Disk (bi 璧)

1. Bought from Lee Van Ching [Li Wenqing] 李文卿, of Shanghai 上海, in New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 246. $100.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Han 漢. See further, S.I. 1108, Appendix VIII (see Paragraph 5).

3. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1945) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty.

4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.970. Nephrite.

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

6. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Attribution changed from Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic.

A general review of the Chinese jades in the collection revealed that many of the plain pi [bi] 璧 had been dated to the Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty, without any indication on the Folder Sheets as to the reasons for that date. Admittedly, the dating of plain pi [bi] 璧 disks remains a perplexing problem. In the catalogue of the Winthrop jades at the Fogg Museum, Max Loehr includes a number of plain pi [bi] 璧 disks (entries 5--11, 87--91) that  are similar to those in the Freer collection; see Max Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1975). The examples in Loehr's first group (entries 5--11) are of mottled materials and of uneven thickness, with some pieces being irregularly shaped. Perforations are either conical or biconical. The walls of the conical perforations usually are carefully finished, while the biconical perforations have a scar at the point where the two borings meet. One example (entry 8) has a curved scar on the surface that apparently occurred at the time the pi [bi] 璧 was being fashioned. Loehr dates those pi [bi] 璧 variously "Late Neolithic (?)," "Neolithic or later (?)," and "Neolithic or later." No reasons are given for the selection of the different dates.

The pi [bi] 璧 in Loehr's second group (entries 87--91) are regularly shaped, with polished surfaces. Perforations,  whether conical or biconical, are ground smooth. Loehr dates these pi [bi] 璧 "Shang 商 (?)," "Shang 商 or later," "Shang 商" and "Early Shang 商 (?)." Here again, there is no explanation for the different dates.
 
In Chinese Jade throughout the Ages, the catalogue of the jade exhibition held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1975, neither of the two pieces designated as pi [bi] 璧 (entries 28 and 30) is dated to the Neolithic period; see The Arts Council of Great Britain and The Oriental Ceramic Society, Chinese Jade throughout the Ages (London: Oriental Ceramic Society, 1975). One of these (entry 28) actually is a "flanged disk," and the second (entry 30) is described as being of Western Chou [Zhou] 周 type, but possibly a Ch'ing [Qing] 清 dynasty archaistic copy. The Freer Gallery has a number of pi [bi] 璧 of this same type (see F1919.25, F1917.79, F1917.348, F1919.58, F1917.346, and F1919.19). They form a distinct group of early Chinese jades and are worthy of a separate study.
 
In spite of the difficulties in assigning dates to plain pi [bi] 璧, some basics for differentiating among Neolithic, Shang 商, and Chou [Zhou] 周 pieces are furnished by those examples unearthed in the People's Republic of China. One pi [bi] 璧 was found in tomb no. 43 at Shih hsia [Shixia] 石峽, Ch'u chiang hsien [Qujiang xian] 曲江縣, 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. 27. The terse description of that pi [bi] 璧 (p. 8) states that the body is thin and that there is a small perforation. Tomb no. 43 is assigned to the "Third Period," in the chronological sequence of the Shih hsia [Shixia] 石峡 culture, which, according to the report, corresponds with the late Neolithic. Unfortunately, the photograph of the pi [bi] 璧 is not clear or detailed enough to permit a precise opinion.

In 1959, a pi [bi] 璧 was reproduced in Wang Ssu-li [Wang Sili] 王思禮, "Shantung An-ch'iu Ching-chih chen hsin-shih-ch'i-shih-tai mu-tsang fa-chueh [Shandong Anqiu Jingzhi zhen xinshiqi shidai muzang fajue] 山東安邱景芝鎮新石器時代墓葬發掘," K'ao ku hsueh pao [Kaogu xuebao] 考古學報 1959.4, p. 27, fig. 11:1 and pl. 6:11. According to the report, the pi [bi] 璧 was found in a Neolithic tomb in Shantung [Shandong] 山東 province. The description of the pi [bi] 璧 (p. 27), which was found in tomb no. 2, mentions the hardness of the material, its light color with greenish streaks, its irregular shape, and the thinness at the outer edges as opposed to the thicker central portion. The central perforation is conical. Judging from the photograph in K'ao ku hsueh pao [Kaogu xuebao] 考古學報, the Shantung [Shandong] 山東 pi [bi] 璧 resembles the examples which Loehr included in the first group of his catalogue.

