Period:Unknown Production date:3300 BC-2200 BC (circa)
Materials:jade
Technique:
Dimensions:Diameter: 12.50 centimetres
Description:
Jade ‘bi’ (disc).
IMG
![图片[1]-bi BM-1884-0405.1-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Unknown/Jades/mid_00298438_001.jpg)
![图片[2]-bi BM-1884-0405.1-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Unknown/Jades/mid_00186679_001.jpg)
![图片[3]-bi BM-1884-0405.1-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Unknown/Jades/mid_00505368_001.jpg)
![图片[4]-bi BM-1884-0405.1-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Unknown/Jades/mid_00507212_001.jpg)
Comments:Rawson 1992:The purposes of these jade carvings are unknown, although they are thought to have had a ceremonial and possibly also a protective function. They have been found in large numbers in burials of the Liangzhu culture (c. 2500 BC). The Liangzhu peoples inherited skills and traditions from the Dawenkou and Hongshan peoples and they used two distinct types of ritual jade: a disc later known as a ‘bi’ and a tube of square cross-section pierced with a circular hole, later known as ‘cong’. In some cases they were made of serpentine.Once bronze casting developed, jades were less in evidence. However, although their original purposes were probably forgotten, ‘bi’ and ‘cong’ survived. See also BM 1945.1017.157, BM OA+ 110, BM 1945.1017.139, BM 1937.0416.162, BM 1937.0416.142 and BM 1937.0416.183. Rawson 1995:For many scholars, the many ancient normative texts describing the supposed functions of jades in the Zhou period (c. 1050-250 BC) have tended to muddy the understanding of jade use in ancient China. The categories set out in these texts, especially the late Eastern Zhou or Han period text known as the ‘Zhou li’, have obscured the actual categories of the distant past. It has been assumed that there was one single line of development, starting in the Neolithic period (c. 5000 BC), and expanding gradually to bring forth all historical jades. So, such standard types as the discs with holes, known as ‘bi’, have too easily been treated as belonging to a single category and following a single line of development, which is far from being the case. While the shapes of all ‘bi’ discs are in some sense interrelated, there are very significant differences in shape and size; large differences in function; and important differences in meaning attached to the ‘bi’ of the Nolithic north-east (c. 4000-2500), the ‘bi’ of the Neolithic south-east (c. 3000-2000), and the ‘bi’ of the Eastern Zhou and Han periods (sixth to first century BC). These are the three main periods when such discs were a major jade category. In between, such discs were used only on a small scale. Duplicate Asian ethno record mentions Shanghai as place of purchase.
Materials:jade
Technique:
Dimensions:Diameter: 12.50 centimetres
Description:
Jade ‘bi’ (disc).
IMG
Comments:Rawson 1992:The purposes of these jade carvings are unknown, although they are thought to have had a ceremonial and possibly also a protective function. They have been found in large numbers in burials of the Liangzhu culture (c. 2500 BC). The Liangzhu peoples inherited skills and traditions from the Dawenkou and Hongshan peoples and they used two distinct types of ritual jade: a disc later known as a ‘bi’ and a tube of square cross-section pierced with a circular hole, later known as ‘cong’. In some cases they were made of serpentine.Once bronze casting developed, jades were less in evidence. However, although their original purposes were probably forgotten, ‘bi’ and ‘cong’ survived. See also BM 1945.1017.157, BM OA+ 110, BM 1945.1017.139, BM 1937.0416.162, BM 1937.0416.142 and BM 1937.0416.183. Rawson 1995:For many scholars, the many ancient normative texts describing the supposed functions of jades in the Zhou period (c. 1050-250 BC) have tended to muddy the understanding of jade use in ancient China. The categories set out in these texts, especially the late Eastern Zhou or Han period text known as the ‘Zhou li’, have obscured the actual categories of the distant past. It has been assumed that there was one single line of development, starting in the Neolithic period (c. 5000 BC), and expanding gradually to bring forth all historical jades. So, such standard types as the discs with holes, known as ‘bi’, have too easily been treated as belonging to a single category and following a single line of development, which is far from being the case. While the shapes of all ‘bi’ discs are in some sense interrelated, there are very significant differences in shape and size; large differences in function; and important differences in meaning attached to the ‘bi’ of the Nolithic north-east (c. 4000-2500), the ‘bi’ of the Neolithic south-east (c. 3000-2000), and the ‘bi’ of the Eastern Zhou and Han periods (sixth to first century BC). These are the three main periods when such discs were a major jade category. In between, such discs were used only on a small scale. Duplicate Asian ethno record mentions Shanghai as place of purchase.
© Copyright
The copyright of the article belongs to the author, please keep the original link for reprinting.
THE END
