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Neolithic jades - such as the bi
discs and cong tubes described above -- are often found in burial
sites, suggesting a ritual signidicance. By the time of the Zhou dynasty (771-221 BCE),
when the Book of Songs was written, the prescribing of jade as an
aid to attaining immortality was well established. Deceased royals might be
buried in a jade suit with jade plugs inserted in body openings. The use of
jade in burial ritual continued into and beyond the Han Dynasty (100S BCE-100S CE,
about the period of Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire), when in addition to
body plugs, other jade objects were interred with the deceased. Jade cicadas,
for example, representing rebirth, might be placed on the deceased person's
tongue.
Early dynastic jades also took the
form of belt hooks, archer's rings, and guards for swords. During the earliest
Chinese dynasties, the Shang and the Zhou, pendants became an increasingly
popular adornment. Through the centuries, jade ornamentation had become
increasingly codified, so that by the Han dynasty its use as a means of
distinguishing one's social class was firmly entrenched.
Fewer jades survive from
the centuries following the fall of the Han dynasty in 220 to the end of the
Tang dynasty in 906 than from earlier or later dynasties. Changes in funerary
practices meant that not as many pieces were included in tombs where they
were protected from the ravages of time. In addition, these works had not
completed the transition from ritual object to cultural artwork and were not
collected as they were in later dynasties. The earliest animal figures from
this time of transition show something of the ritual spirit of the Han
dynasty, but they soon evolve into fanciful mythical beasts and playful
representations. During these centuries signs of an emerging antiquarian
spirit appear in jade imitations of early metallic or ceramic objects.
This anticipates an important trend in China from the Song dynasty (960-1279)
onward.
In the modern dynasties (the
Ming, 1368-1644, and the Qing, 1644-1912) jadework became more self-conscious
and referential. Often - as with the monkey and peaches sculpture - jades
alluded to a work of literature or some other aspect of China's cultural heritage.
Or they might involve a sort of witticism known as a rebus. Rebuses
are hidden meanings or verbal puns arising from characters that have double meanings;
they usually refer to auspicious signs or wishes.
During this period, jade
objects for the scholar's studio began to be produced, such as brush rests,
paperweights, and seals. In keeping with the referential spirit of the
modern period, such objects were sometimes made in imitation of earlier
forms in other mediums, such as bronzes and lacquers.
- by the Education Department of the Asian Art Museum
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