1. Bought from K. T. Wong [Wang Jiantang] 王鑑堂, of Shanghai 上海. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 214. $2,025
2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Chou [Zhou] 周. See further, S.I. 995, Appendix III.
3. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1929) Chou [Zhou] 周.
4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.949. Decomposition and incrustations prevent a more accurate calculation for nephrite.
5. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Traditional theories about the evolution of the shape of the ts'ung [cong] 琮 and its dating are still being reexamined in the light of examples unearthed in China during the 20th century. A basic problem is that the style of the ts'ung [cong] 琮 said to have been found in Neolithic contexts is more sophisticated and developed than that of pieces said to date from the succeeding Shang 商 dynasty. Obviously, it will not be possible to come to any firm decision about the dating of ts'ung [cong] 琮 until more examples are discovered from precisely dateable archaeological finds. The following discussion is a review of the information currently available.
An unpublished ts'ung [cong] 琮 in the Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇 Provincial Museum, Nanking [Nanjing] 南京, is a high, slightly tapering prism drilled longitudally from both sides. The rounded corners give the impression of a tube projecting at either end of the prism, without, however, being completely round. In the middle of each side of the ts'ung [cong] 琮 is a shallow vertical channel separating the four faces into symmetrical halves. Each of those halves is decorated with three plain horizontal bands. Between the second and third bands is a small, lightly incised circle. If the bands and the circles are read as an abstract mask, the "correct" position for the ts'ung [cong] 琮 would be with the wide end up. Although that is the traditional Chinese position of depicting ts'ung [cong] 琮, it is such an unstable one that most Western museums have shown ts'ung [cong] 琮 with the wide end at the bottom. According to the officials at the Nanking [Nanjing] 南京 Museum, the ts'ung [cong] 琮 was unearthed in an undisturbed Neolithic context at Ts'ao-hsieh-shan [Caoxieshan] 草鞋山, Wu hsien [xian] 吳縣, in 1967. Were it not for the Neolithic context in which the ts'ung [cong] 琮 is said to have been found, the piece, according to traditional connoisseurship, would have been dated to the Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty.
Further support of a Neolithic date for the Nanking [Nanjing] 南京 ts'ung [cong] 琮 is provided by two ts'ung [cong] 琮 reproduced in 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, figs. 31 and 34. Those ts'ung [cong] 琮 were unearthed at Shih-hsia [Shixia] 石峽, Ch'u-chiang hsien [Qujiang xian] 曲江縣, Kwangtung [Guangdong] 廣東 province, and are assigned to the "Third Period," which, according to the archaeological report, corresponds to the late Neolithic. The decoration of the two Shih-hsia [Shixia] 石峽 ts'ung [cong] 琮 like that on the ts'ung [cong] 琮 in Nanking [Nanjing] 南京 consists of bands and circles.
A small fragment of a ts'ung [cong] 琮 was found at the early Shang 商 site of Erh-li-t'ou [Erlitou] 二里頭， Henan 河南 (Hayashi Minao, "Chūgoku kodai no saigyoku, zuigyoku 中國古代の祭玉，瑞玉 = Ceremonial Jades of Ancient China," Toho Gakuho 東方學報 40 [1969], p. 288, fig. 66:1). Judging from that fragment, the original piece was a hollow tube and had horizontal bands on the exterior surfaces. Two fragmentary stone ts'ung [cong] 琮 were found in the Shang 商 tomb No. 1001 at Hou-chia-chuang [Houjiazhuang] 侯家莊, Anyang 安陽, Henan河南 (ibid., figs. 66:2--3). These ts'ung [cong] 琮 are roughly square in proportion, with uneven transitions between square and round surfaces. In form, these ts'ung [cong] 琮 resemble a short squarish prism that has been penetrated by a slightly longer tube.
Quite different in decoration, but also dated to the Shang 商 dynasty, is the marble ts'ung [cong] 琮 found at tomb No. 1002, Hou-chia-chang [Houjiazhuang] 侯家莊 (ibid., fig. 66:4). Particularly noteworthy are the carved t'ao-t'ieh [taotie] 饕餮 masks that occur on the upper and lower corners of the ts'ung [cong] 琮.
