DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.63296#0037
CHAPTER II
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JADE
In considering the symbolism of Chinese art there is one principle
which has to be remembered, and that is that the ideas and beliefs of all
time have been preserved in China and preserved without discrimination.
You may find a dragon or a rat on some amulet or ornament to-day, but
in order to discover its real significance it may be necessary to delve into
pre-history.
This is specially true of the curious astrological lore embodied in the
early rituals. This only peeps out, as it were, in connection with ritual,
it was not a substantive study, astronomical systems as such are of a later
day. The correlation of stars and moon with seasons and tides was obvious
to the Chinese observers of the skies, and it was deduced that such
powerful agents must inssuence all terrestrial affairs. The consequent
religion of the stars and moon was the matrix of a highly antique ritual
later enshrined in the Yao Tien, the Chou Li, and the Li Ki. In spite of
hints and half-statements there is no enunciation of a system in these
fragmentary, much-edited books, but though precise indications are
lacking it is clear enough that early jade was bound up with rites
and it embodied in its shape or decoration beliefs in a past cosmogony.
Stated in simple form, the following points will serve to guide
collectors.
Remains of an old calendar (2400 B.C.), known as the Yao Tien, have
survived destruction. Claiming an origin in the apocryphal legend of the
Emperor Yao, it is of importance in fixing certain dates, notably that of
the change in calendrical calculation involved in substituting the solar
for the lunar zodiac.
Before 2400 B.c. the lunar zodiac was used in China to fix the annual
dates by observation of the sidereal position of the full moon, and to
determine the sidereal position of the sun, which was diametrically opposed
to that of the full moon. The eye was then the only instrument for
observing the sky. It was seen that the moon moved across the sky on a
path through a crowd of stars. It was also seen that the sun moved across
the dome of heaven presumably also through a crowd of stars, but invisible
stars. By arranging a lunar zodiac it was possible to calculate the recurrence
of full moons; and the rising of certain full moons coinciding with the
setting of certain suns, the astrologers looked for that moment of simul-
taneity, for it indicated two great annual feasts, the spring and autumn
equinox.
13
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JADE
In considering the symbolism of Chinese art there is one principle
which has to be remembered, and that is that the ideas and beliefs of all
time have been preserved in China and preserved without discrimination.
You may find a dragon or a rat on some amulet or ornament to-day, but
in order to discover its real significance it may be necessary to delve into
pre-history.
This is specially true of the curious astrological lore embodied in the
early rituals. This only peeps out, as it were, in connection with ritual,
it was not a substantive study, astronomical systems as such are of a later
day. The correlation of stars and moon with seasons and tides was obvious
to the Chinese observers of the skies, and it was deduced that such
powerful agents must inssuence all terrestrial affairs. The consequent
religion of the stars and moon was the matrix of a highly antique ritual
later enshrined in the Yao Tien, the Chou Li, and the Li Ki. In spite of
hints and half-statements there is no enunciation of a system in these
fragmentary, much-edited books, but though precise indications are
lacking it is clear enough that early jade was bound up with rites
and it embodied in its shape or decoration beliefs in a past cosmogony.
Stated in simple form, the following points will serve to guide
collectors.
Remains of an old calendar (2400 B.C.), known as the Yao Tien, have
survived destruction. Claiming an origin in the apocryphal legend of the
Emperor Yao, it is of importance in fixing certain dates, notably that of
the change in calendrical calculation involved in substituting the solar
for the lunar zodiac.
Before 2400 B.c. the lunar zodiac was used in China to fix the annual
dates by observation of the sidereal position of the full moon, and to
determine the sidereal position of the sun, which was diametrically opposed
to that of the full moon. The eye was then the only instrument for
observing the sky. It was seen that the moon moved across the sky on a
path through a crowd of stars. It was also seen that the sun moved across
the dome of heaven presumably also through a crowd of stars, but invisible
stars. By arranging a lunar zodiac it was possible to calculate the recurrence
of full moons; and the rising of certain full moons coinciding with the
setting of certain suns, the astrologers looked for that moment of simul-
taneity, for it indicated two great annual feasts, the spring and autumn
equinox.
13