Jade played an important role in early Chinese culture not seen in the civilizations of the West. First used as a raw material for tools, weapons, and ornaments, it evolved into a substance of ritual potency, used for a variety of ceremonial objects. Some suggest that it is possible to discern a reflection of the ancient Chinese belief that “Heaven is round and the Earth is square,”
in the distinctive shapes of Neolithic jade
pi-discs and the ts’ung tubes of the Liang-chu culture (3200-2100 B.C.). The oldest object featured in the exhibit is a jade bird of the Hung-shan culture (4000-3000 B.C.). During China’s feudal age, the
ting (a type of bronze ritual vessel) came to symbolize royal legitimacy, while simultaneously acting as a tool for ancestral veneration. A fine example is the exhibition’s massive 63 kg ting, which dates to the late Shang dynasty
(13th to 11th centuries B.C.) and bears an inscription stating that it was cast by a man named Yin on behalf of his father Ting.
Jade bird
Hung-shan culture (4000 - 3000 B.C.), Neolithic period
Length: 4.77 cm; Width: 4.72 cm
The surface of this green jade carving is flecked with brownish-red mottles. The piece depicts a bird in flight, wings outstretched, with details such as the bird's eyes, feet, and wings outlined with delicate raised lines. The back is flat, with a single aperture bored through the upper section. Originally kept in the Ch'ing court's Hall of Mental Cultivation, the ancient provenance of the carving was confirmed by recent archeological excavations of ancient Hung-shan cultural sites in Northeast China.
Bronze
ting
Late Shang dynasty (13th – 11th centuries B.C.)
Height: 75.9 cm; Weight: 63.65 kg
This round tripod vessel, crested with twin handles, features cast relief images of animal masks on its body and legs. Eight ideograms, written in three lines on the vessel’s inner surface, reveal that it was a ritual vessel cast by Yin to honor his father Ting. The heavy and imposing shape of the
ting, together with the ordered splendor of its décor, matches the stylistic qualities of vessels recovered from archeological sites dating to the late Shang and early Western Chou.