More recently, two ts'ung [cong] 琮 were found among the remains in a Shang 商 tomb in Pao-te hsien [Baode xian] 保德縣, Shansi [Shanxi] 山西 province and published in Wu Chen-lu [Wu Zhenlu] 吳振錄, "Pao-te hsien hsin-fa-hsien te Yin-tai ch'ing-t'ung-ch'i [Baode xian xinfaxian de Yindai qingtongqi] 保德縣新發現的殷代青銅器," Wen-wu [Wenwu] 文物 1972.4, p. 66, fig. 13. Yet another ts'ung [cong] 琮 was found in a Shang 商 tomb in Shantung [Shandong] 山東 province and published in Shantung sheng po-wu-kuan [Shandong sheng bowuguan] 山東省博物館, "Shantung I-tu Su-fu-t'un ti i- hao nu-li hsun-tsang-mu [Shandong Yidu Sufutun diyihao nuli xunzangmu] 山東益都蘇埠屯第一號奴隸殉葬墓," Wen-wu [Wenwu] 文物 1972.8, p. 29, fig. 32.
6. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) Attribution is changed from Western Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic, ca. 2000 BCE.
7. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) The band-and-circle decor on ts'ung [cong] 琮 F1916.410 is organized in 11 horizontal registers, making it the tallest example in the Freer collection.
The tall ts'ung [cong] 琮 with segmented decor, usually consisting of raised bands and incised circles, seems almost certainly a late Neolithic type of ritual jade. Judging from the sites from which the type has been excavated, it was evidently not carried over into the Shang 商 cultural inventory. The few ts'ung [cong] 琮 that have come from Shang 商 contexts have been small and mostly undecorated (see references given by Lawton, above).
Several of the Neolithic examples have now been published in archaeological journals and catalogues. From the Ts'ao-hsieh-shan [Caoxieshan] 草鞋山 site in Wu hsien [xian] 吳縣 have come 4 ts'ung [cong] 琮 (and 2 pi [bi] 璧), from the grave of a man whom Chinese archaeologists tentatively call a clan head. The tomb is dated to the late phase of the Liang-chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 culture, probably late 3rd millennium BCE. Calibrated carbon-14 dates for the Liang-chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 culture range from 3310--2250 BCE. (An Chih-min [An Zhimin] 安志敏, "Lueh-lun san-shih nien lai wo-kuo te hsin-shih-ch'i shih-tai k'ao-ku [Luelun sanshi nian lai woguo de Xinshiqishidai kaogu] 略論三十年來我國的新石器時代考古," K'ao-ku [Kaogu] 考古 1979.5, pp. 393--403; An Chih-min [An Zhimin] 安志敏, "The Neolithic Archaeology of China: A Brief Survey of the Last Thirty Years," trans. K. C. Chang, Early China 5 [1979--1980], pp. 35--45.) Two of the Ts'ao-hsieh-shan [Caoxieshan] 草鞋山 ts'ung [cong] 琮 are published in the catalogue of an exhibition sent by the Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇 Provincial Museum to Japan in 1981; see Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, Chūka Jinmin Kyōwakoku Nankin Hakubutsuin ten 中華人民共和國南京博物院展 = Art Treasures from the Nanjing Museum (Nagoya-shi: Nagoya-shi Hakubutsukan, 1981), cats. 17--19. (They and one other also are reproduced on page 12 in Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, "Kiangsu Wu hsien Ts'ao-hsieh-shan i-chih [Jiangsu Wu xian Caoxieshan yizhi] 江蘇吳縣草鞋山遺址," Wen-wu tzu-liao ts'ung-k'an [Wenwu ziliao congkan] 文物資料叢刊 3 (1980), pp. 1--24. Another ts'ung [cong] 琮, very tall (23 cm) and with 8 tiers of segmented decoration, was one of two found nearby in Wu-chin [Wujin] 武進 (Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, "Kiangsu Wu-chin Ssu-tun i-chih te shih-chueh [Jiangsu Wujin Sidun yizhi de shijue] 江蘇武進寺墩遺址的試掘," K'ao-ku [Kaogu] 考古 1981.3, pp. 193--200, reproduced in pl. 2:5). The other ts'ung [cong] 琮 from this site was a squate piece (5.4 cm) with two sections of segmented decoration (reproduced in ibid., pl. 2:4).
