Nine-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks

• 1. (Undated Folder Sheet note) J-160 Ts'ung [cong] 琮. Late Neolithic period, ca. 2500 BCE. Recent archaeological excavations in southeastern China have yielded a large number of highly polished and intricately decorated ts'ung [cong] 琮 of this type, suggesting that the shape may have been developed in that area, where it had particular significance. Only later, and in more simple form, did the ts'ung [cong] 琮 appear in northern China in Shang 商 dynasty funerary contexts. Particularly important archaeological finds in Kiangsu (Jiangsu) 江蘇 province have yielded crucial information about late Neolithic jade ts'ung [cong] 琮. In one instance, more than thirty ts'ung [cong] 琮 were found arranged end to end encircling the body. The arrangement of those ts'ung [cong] 琮 prompted the authors of the Chinese archaeological report to suggest that the jades served a protective role or function. Jade ts'ung [cong] 琮 of this same type have also been found in late Neolithic sites in Guangdong 廣東 province.

  The Sackler jade is a slightly tapering prism with a thick-walled projection at either end. Straight vertical channels at the center of each of the four surfaces separate nine superimposed units of d&‌eacute;cor. Each of those units covers the corners of the jade prism and consists of a narrow horizontal band beneath a wider, upper band decorated with two horizontal bands and a circle on either surface. These details form a series of masks at the four corners. The central perforation was drilled from both sides, resulting in an overlap.

  2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) A particularly important archaeological find for information relating to late Neolithic jade ts'ung [cong] 琮 in southeastern China is described in Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, "1982 nien Kiangsu Ch'ang-chou Ssu-tun i-chih de fa-chueh [1982 nian Jiangsu Changzhou Wujin Sidun yizhi de fajue] 1982年江蘇常州武進寺墩遺址的發掘," K'ao-ku [Kaogu] 考古 1984.2, p. 109 ff. A jade ts'ung [cong] 琮 similar to the Sackler example was unearthed in a late Neolithic site at Shih-hsia [Shixia] 石峽, Kwangtung [Guangdong] 廣東 province; see Kwangtung sheng po-wu-kuan [Guangdong sheng bowuguan] 廣東省博物館 and Ch'u-chiang hsien wen-hua-chu Shih-hsia fa-chueh hsiao-tsu [Qujiang xian wenhuaju Shixia fajue xiaozu] 曲江縣文化局石峽發掘小組, "Kwangtung Ch'u-chiang Shih-hsia mu-tsang fa-chueh chien-pao [Guangdong Qujiang Shixia muzang fajue jianbao] 廣東曲江石峽墓葬發掘簡報," Wen-wu [Wenwu] 文物 1978.7, p. 15, fig. 34.

  3. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 3, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (3300--2250 BCE), Artist (Liangzhu 良渚 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Lake Tai 太湖 region); plus Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

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

  5. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 20, 2010) Title changed from "Tall tube (cong 琮)" to "Tube (cong 琮)."

  6. (Jeffrey Smith, April 15, 2016) Transferred from Description: (Jenny So, from Jade Project Database) A squarish cylinder is pierced lenghwise by a large tubular hole drilled from both sides. A low ledge on the inner walls of the hole marks the junction of the two drills. The four corners of the cylinder are accented by a series of notched projections running the length of the cylinder, leaving only a narrow collar at top and bottom. The notches are marked by fine and closely packed horizontal lines. Small incised circles on either side of the corners suggest eyes.

Draft catalogue entry for F1987.468; by Jenny F. So (2003)

Cong 琮 ritual instrument
Neolithic period, ca. 3000--2500 BCE
Liangzhu 良渚 culture, Lake Tai 太湖 region
Nephrite, heavily marbled dark gray-green with rust-red streaks
Height 22.1--22.03 cm; dimensions at top and bottom 7.45--7.60 × 7.45--7.55 cm
Former A. W. Bahr collection
S1987.468

Like all cong 琮 shapes, the central opening was drilled from both ends. Here, the drilling left a ledge on the inner walls where they did not meet perfectly. In contrast to shorter cong 琮, where the interior of the openings can be reached for further finishing, the ledge remains here probably because the increased height made access difficult. A sixteen-centimeter tall core recovered from a Liangzhu 良渚 context shows the corresponding ledge in the middle; the tool used must have been hollow (fig. 1). Nine tiers occupy the length of the cong 琮 at the four corners leaving generous squared circular collars at top and bottom. Each tier shows the same simplified human face motif--circular incised eyes, scrolled nose, and double headbands. The material is coarse and colorful, retaining more green and gray color than the other examples in the collection.

Published: Thomas Lawton et al., Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: The Inaugural Gift (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 1987), no. 34.

Figures:
Fig. 1. Cong 琮 core illustrated in Liangzhu wenhua bowuguan 良渚文化博物館. Dongfang wenming zhi guang: Liangzhu wenhua yuqi 東方文明之光：良渚文化玉器 = The Dawn of Chinese Civilization: Jades of the Liangzhu Culture (Yuhang shi: Liangzhu wenhua bowuguan, Xianggang: Xianggang zhongwen daxue wenwuguan, 1998), cat. 90.

• Dr. Paul Singer. Chinese Art: A Thousand Masterpieces from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Washington, 2000. cat. 12, p. 60.
• et al. Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: The Inaugural Gift. Washington, 1987. cat. 34, p. 78.
• J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
• Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, Fang Gu. Yuqi shidai: Meiguo bowuguan cang Zhongguo zaoqi yuqi [The Jade Age: Early Chinese Jades in American Museums]. Beijing, 2009. p. 120.