Jade of the Shang Dynasty

By KAKO CRISCI

From around 3000 to 1900BC, the late Neolithic period was a time of transition. In Mesopotamia, Egypt, and all around the Mediterranean basin, better living standards saw the rise of new cultures. In China Far East, along the Yellow River, settlements started to flourish and create their own unique identity.

Jade was a precio

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dynastic Jade Gallery
• Release date: Jun 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986702810

Book preview

From around 3000 to 1900BC, the late Neolithic period was a time of transition. In Mesopotamia, Egypt, and all around the Mediterranean basin, better living standards saw the rise of new cultures. In China Far East, along the Yellow River, settlements started to flourish and create their own unique identity.

Jade was a precious and extremely difficult to carve mineral, mainly dedicated to the service of rituals or religious ceremonies. However, for a long time, the Shang dynasty jade design was regarded as a mere reproduction of the widely available bronzes the Shang were known for.

In this book, the author revisits pre-conceived historical knowledge and, based on the research of well-respected scholar Hayashi Minao and expert historians Deng Shuping and Cai Qingliang, proposes that many of the jades pieces exhibited today in museums and private collections may have come from distinct earlier cultures and that bronze design may have been influenced by these devotional objects, not the reverse.

Part one of this book, Jade from the early and middle Shang, presents the historical context in which cultures such as the Erlitou and the Erligang developed their unique style before being assimilated into the later Shang Dynasty.

Part two, Jade from the late Shang, focuses on specific examples of ceremonial, weapons, and decorative jade to prove further that these pieces may actually have been anterior to the predominantly bronze ear and, by doing so, bring to light the exceptional craftsmanship of much older cultures.

Eighty-four illustrations and photographs of unique jade artworks open a unique window of appreciation for these Shang Dynasty’s sophisticated and little-known cultures.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Hayashi Minao, whose work on Neolithic jade has been the inspiration of many scholars and collectors of this unique mineral part of the fabric of an exceptional culture.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the following for their help, advice, and support, in particular, Hayashi Minao, Deng Shuping, and Cai Qingliang, for their inspiration, Jessica Rawson, Carol Michaelson, Margaret Sax, Yang Boda, Guo Dashun, Zhu Naicheng, Xu Hong, and the many scholars, experts, museum curators whose work helped my research, the dedicated collectors who advised and guided my search, my husband Vincent who supports and encourages me through the project, and the many who contributed in bringing this project to life.

I am grateful for their unwavering support and contribution.

Table of contents

Preface

Part one: Early and middle of Shang jade

Introduction

The missing puzzle from the early days of Shang

What kind of jade did the rulers use before the Shang Dynasty?

What was a Da Yu?

What type of jade qualifies as Da Yu?

Bronze vs. jade, which one came first?

What do we know about the Erlitou jade?

What do we know about Erligang jade?

What do we know about the Shang jade?

Who were the gods worshiped by the Shang?

Are Shang masterpieces truly rare?

Early Shang and late Shang were different people from different cultures

What critical steps are needed to identify an ancient jade?

1.1. Erlitou jade hairpiece with deity face

1.2. Realistic Erlitou rabbit

1.3. Erlitou or Early Shang openwork disc bi ( 壁 )

1.4. Erlitou or Longshan wine vessel decorated with deity ancestor face

1.5. Erlitou disc bi with human face

1.6. Erlitou bracelet with deity faces and birds

1.7. Erlitou frog

1.8. Early Shang wine vessel Zhi 觶

1.9. Gold gilded Erligang plaque with deity face

1.10.1. Jade Ge knifes

1.10.2. Erligang or earlier thick Ge blade

1.10.3. Erligang Ge knife with eagle head handle

1.10.4. Thin and slim Erlignag Ge knife

1.10.5. Erligang Ge blade

1.11. Openwork Erligang jade handle spoon

1.12. Erligang food steamer vessel Yan 甗 "

1.13. Erligang bird and dragon cong

1.14. Erligang Cong

1.15. Erligang or early Shang cong with bird and dragon

1.16. Middle Shang cong with dragon faces on four sides

1.17. A massive Erligang or early Shang decorative Ge blade

1.18. Middle Shang square wine vessel You 卣

1.19. A group of Erligang animal figures (deer, wolf, tiger, and fish)

1.20. Deity ancestor thumb ring

1.21. Early Shang Bear thumb ring

Part Two: The late Shang jade

Introduction

Late Shang jade from the perspective of its technical development

Did the late Shang carve raised lines on jade?

