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: Stone (metasomatic rock)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 13.3 x 17.7 x 1.2 cm (5 1/4 x 6 15/16 x 7/16 in) Diam (hole): 4.5 cm (1 13/16 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region, purportedly found at Luoyang, Henan

Notes: purportedly found at Luoyang, Henan

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1919.39

: 斧
新石器時代晚期良渚文化（公元前3300--2250年）
中國太湖地區，原傳河南洛陽出土
石（交代岩）
高17.7、寬13.3、厚1.2釐米
孔徑4.5釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1919.39

Provenance: Reportedly excavated at Luoyang, Henan [1]

Duanfang (1861-1911) [2]

To 1919
You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai to 1919 [3]

1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi in 1919 [4]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [5]

Notes:

[1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record states: "Said to have been in the collection of the Viceroy Tuan Fang and excavated at Lo-yang, Honan."

[2] See note 1.

[3] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1418, pg. 335, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[4] See note 3.

[5] 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): Duanfang 端方 (1861-1911)
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 F1998.4, F1916.498, F1916.512, F1968.48; bronze and jade halberds and jade forked blades shown in same case)
Axe
China, Late Neolithic period, Liangzhu 良渚 culture, ca. 3300–2250 BCE
Stone

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.

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

Stone axes
China, Liangzhu culture, late Neolithic period (ca. 3300–2250 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1919.39

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 Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, of Shanghai 上海. Said to have been in the collection of the Viceroy Tuan Fang [Duanfang] 端方 and excavated at Lo yang [Luoyang] 洛陽, Honan [Henan] 河南. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 335. $100.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Chou [Zhou] 周. See further, S.I. 1418, Appendix IX.

3. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1945) Ch'ing [Qing] 清 dynasty reproduction of Chou [Zhou] 周 type.

4. (Thomas Lawton, 1973) The following information was carved on the box in which this object arrived: "Chou chen kuei [Zhou zhengui] 周鎮圭, T'ao chai ts'ang yu [Taozhai cang yu] 陶齋藏玉."

5. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Neolithic.

6. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) Added 4th millennium BCE to date. Polished stone axes with a large perforation and rounded blade have been found in Neolithic remains in Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇 and Chekiang [Zhejiang] 浙江 provinces. Examples from the following sites are particularly similar to the Freer axe F1919.39: Mei yen [Meiyan] 梅堰, Wu chiang [Wujiang] 吳江, Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇 (reproduced in Kiangsu sheng wen-wu kung-tso-tui [Jiangsu sheng wenwu gongzuodui] 江蘇省文物工作隊, "Kiangsu Wu-chiang Mei-yen hsin-shih-ch'i shih-tai i-chih [Jiangsu Wujiang Meiyan xinshiqi shidai yizhi] 江蘇吳江梅堰新石器時代遺址," K'ao ku [Kaogu] 考古 1963.6, p. 309, fig. 1:7: an axe from the lower level of remains identified as part of the Ch'ing lien kang [Qingliangang] 青蓮崗 culture, 5th--4th millennium BCE); Ts'ao hsieh shen [Caoxieshan] 草鞋山, Wu hsien [Wu xian] 吳縣, Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇 (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, fig. 56: an axe from tomb M203 in the sixth level, belonging to the Sung tse [Songze] 崧澤 culture, 5th--4th millennium BCE); Pei yin yang ying [Beiyinyangying] 北陰陽營, Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇 (reproduced in 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. 5: axe tentatively dated 3500--3000 BCE); and Lao ho shan [Laoheshan] 老和山, Chekiang [Zhejiang] 浙江 (reproduced in 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, pl. 11:1; no date offered). An axe in the Sonnenschein collection at the Chicago Art Institute (1950.515, reproduced in Alfred Salmony, Archaic Chinese Jades from the Edward and Louise B. Sonnenschein Collection [Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1952], pl. LIII:1) is also very similar to the Freer axe and likewise of unknown provenance. For a discussion of jade replicas of the stone axe, see Folder Sheet F1918.35.

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 3, 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.

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

9. (Stephen Allee, March 23, 2009) Changed Medium from "Jade" to "Stone (metasomatic rock)" as per Janet Douglas using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (January 8, 2009).

10. (Jeffrey Smith, April 1, 2016) Transferred from Description: (File folder) Axe of the type "fu" [Chn]. Broad rounded blade edge and large circular biconical perforation bored from both sides leaving sharp median ridge. Dull stone-gray with lighter gray mottlings, dark veins and areas of brownish stain. One edge rough. (Slightly chipped, strata cracks).

Published References

J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
You Xiaoxi. Description of antique Chinese paintings and brass wares as well as of porcelains of different ages, The Charles Lang Freer papers., 1919. No. 86, p. 61, 70.
Julia Murray. Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 14, no. 11 Hong Kong, November 1983. p. 22.

CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0): This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections..

Save this image | Terms of use

Axe (fu 斧)

Related Objects

Related Media

Web Resources