One-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks

• 1. Bought from Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, of Shanghai 上海. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 303. Said to have been excavated in Shensi [Shaanxi] 陝西 and acquired by Wu Ta-ch'eng [Wu Dacheng] 吳大澂 in 1897. $250

  2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Hsia [Xia] 夏. See further, S.I. 1324, Appendix VIII.

  3. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1945) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty. Cf. F1916.118.

  4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.920. Decomposed nephrite?

  5. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Western Chou [Zhou] 周. Cf. F1916.118, another ts'ung [cong] 琮 with similar monster masks. Both F1916.118 and F1917.384 are related to a group of Western Chou [Zhou] 周 jade objects with this type of monster design in relief, such as the plaque F1916.511.

  6. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) From Ancient Chinese Jade exhibition label: Attribution changed from Western Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic, ca. 2000 BCE.

  7. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) The masklike designs on this ring or ts'ung [cong] 琮 are similar in conception to those found on jades excavated from sites belonging to the late Liang-chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 phase of the East Coast Neolithic culture (see the ts'ung [cong] 琮 excavated at Wu hsien [Wu xian] 吳縣 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 the angular plaque found at Chiang-ning [Jiangning] 江寧 Tsan-miao [Zanmiao] 昝廟 of which a line drawing is reproduced in 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, p. 197, fig. 7). What may be an earlier form of the design, in which the face is incised rather than raised in relief and includes a pair of fangs, appears on a ring or ts'ung [cong] 琮 apparently identical in shape to F1917.384, excavated at Wu hsien [Wu xian] 吳縣 Chang-ling-shan [Zhanglingshan] 張陵山 (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], cat. 19).

  Hayashi Minao attributes the Chang-ling-shan [Zhanglingshan] 張陵山 piece to the late Ch'ing-lien-kang [Qingliangang] 青蓮崗 culture, which preceded the Liang-chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 culture in eastern coastal China (see Hayashi Minao 林巳奈夫, "Ryōsho bunka no gyokki jakkano megutte 良渚文化の玉器若干をめぐって = Jade of the Liang-chu Culture," Museum 360 [1981], pp. 22--33, esp. p. 26).

  One other excavated ts'ung [cong] 琮 ring that appears quite similar to the Freer's was found in Tomb 267 at T'ao-ssu [Taosi] 陶寺, Hsiang-feng-hsien [Xiangfen xian] 襄汾縣 in Shansi [Shanxi] 山西 province (Chung-kuo she-hui k'e-hsueh-yuan k'ao-ku yen-chiu-suo Shansi kung-tso-tui [Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo Shanxi gongzuodui] 中國社會科學院考古研究所山西工作隊 and Lin-fen ti-ch'u wen-hua-chu [Linfen diqu wenhuaju] 臨汾地區文化局, "Shansi Hsiang-fen hsien T'ao-ssu fa-chueh chien-pao [Shanxi Xiangfen xian Taosi yizhi fajue jianbao 山西襄汾縣陶寺遺址發掘簡報," K'ao-ku [Kaogu] 考古 1980.1, pl. 6:8), one of the few occurrences of the ts'ung [cong] 琮 in the late Neolithic cultures of north central China.

  8. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, February 29, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (3300--2250 BCE), Artist (Liangzhu 良渚 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Lake Tai 太湖 region); plus Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

  9. (Stephen Allee, May 29, 2008) Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Elisabeth West Fitzhugh, July 1980, as determined by x-ray diffraction.

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

  11. (Stephen Allee, March 23, 2009) Designation "nephrite" confirmed by Janet Douglas using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (January 8, 2009).

  12. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 20, 2010) Title changed from "Short round tube (cong 琮)" to "Tube (cong 琮) with masks."
  