In an article on jade artifacts from Liang chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 (Ch'en Tso fu [Chen Zuofu] 陳左夫, "Liang-chu ku-yu t'an-t'ao [Liangzhu guyu tantao] 良渚古玉探討," K'ao ku t'ung hsun [Kaogu tongxun] 考古通訊 1957.2, pp. 77--80), the author enumerates several features which, he believes, are indicative of a chronological evolution. According to Ch'en Tso fu [Chen Zuofu] 陳左夫, the earliest method of making perforations in the jade artifacts from Liang chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 was to bore the holes from either side (biconically), so that there was an unfinished horizontal scar where the two borings met. Ch'en [Chen] 陳 notes that jades having this type of roughly finished biconical perforation usually are irregular in shape. For instance, large pi [bi] 璧 are not completely round and not uniform in thickness. It is on pieces of this type that the straight or curved "scars" or "marks" probably resulting from tools can usually be seen. According to Ch'en [Chen] 陳, later jade artifacts from Liang chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 have conical perforations, with a wider opening on one side and a narrower one on the opposite side. He also states that Liang chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 jades with conical perforations of this type rarely display "scars" or "marks."

Although Ch'en [Chen] 陳 makes a strict differentiation between the ancient jades from Liang chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 and those from sites elsewhere in China, the features which he pinpoints seem to have broad, general application for dating jades.

After a review of the information currently available, the dates now assigned to the plain pi [bi] 璧 in the Freer collection are based on the following stylistic features:

1. Neolithic
a. irregular in shape
b. uneven thickness
c. biconical perforations with horizontal scars
d. straight or curved "scars" or "marks" on the surface that evidently resulted when the pieces were being fashioned

2. Shang 商
a. regular in shape
b. even thickness
c. conical and biconical perforations, internal wall of conical perforations are ground smooth

3. Western Chou [Zhou] 周
a. regular shape
b. even thickness
c. large size
d. use of variegated materials
e. concave surface on outer rim
f. biconical perforations with horizontal scars in spite of the unusual degree of finish on all other surfaces of the pi [bi] 璧. The scar might possibly have been retained as an archaistic feature that was deemed important for ritual purposes.

7. (Julia K. Murray, 1983) Excavations in the past several years have brought additional Neolithic pi [bi] 璧 to light, particularly in the east coast area. The best published find was at Ts'ao hsieh shan [Caoxieshan] 草鞋山, Wu hsien [Wu xian] 吳縣, Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇, where several pi [bi] 璧 and ts'ung [cong] 琮 were found in the well-furnished tomb M198, which contained artifacts of the classic Liang chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 culture (3rd millennium BCE). Two of the pi [bi] 璧 are 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), p. 20, figs. 64--66; see also the Japanese exhibition catalogue [by the] Nankin Hakubutsuin [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), cat. 20. Jade pi [bi] 璧 were also found in tombs belonging to the Liang chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 culture in remains at Ssu tun [Sidun] 寺墩, Wu chin [Wujin] 武进進, and Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇; line drawings of some are published in the excavation report (see Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, "Kiangsu Wu-chin Ssu-tun i-chih de shih-chue [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, p. 198, figs. 10 and 11).

"Ca. 2000 BCE" is added to the attribution.

8. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, February 8, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (ca. 5000--ca. 1700 BCE), Artist (Liangzhu 良渚 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Lake Tai 太湖 region); 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 Objects added as secondary classification.

10. (Jeffrey Smith, April 12, 2016) Transferred from Description:  (Jenny So, from Jade Project Database) Mottled olive green and reddish brown. Biconical hole with ridge at meeting pointed, centered. Unevenly round and thick. Curved slice marks on both faces; scratch marks (?) too.

(File folder) Perforated disc of the type "bi." Bored from both sides leaving pronounced median ridge. Mottled light to medium olive greens and some reddish brown and slate colored areas; partially covered on both sides with silvery film of incipient disintegration. Roughly cut, saw marks on both sides; uneven in thickness. (Rim chipped and broken, numerous fissures and rough areas.)