On ts'ung [cong] 琮 with segmented decor, the horizontal band designs appear in groups of three and are either plain or in some instances lightly incised with meander-patterns. The third band in each group is shorter than the other two, whose length, in turn, is determined by the width of the shallow vertical channel that roughly bisects each wall. The result is that each 3-band unit symmetrically overlaps a corner of the ts'ung [cong] 琮, a treatment foreshadowing the disposition and symmetrical division of the t'ao-t'ieh [taotie] 饕餮 mask on many Shang 商 and Chou [Zhou] 周 bronzes. The significance of the similarity is enhanced by the possibility that the three-band pattern (sometimes accompanied by a pair of lightly incised round eyes between the short and long bars) is a geometric abstraction of the animal-like mask that appears on a few examples (cf. a small ts'ung [cong] 琮 from Ts'ao-hsieh-shan [Caoxieshan] 草鞋山 reproduced in Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, "Kiangsu Wu hsien Ts'ao-hsieh-shan i-chih [Jiangsu Wu xian Caoxieshan yizhi] 江蘇吳縣草鞋山遺址," Wen-wu tzu-liao ts'ung-k'an [Wenwu ziliao congkan] 文物資料叢刊 3 (1980), pl. 3:1; and FGA ts'ung [cong] 琮 F1916.118), a motif whose similarity to the t'ao-t'ieh [taotie] 饕餮 is undeniable.
Tall ts'ung [cong] 琮 in the Freer collection that belong to the Neolithic type represented by the excavated examples include (in addition to F1916.410): F1916.157, F1916.389, F1917.63, F1918.14, F1968.36, F1968.30, and F1917.95. The tsung [cong] 琮 F1916.368, F1917.96, and F1917.368, which differ somewhat from the type while showing certain continuities, cannot be attributed to the late Neolithic period with the same degree of certainty as the others. They may represent later revivals. Since there is no comparative material from archaeological sites available at present to help assign them to their proper date and context, their current attribution to the Western Chou [Zhou] 周 period is not being changed for now.
Finally, the ts'ung [cong] 琮 F1917.362, F1918.15 and probably F1917.364 are archaistic and much later, less faithful evocations of the type.
8. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, February 5, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (3300--2250 BCE), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Lake Tai 太湖 region); plus Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.
9. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial Objects added as secondary classification.
10. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 20, 2010) Title changed from "Tall tube (cong 琮)" to "Tube (cong 琮) with masks."
11. (Jeffrey Smith, April 14, 2016) Transferred from Description: Squared, hollow cylinder of the type cong. Very tall form with wide projecting collar at both ends. Bored from both sides leaving slight median ridge. Highly mottled reddish brown, olive-green and dull yellow; scattered veins of cream white decomposition and some dark, rough incrustations. Decoration: channeled and incised grooves, corner ridges and faint circles. (Collar chipped.) Box and stand.
Draft catalogue entry for F1916.410; 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, variegated deep rust-brown, olive-green and tan
Height 28.35--28.48 cm, dimensions at top 7.43 × 7.51 cm; diameter of opening 4.7 cm
Purchased from K. T. Wong [Wang Jiantang] 王鑑堂 (late 19th--early 20th century), Shanghai 上海
F1916.410
Although it is one of the tallest examples in the collections, this eleven-tiered cong 琮 is still considerably shorter than the tallest ones known (approaching fifty centimeters high with seventeen and nineteen tiers respectively) in the collections of the British Museum and the Hotung collections in London [1] and National Museum in Beijing 北京. [2] Its eleven tiers show the same simplified human image, now much worn and abraded. Like the other multi-tiered cong 琮 in the collections, the squared outline of the collars at top and bottom indicate that its manufacture also began as a rectangular block through which a cylindrical hole was drilled. The deep rust-brown surface is probably due to prolonged handling.
Published: Geoffrey Wills, Jade of the East (New York: Weatherhill, 1972), fig. 17; Julia K. Murray, "Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art," Orientations 14, no. 11 (1983), figs. 17, p. 20.
[1] Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing (London: British Museum Press, 1995), cat. no. 3:6; 128--129 and fig. 1 (1937.4--16.188).
[2] Zhongguo yuqi quanji bianji weiyuanhui 中國玉器全集編輯委員會, Zhongguo yuqi quanji 中國玉器全集 (Shijiazhuang: Hebei meishu chubanshe, 1992), vol. 1, cat. 190; other tall cong 琮 in the Capital Museum, Beijing 北京, and Shanghai 上海 Museum are illustrated in cats. 191--93.
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