  
  

Draft catalogue entry for F1917.384; by Jenny F. So (2003)

Cong 琮 bracelet
Late Neolithic period, 3000--2500 BCE
Liangzhu 良渚 culture, Lake Tai 太湖 region
Nephrite, semi-translucent gray-green altered to opaque honey brown
Height 2.80--3.51 cm; dimensions at top 6.80 × 6.81 cm; at bottom 6.72 × 6.73 cm; diameter of opening 5.52--5.78 cm
Purchased from Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, Shanghai 上海; acquired by Wu Dacheng 吳大澂 in 1897
F1917.384

This low, subtly tapered cylinder has an opening drilled from both sides and four slightly thickened rectangular layers evenly distributed around its much worn outer surface. Barely distinguishable also is a face-like motif worked in low relief onto these four panels. What can be seen are oval eyes and a narrow horizontal mouth similar to the one on F1916.118.

This represents the earliest example of the type in these collections. An even more primitive prototype is a simple cylindrical bracelet from Wu xian 吳縣, Zhanglingshan 張陵山, Jiangsu 江蘇 province (Fig. 1a).[1] Its simple shape and large perforation (8.2 cm) indicate that it was probably worn by a larger individual with a thick wrist. The four slightly raised rectangular panels show a fierce animal-like face with circular eyes connected by a bridge, eyebrows above, and a broad mouth with up-and-down-curved fangs below, all crudely incised into the surface. This single excavated example reveals the basic features for all subsequent motifs.

A more developed version of the Zhanglingshan 張陵山 motif appears on a cylindrical bracelet from Yaoshan 瑤山 M10. There, the oval eyes, bridge, and nose of each animal-face are raised in low relief on rectangular panels that follow the curvature of the bracelet (Fig. 1b).[2] The Freer example illustrates the next step in the development of these early types. The raised panels on which the animal faces are depicted in relief begin to pull away from the curved wall to form a ridge down the median axis of the face. This added emphasis will ultimately lead to the distinctive squared cylindrical shape that is the hallmark of the cong 琮 (see F1916.118).

The above development would imply that all cong 琮 have four faces. That is certainly the norm, but cylindrical cong 琮 with more or less than four faces have been recovered from Yaoshan 瑤山: one has five, and another has only three.[3] This variability only reinforces the fact that four-faced cong 琮 are mature developments that only became inevitable and standardized after the faces formed four corners around the cylinder.

Published: Hayashi Minao 林巳奈夫, "Ryōsho bunka no gyokki jakkano megutte 良渚文化の玉器若干をめぐって = Jade of the Liang-chu Culture," Museum 360 (1981), fig. 11; Julia K. Murray, "Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art," Orientations 14 (1983), p. 18.

Figures:
[1] The Carbon-14 dates for Zhanglingshan 張陵山 are 3835 ± 240 B.C. (Yeung Kin Fong [Yang Jianfang] 楊建芳, Zhongguo guyu yanjiu lunwenji 中國古玉研究論文集 = Treatises on ancient Chinese jades, vol. 1 [Taipei: Zhongzhi meishu chubanshe, 1995], no. 14).
[2] Zhejiang sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 浙江省文物考古研究所, Shanghai shi wenwu guanli weiyuanhui 上海市文物管理委员会, and Nanjing bowuyuan 南京博物院, Liangzhu wenhua yuqi 良渚文化玉器 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, and Hong Kong: Liangmu chubanshe, 1989), no. 14.
[3] Liangzhu wenhua bowuguan 良渚文化博物館, Dongfang wenming zhi guang: Liangzhu wenhua yuqi 東方文明之光：良渚文化玉器 = The Dawn of Chinese Civilization: Jades of the Liangzhu Culture (Yuhang shi: Liangzhu wenhua bowuguan, Xianggang: Xianggang zhongwen daxue wenwuguan, 1998), cat. 17; Zhejiang sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 浙江省文物考古研究所, "Yuhang Yaoshan Liangzhu wenhua jitan yizhi fajue jianbao 餘杭瑤山良渚文化祭壇遺址發掘簡報," [Wenwu] 文物 1988.1, figs. 28:4, 28:13.

• Minao Hayashi. Jade of the Liang-chu Culture. no. 360 Tokyo, March 1981. fig. 11.
• J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
• Julia Murray. Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 14, no. 11 Hong Kong, November 1983. p. 18.
• Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, Fang Gu. Yuqi shidai: Meiguo bowuguan cang Zhongguo zaoqi yuqi [The Jade Age: Early Chinese Jades in American Museums]. Beijing, 2009. p. 102.