Object: Forked blade (zhang 璋) F1916.162

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Longshan culture 龍山 (ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 2000-1700 BCE

Object Date: ca. 2000-1700 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 36.5 x 7.4 x 0.3 cm (14 3/8 x 2 15/16 x 1/8 in)

Origin: China, probably Shaanxi province, Shenmu Shimao

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1916.162

: 璋
新石器時代晚期龍山文化（公元前3000--1700年）
中國西北
軟玉
高36.5、寬7.4、厚0.3釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1916.162

Provenance: To 1916
Lai-Yuan and Company, New York, to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Lai-Yuan and Company in 1916 [2]

From 1920
The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 875, pg. 189, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous owner(s): Lai-Yuan & Company (C.L. Freer source) (ca. 1915-April 1921)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Ceremonial implement; very thin; one slightly convex side; lateral edge flares to a sharp concave end with uneven points; one lateral edge partly sharpened; lateral projection on each side above a perforated tang; rough longitudinal ridge on obverse; reverse has cutting irregularity on handle; translucent, mottled light and dark bluish gray. (Slightly chipped.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Past label text: 1. Liangzhu 良渚 and its Legacy, November 4, 2010–January 3, 2016; by Keith Wilson (shown with F1916.491, F1916.494, F1916.165)
Forked blade
Longshan 龍山 culture, ca. 2000–1700 BCE
Jade (nephrite)

Functional tools and weapons, such as axes (fu 斧), forked blades (zhang 璋), and halberds (ge 戈), inspired ceremonial forms that probably served as symbols of power. Typically made too thin for actual farming, hunting, or warfare, these luxury objects were also made too large for practical use but are quite suitable for display. Bored holes indicate where the blades may have been attached to perpendicular shafts as handles. More complex than simple axes, thin, forked blades are not found in Liangzhu 良渚 burials but instead represent a stylistic development associated with later cultures located to the north, west, and southwest.

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

Forked blades
Longshan culture, ca. 2000–1700 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1916.162

From Weapons to Emblems
These tools and weapons look like real axes (fu), halberds (ge), and other practical items, but in fact they are purely symbols of power. Made of brittle jade with a remarkably thin edge, the items were intended only for display.

The custom of making ceremonial jades that look like familiar objects continued well after the Neolithic period. The thin, forked blades at the top and the halberds below them are not found in Liangzhu burials. They instead represent innovations associated with later cultures to the north, west, and southwest.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Lai Yuan and Company 來遠公司, New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 189. $310.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. "Ancient." See further, S.I. 875, Appendix VII (see Paragraph 7).

3. (Carl Whiting Bishop, 1922) See Berthold Laufer, Jade: A Study in Chinese Archaeology and Religion (Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1912), p. 102, fig. 35, and p. 95, fig. 29.

4. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1945) Shang 商 dynasty.

5. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1945) This implement seems to reflect some earlier specialized agricultural tool form. It was probably laterally hafted (see folder F1916.492), and bound to the haft by thongs passing through the hole in the tang, under the haft on both sides of the blade, and over the chock like lateral projections. The jade form is of course ceremonial, and may be a badge of office or a ritualistic implement used in some ceremony reflecting an agricultural rite or practice.

6. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.930.

7. (H. Elise Buckman, 1964) The Envelope File contained no further information, and has now been destroyed.

8. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Late Shang 商 Early Western Chou [Zhou] 周.

9. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) Chang [Zhang] 璋 F1916.162 is a thin example of the typical chang [zhang] 璋 (see Folder Sheet F1916.492). There is an incised design consisting of parallel lines running across the surface between the two projections near the hole. The hole was bored from one side of the slab. Two features not found on the typical chang [zhang] 璋 are the sharpening of the upper part of one side, and the thinness of this side compared to the one opposite. The prominent slice marks running in lengthwise direction suggest that someone tried to make the chang [zhang] 璋 thinner. The texture of the surface is somewhat "dry," rather than smooth and sleek like most of the others in the collection.

10. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 31, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (ca. 2500--2000 BCE), Artist (Qijia 齊家 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Northwest China); plus Description per Jenny F. So and Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

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

12. (Stephen Allee, March 23, 2009) Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Janet Douglas using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (January 8, 2009).

13. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 9, 2010) Changed culture from "Qija 齊家 culture" to "Longshan 龍山 culture (ca. 3000--1700 BCE)"; changed "Northwest China" to "China"; date from "(ca. 2500--2000 BCE)" to "(ca. 2000--1700 BCE)."

14. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, March 21, 2016) Undated curatorial remark: (Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database) Light and dark olive gray "puddingstone." Very thin; one face flat, other slightly convex. Conical hole drilled from flat face? Asymmetrically curved top; one upper edge honed (modern?). One blunt notch on either edge at bottom of blade, just before rectangular, perforated tang. Slice mark running lengthwise on dull, unpolished face; other face polished. Thin incised lines just above notches suspicious (modern addition?).

Published References

Geoffrey WIlls. Jade of the East., 1st ed. New York, 1972. fig. 22.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Guang Wen. Shuoqian zibi: Guyu xutan 1. no. 207 Taipei, 2000. pp. 32-33, fig. 6-7.
Minao Hayashi. Chūgoku kogyoku no kenkyū. Tokyo, 1991. p. 439, fig. 6: 2.

CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0): This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections..

Save this image | Terms of use

Forked blade (zhang 璋)

Related Objects

Related Media

Web Resources