional variations under a unified imperial China.
When looked at from a stylistic point of view, Han jades clearly appear as a natural development of the late Eastern Zhou tradition, but brought to unprecedented and unsurpassed levels.
Salviati, Filippo, 4000 years of Chinese Archaic Jades, Edition Zacke, Vienna, 2017, p 258
Motifs increased and became sculptural, dynamic and vital. Animal motifs were mythical, supernatural and elaborate, for example the 'taotie', a mythical creature associated with gluttony and often depicted as a zoomorphic symmetrical mask (see below). Jade masks and discs placed on the body developed into whole suits of jade with special plugs placed within 'the nine orifices', such as the cicada jade placed on the tongue. Hand grips, amulets, pillows, pendants, seals, discs, utensils, vessels and weapons are all categories that increased in quantity, quality and almost obsessive use in royal burials.
The preparation of these burial jades must have been very costly and time-consuming, so official workshops would have been established in the various kingdoms to supply objects for the imperial family members.
Lin, James CS, The Immortal Stone, Scala (2009), p 39
Post-Han
The Han Dynasty was the last era of extensive use of jade in burial rituals, and in later periods jade was instead fashioned into personal ornaments and trinkets for everyday use.
After this time, the jade-carving tradition waned and 'died' almost abruptly. Many factors determined this sharp and sudden decline in the use of jade ... The prominence that jade had in the formative stages of Chinese civilization was gone forever, but the appreciation for the marvelous works created in the remote antiquity continued in the following centuries and is still alive today.
Salviati, Filippo, 4000 years of Chinese Archaic Jades, Edition Zacke, Vienna, 2017, p 260
Bibilography, references and further information:
Graham, Irv, Understanding Hongshan Jade: China’s Neolithic Masterpieces, online article chineseantiques.co.uk, 2023
Lin, James CS, The Immortal Stone, Scala, 2009
ISBN 185759581-5
Salviati, Filippo, Radiant Stones: Archaic Chinese Jades, Myrna Myers, Paris, 2000
ISBN 962-7656-23-6
Salviati, Filippo, 4000 years of Chinese Archaic Jades, Edition Zacke, Vienna, 2017
ISBN 978-3-9503553-9-0
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