DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.63296#0038
EARLY CHINESE JADES
By 2400 B.c. the invention of the gnomon had displaced the use of the
lunar zodiac by enabling the date of the summer solstice to be determined
by the shadow of a vertical rod* This simple, concrete proceeding
inaugurated a new period in China, that of solar and tropical astronomy
adumbrated in the text of the Yao Tien and confirmed by the immutable
system of the sidereal seasons which, in spite of precession, has preserved
the position of the equinoxes and solstices indicated in this early text*1
Though the lunar zodiac lost its value for calculation it preserved its
traditional astrological and religious prestige* Though little is known
as to the earliest religious observances of the Chinese, there is reason for
thinking that the first phase of religious development consisted with them
as with other primitive peoples in a vegetation cult*2 This system asso-
ciated religion and seasonal changes, and led to a vague belief in earth-
spirits and magical methods of affecting them* It was intimately con-
nected with veneration of cosmic bodies, and even before true astro-
nomical calculations were made the four seasons with their inssuences on
food and vegetation were propitiated by methods of incantation or sacrifice
in favour of the tillers of the soil* In an analogous manner the five
elements, earth, fire, water, wood, metal, all of prime importance to men,
were recognised with special forms of homage* A study of early jades
affords support for this view that the original nature religion of China
was a synthesis of worship which recognised the celestial control of the
seasons and fealty to the terrestrial elements which conditioned human
existence* By degrees features were introduced corresponding to the
change in the astronomical theory of the heavens*
There can be no doubt that religious importance was attached by the
Chinese as by all primitive people to the miracle of spring's return* A
variable and uncertain recurrence, an event not to be calculated by the
mere addition of days and nights, it was one that might be assisted by
magical or religious ceremonies, the observance of which assured the
worshippers of some mysterious bond between them and nature* It is
thought, indeed, that the origin of magic is to be sought in similar rites,
and that these led to a wider belief which recognised an echo of man's
actions in nature and in the forces around him*
The worship of vegetation and natural forces, dating back to prehistoric
time, was thus intimately linked with seasonal observances* The early
1 L. de Saussure, T'oung Pao, Oct., 1922, p. 269.
2 Das Priesterthun im Alten China, B. Schindler, 1922; and Le Dieu du Sol dans la Chine
antique, E. Chavannes.
14
By 2400 B.c. the invention of the gnomon had displaced the use of the
lunar zodiac by enabling the date of the summer solstice to be determined
by the shadow of a vertical rod* This simple, concrete proceeding
inaugurated a new period in China, that of solar and tropical astronomy
adumbrated in the text of the Yao Tien and confirmed by the immutable
system of the sidereal seasons which, in spite of precession, has preserved
the position of the equinoxes and solstices indicated in this early text*1
Though the lunar zodiac lost its value for calculation it preserved its
traditional astrological and religious prestige* Though little is known
as to the earliest religious observances of the Chinese, there is reason for
thinking that the first phase of religious development consisted with them
as with other primitive peoples in a vegetation cult*2 This system asso-
ciated religion and seasonal changes, and led to a vague belief in earth-
spirits and magical methods of affecting them* It was intimately con-
nected with veneration of cosmic bodies, and even before true astro-
nomical calculations were made the four seasons with their inssuences on
food and vegetation were propitiated by methods of incantation or sacrifice
in favour of the tillers of the soil* In an analogous manner the five
elements, earth, fire, water, wood, metal, all of prime importance to men,
were recognised with special forms of homage* A study of early jades
affords support for this view that the original nature religion of China
was a synthesis of worship which recognised the celestial control of the
seasons and fealty to the terrestrial elements which conditioned human
existence* By degrees features were introduced corresponding to the
change in the astronomical theory of the heavens*
There can be no doubt that religious importance was attached by the
Chinese as by all primitive people to the miracle of spring's return* A
variable and uncertain recurrence, an event not to be calculated by the
mere addition of days and nights, it was one that might be assisted by
magical or religious ceremonies, the observance of which assured the
worshippers of some mysterious bond between them and nature* It is
thought, indeed, that the origin of magic is to be sought in similar rites,
and that these led to a wider belief which recognised an echo of man's
actions in nature and in the forces around him*
The worship of vegetation and natural forces, dating back to prehistoric
time, was thus intimately linked with seasonal observances* The early
1 L. de Saussure, T'oung Pao, Oct., 1922, p. 269.
2 Das Priesterthun im Alten China, B. Schindler, 1922; and Le Dieu du Sol dans la Chine
antique, E. Chavannes.
14