Object: Forked blade (zhang 璋) F1916.165

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Erlitou culture 二里頭 (ca. 2000-1600 BCE)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 2000-1600 BCE

Object Date: ca. 2000-1600 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 37 x 8.2 x 0.3 cm (14 9/16 x 3 3/16 x 1/8 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1916.165

: 璋
新石器時代晚期二里頭文化（公元前2000--1600年）
中國
軟玉
高37、寬8.2、厚0.3釐米
查爾斯·蘭·弗利爾贈送
器物編號：F1916.165

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. 878, pg. 191, 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; blade with one straight and one slightly concave side; upper end irregularly beveled to a sharp edge; longitudinal median ridge indicated; indented lateral projections and notches on each side above perforated tang; greenish black with black spots and yellowish brown translucence in thin areas; earth-incrusted granular patches on tang. (Breaks on tang and upper end.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Past label text: 1. Ancient Chinese Art, May 9, 1993–May 18, 1998; by Jenny F. So (shown with F1916.491, F1916.495)
Ritual Blade, Zhang 璋
China, possibly Shaanxi 陝西 province
Neolithic period or Shang 商 dynasty, ca. 2000–1500 BCE
Jade (nephrite)

The intricacy of the notched profile near the lower end of this blade resembles that on blades recovered from Shang 商 dynasty sites dating from 1700 to 1500 BCE. The top has been ground paper thin, a clear indication that the piece was made as a ceremonial object.

2. Liangzhu 良渚 and its Legacy, November 4, 2010–January 3, 2016; by Keith Wilson (shown with F1916.491, F1916.494, F1916.162)
Forked blade
Erlitou 二里頭 culture, ca. 1800–1600 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.

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

Forked blades
Erlitou culture, ca. 1800–1600 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1916.165

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. 191. $410.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. "Ancient." See further, S.I. 878, Appendix VII.

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.955. Incrustation prevents higher result.

4. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1946) Shang 商 dynasty.

5. (Undated Folder Sheet note) See Folder Sheet F1916.491, Archibald Gibson Wenley, note 5. For fuller discussion, see Folder Sheet F1916.492, Archibald Gibson Wenley, note 5.

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

7. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) (Add chang [zhang] 璋 above ceremonial implement.) Chang [Zhang] 璋 F1916.165 represents a variation of the typical chang [zhang] 璋 in which the pair of lateral projections near the hole is replaced by more elaborate crenellations, an embellishment found on chang [zhang] 璋 excavated from Shang 商 sites. (See Folder Sheet F1916.492 for a discussion of chang [zhang] 璋.) The crenellations are very carefully and intricately elaborated, more so than on chang [zhang] 璋 F1916.493, which also belongs to the crenellated type. Due to its thinness the crescentic top has broken. The thickness on either side of the irregular ridge visible on one surface is not uniform. A chang [zhang] 璋 of very similar shape and articulation was excavated at Shih mao [Shimao] 石峁, Shen mu hsien [Shenmu xian] 神木縣 in northeast Shensi [Shaanxi] 陝西 from a coffin made of stone slabs, which the excavators tentatively suggest might be Shang 商 (reproduced in Tai Ying-hsin [Dai Yingxin] 戴應新, "Shensi Shen-mu hsien Shih-mao Lung-shan wen-hua i-chih tiao-ch'a [Shaanxi Shenmu xian Shimao Longshan wenhua yizhi diaocha] 陝西神木縣石峁龍山文化遺址調查," K'ao ku [Kaogu] 考古 1977. 3, pl. 4:5).

8. (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.

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

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

11. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 10, 2010) Changed artist constituent from "Qijia 齊家 culture" to "Erlitou 二里頭 culture"; changed geographical location from "Northwest China" to "China"; date from "ca. 2500--2000 BCE" to "ca. 1800--1600 BCE."

12. (Jeffrey Smith, March 30, 2016) Transferred from the description field: (Jenny So, from Jade Project Database) Dark greyish-olive "puddingstone." Very thin; near paper-thin at uneven top (result of damage). Both faces even and same, with lengthwise ridge on one face. Conical hole at tang. Uneven slice mark running lengthwise on one face. Multiple notches, all carefully shaped above perforated tang. Wide concave edge of notch just above tang broken by smaller notches/crenellations. Three more crenellations line the curved edged just above each notch.

"Chang"
Ceremonial implement; blade with one straight and one slightly concave side; upper end irregularly beveled to a sharp edge; longitudinal median ridge indicated; indented lateral projections and notches on each side above perforated tang; greenish black with black spots and yellowish brown translucence in thin areas; earth incrusted granular patches on tang. (Breaks on tang and upper end). Box.

Published References

J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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Forked blade (zhang 璋)

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