Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Qijia culture 齊家 (ca. 2250-ca.1900 BCE)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 2250-1900 BCE

Object Date: ca. 2250-1900 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): Diam x D: 46 x 1.5 cm (18 1/8 x 9/16 in) Diam (hole): 17.5 cm (6 7/8 in)

Origin: Northwest China

Credit Line: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1956.16

: 璧
新石器時代晚期齊家文化（公元前2250--1900年）
中國西北
軟玉
直徑46、厚1.5釐米；孔徑17.5釐米
館購
器物編號：F1956.16

Provenance: To 1956
Tonying and Company, New York [1]

From 1956
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Tonying and Company, New York [2]

Notes:

[1] See Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record. See also Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1.

Previous owner(s): Tonying and Company 通運公司 (established 1902)

Description: Pi [bi] 璧. Mottled green and brown nephrite.

(Jenny F. So, from Jade Project Database) Largest disk in the collection, and among the largest known. Conical hole with pronounced slanted wall. Gray green nephrite with dark green banding in original colors, not altered. Inhomogeneous but stratified texture unlike that often seen on Liangzhu 良渚 disks. Uneven surface, with remains of curved slice mark on one face. Finished size is almost size of original boulder, with “skin” spanning almost half the circumference.

Past label text: Liangzhu 良渚 and its Legacy, November 4, 2010–January 3, 2016; by Keith Wilson (shown with F1919.59, F1919.31, F1917.136)
Bi 璧 disk
Neolithic period, Qijia 齊家 culture, ca. 2250–1900 BCE
Jade (nephrite)

Ancient burial sites dateable to the later Neolithic period and early Bronze Age contain far fewer bi 璧 than did Liangzhu 良渚 tombs, but centers such as Qijia 齊家 in northwest China, Sanxingdui 三星堆 in Sichuan 四川 province, and Anyang 安陽 in the central plain show the continued practice of making and burying jade disks with the deceased. Signs of the disk’s adoption by diverse peoples are the variations in scale of bi 璧; the way the central holes were drilled from one side only (rather than from both sides, as was done by the Liangzhu 良渚); and the use of locally available stone.

Here, the outer “skin” of the original nephrite boulder can still be seen around the largest bi 璧 from the Neolithic Qijia 齊家 culture (F1956.16). The two whitish disks (F1919.59, F1919.31) are of serpentine, a much softer stone used in Sichuan 四川 province to the far southwest. The diminutive size of the smallest bi 璧 (F1917.136) may suggest the original purpose of these disks had been forgotten by the early Bronze Age.

2. (Keith Wilson, "Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades," Gallery 19, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Oct. 14, 2017 to Apr 15, 2018)

Qijia culture bi
Northwest China, late Neolithic period, ca. 2250–1900 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment 1956.16

Reflecting the Past
Liangzhu tombs contain more bi than do burial sites of the later Neolithic period and the early Bronze Age. Compared with Liangzhu models, other variations occurred in scale, how central holes were drilled from one side only, and the use of local stone.

Here, the outer “skin” of the nephrite boulder still encircles the largest bi. The two whitish disks are of serpentine, a softer stone used in Sichuan province to the far southwest. The small size of the bi suggests the original ritual purpose of these disks in Liangzhu burials was forgotten by the early Bronze Age.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Tonying and Company, Inc., New York. For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920.

2. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Attribution changed from Early Chou [Zhou] 周 to Shang 商.

3. (Stephen Allee, April 7, 2008) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Period One (Shang 商 dynasty) to (Late Neolithic period), changed Date (1600--1050 BCE) to (ca. 2500--2000 BCE), Object name (Ceremonial Objects). Added: Artist (Qijia 齊家 culture), Geographical region (Northwest China); plus Description and Related Objects per Jenny F. So and Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database. Also, identification as nephrite entered as per Elisabeth West Fitzhugh, as determined by x ray diffraction, February 1956.

Under Related Objects, added "(Jenny F. So, from Jade Project Database) Cf. reference to a large disk 'as large as a straw hat' that was recovered (in 1950s--60s) with a cong 琮 from Chang'an 長安 Shangchuancun 上川村. The disk was reportedly sold by a local sometime in the late 1970s. Site and cong 琮 given traditional Western Zhou 周 dates, but conceivable that they may be earlier (Dai Yingxin 戴應新, "Shenmu Shimao Longshan wenhua yuqi tansuo 神木石峁龍山文化玉器探索," Gugong wenwu yuekan 故宮文物月刊 The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art 1993.8, p. 49). Cf. Slightly smaller but thicker disk in the Paul Singer collection [S1999.120.2]: identical material."

4. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial Objects added as secondary classification.

5. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 23, 2009) Date changed from "2500--2000 BCE" to "ca. 2250--ca. 1900 BCE." In Medium, designation "nephrite" confirmed by Janet Douglas using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (January 8, 2009).

Published References

J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Ideals of Beauty: Asian and American Art in the Freer and Sackler Galleries. Thames and Hudson World of Art London and Washington, 2010. pp. 58-59.
Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, Fang Gu. Yuqi shidai: Meiguo bowuguan cang Zhongguo zaoqi yuqi [The Jade Age: Early Chinese Jades in American Museums]. Beijing, 2009. pp. 94-95.

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