Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Liangzhu culture 良渚 (ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 3300-2250 BCE

Object Date: ca. 3300-2250 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): Diam x D: 26.3 x 1.6 cm (10 3/8 x 5/8 in) Diam (hole): 4.7 cm (1 7/8 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region, but purportedly found in Shaanxi

Notes: but purportedly found in Shaanxi

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1917.344

: 璧
新石器時代晚期良渚文化（公元前3300--2250年）
中國太湖地區，原傳陝西出土
軟玉
直徑26.3、厚1.6釐米；孔徑4.7釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1917.344

Provenance: Reportedly excavated in Shensi province [1]

To 1917
You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [2]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, in New York, in 1917 [3]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

Notes:

[1] According to Curatorial Remark 2 in the object record.

[2] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1284, pg. 286, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[3] See note 2.

[4] 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): You Xiaoxi 游篠溪 (C.L. Freer source) (late 19th-early 20th century)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Past label text: Liangzhu 良渚 and its Legacy, November 4, 2010–January 3, 2016; by Keith Wilson (shown with F1917.354, F1918.28, F1919.27, F1917.345, F1917.19, F1919.18, F1917.83, F1917.350, F1918.25, F1918.26, F1914.66)
Bi 璧 disks
Neolithic period, Liangzhu 良渚 culture, ca. 3300–2250 BCE
Jade (nephrite)

Although the circular shape of these bi 璧 resembles earlier jade pendants, their sheer size and weight make them impossible to wear. Such disks most likely held a ritual significance since thousands of them have been found at Liangzhu 良渚 burial sites. The ones fashioned from finer jade and smoothed to a lustrous polish were typically placed nearest the deceased’s body, while those of lesser-quality stone and with unfinished surfaces were often arranged in short stacks below the feet.

The finest Liangzhu 良渚 bi 璧 (pronounced bee) were crafted from dark, even-grained nephrite. They were meticulously shaped with a circular edge and a central hole, signs of great patience and skilled workmanship. Perhaps more interesting are the imperfectly shaped disks. Some still retain evidence of the jade boulder’s rough edges. Others preserve traces of tool marks, such as the shallow cuts that resulted from string saws methodically rubbing back and forth across the flat stone surface thousands of years ago.

Liangzhu 良渚 jade bi 璧
Thousands of jade bi 璧, too large to be worn as jewelry, have been unearthed in elite burial sites associated with the Liangzhu 良渚 culture. Variations are apparent in the size of the disks, the quality of the stone used, the level of workmanship, and the finish of the bi 璧, yet their meaning, purpose, and ritual significance remain unknown. A century ago Charles Lang Freer acquired all of these bi 璧 largely for their aesthetic appeal at a time when nothing was known of the Liangzhu 良渚 culture.

Usually fashioned from even-grained dark nephrite, the most exceptional examples of bi 璧 are perfectly circular in circumference. On some, traces of sawing and grinding have been completely polished away, and the smooth surfaces are buffed to a lustrous shine. In many cases, however, the flawed stone is irregular in shape, and the disk still retains intriguing evidence of its manufacture.

Working jade is an extremely laborious process that involves both slicing and removing unwanted stone with powdered abrasive minerals, such as quartz, garnet, or corundum. Slabs were cut from boulders of jade probably found in river beds. The back-and-forth movement of flexible string or strap saws typically left traces of shallow concave cut marks. A rigid stone saw might have shaped the outer edges with a series of straight cuts. Hollow tubular bits, aided by mineral abrasives and water, could have been used to drill the central hole from both sides of the disk to avoid breakage. A tiny projecting ridge inside the hole remains if the drill bits were improperly aligned. To finish the bi 璧, the outer edge might have been turned on a lathe. Lastly, the surface was polished with fine abrasives to create a high sheen.

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

Bi
China, late Neolithic period, Liangzhu culture, ca. 3300–2250 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1917.344

A Swarm of Bi
Thousands of jade bi (pronounced bee) have been unearthed in elite Liangzhu culture burial sites, varying in size, quality of stone, level of workmanship, and finish. Yet the meaning, purpose, and ritual significance of bi remain unknown.

On the most exceptional examples, which are perfect circles of even-grained dark nephrite, sawing and grinding marks have been completely polished away. On other bi you can still see traces of shallow cuts that resulted from string saws rubbed methodically back and forth across the flat stone surface.

Bi fashioned from finer jade and smoothed to a lustrous polish were typically buried near the deceased’s body. Those of lesser-quality stone and with unfinished surfaces were often stacked below the feet.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, of Shanghai 上海, in New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 286. $300.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Shang 商. See further, S.I. 1284, Appendix VIII. Excavated in Shensi [Shaanxi] 陝西 province.

3. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1945) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty.

4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.993. Nephrite.

5. (Julia K. Murray, 1983) The abrasions that appear on both surfaces suggest that someone tried to polish away the veins in the stone, as the scratches follow the veins exactly. It seems likely that this attempt at reworking the surface took place in relatively recent times, given the fresh appearance of the abrasions. See F1917.19 for a discussion of pi [bi] 璧. The attribution is changed from Western Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic, ca. 2000 BCE.

6. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, February 26, 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.

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

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

9. (Jeffrey Smith, April 11, 2016) Transferred from Description: (Jenny So, from Jade Project Database) Mottled olive-green and brown. Biconical hole, perfectly centered and round, ridge at meeting point. Evenly round and thick. Vertical outer edge slightly concave. Surface altered, withscratches and obviously repaired areas; repolished smooth.

(File folder) Large perforated disc of the type "bi." Bored from both sides leaving median ridge. Obverse of mottled olive-brown and olive-green with bluish areas and pale strata cracks and translucent flecks, some light frosting of decomposition. Reverse is lighter and extensively covered with large and small veins of white decomposition. (Broken and mended (?), surface roughly filed at cracks, small chips.) Box.

Published References

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

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