The principal design motif on late Shang jade

Chapter 1

Ceremonial jade

2.1.1. Early Late Shang cong

2.1.2. Dragon-facing cong

2.1.3. Green jade heavily stained plain cong

2.1.4. Ochre-yellow jade plain cong with crack

2.1.5. Plain ochre jade cong

2.1.6. Plain green jade cong

2.1.7. Incised cong

2.1.8. Two large bead-shaped congs

2.1.9. Yellow-green disc bi

2.1.10. Disc bi

2.1.11. Notched Bi

2.1.12. Notched disc bi

2.1.13. Four fish disc

2.1.14. Dragon-shaped wine vessel gong ( 觥 )

Chapter 2

Weapon

2.2.1. Jade ax with a deity face

Chapter 3

Decoration

2.3.1. Deity head on a phoenix-like body

2.3.2. Late Shang jade eagle

2.3.3. Jade tiger with a small body

2.3.4. Convex pendant

2.3.5. Long-tail fish

2.3.6. Late Shang fish

2.3.7. Small jade tiger

2.3.8. Wild boar with notches

2.3.9. Pair of eagle-like birds

2.3.10. Jade locust

2.3.11. Pair of beads with deity face

2.3.12. Deity face

2.3.13. Leizi pendant

2.3.14. Eagle ring

2.3.15. Ring with a deity face

2.3.16. White jade ring

2.3.17. Cow-head pendant

2.3.18. Jade rabbit

2.3.19. Tall, crowned eagle pendant

2.3.20. Jade Eagle

2.3.21. Small bear jade

2.3.22. Jade cicada

2.3.23. Jade tiger

References

Iconography

About the author

Preface

The Chinese civilization is one of the oldest persistent civilizations in the world. One measure of its longevity is the constant use of jade in its culture. From the Neolithic to the present time, jade is the only object which continuously reflects, among its many ancient art forms, the 8,000 years of Chinese history. Jade is a mirror, jade is a river in the foundation of the Chinese culture. Neolithic cultures rose and fell, dynasties changed, from time to time foreign influences conquered the homeland; Chinese culture always accepted it, took it in stride, and merged these influences into the Chinese culture, just like jade did. Jade absorbs all its surroundings and in the process, makes itself even richer in beauty. Yet, nothing can change jade or the designs people incised on it thousands of years ago.

Jade is central to China’s culture. Surprisingly, ancient jade has never been seriously studied until recently. Only a handful of documents relating to jade remain from the dynastic time. The Gu Yu Tu Pu (古玉圖譜) (Illustrated description of ancient Jade) is one of the earliest and most comprehensive text documenting jade. It was written during the Song Dynasty and recorded the jade collection at the court of the Song emperor. It contains nine sections that catalog hundreds of different kinds of jade. This invaluable book was published again during the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period.

Earlier, the Kao Gu Tu (考古圖) written by Lu Dalin in 1092 AD during the Song Dynasty had inventoried an extensive collection of antique objects but only mentioned a few jades. The Wushi Yin Pu (吳氏印譜) written in 1335 by Wuxi during the Yuan Dynasty, documented less than 30 pieces. Towards the very end of the Qing Dynasty, the Gu Yu Tu Kao (古玉圖考) or Illustrations of ancient jade, published by Wu Dacheng listed only 200 pieces. Documentation on jade from the last 1000 years is indeed minimal. In the 20th century, the older generation of archeologists was more focused on bronze than jade. Authors such as Guo Baojun, who published Gu Yu Xin Quan in 1949, and Japanese scholar Hayashi Minao established their reputation studying bronze and turned their interest toward jade only later in life. In Taiwan, Li Ji, respected as the Father of Chinese archeology, was also the mentor and teacher of Deng Shuping, curator at the Taiwan Palace museum. In 1970, as he was in his mid-seventies, he began researching jade. Deng Shuping soon took over the task and became the head of the jade research program at the museum. The Taiwan Palace museum started categorizing jade by dynasties rather than function for the last thirty years. Deng Shuping, Cai Qing Liang, and other scholars have done an outstanding job introducing jade to the world.

In mainland China, the Communism regime took over in 1949. During the Cultural Revolution, countless antique art objects, including jade, were destroyed. Colleges were closed, researchers and scholars were sent to the countryside to do farm work. As things settled down in the 1980s, some scholars started publishing a few articles on jade again. Xia Nai, who was by then in his mid-seventies, published two papers in 1983, Shang Dynasty Jade categories, its name and usage and Han Dynasty Jade. Another famous scholar, Fei Xiaotong, started to realize the significant importance of jade in Chinese culture in 1999, but he was already eighty-nine years old. Yang Boda published Jade in 1986, along with many other books, in his late sixties.

Outside mainland China, from the 1950s to the 1980s, historical Chinese art, including