DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.63296#0060
EARLY CHINESE JADES
THE TS* UNG
The ts'ung is an emblem of peculiar interest both on account of its form
and its significance. In the Chou Li it is stated that the Master of
Religious Ceremonies used the yellow jade tablet ts'ung with which to pay
homage to Earth, One sometimes hears collectors of jade, ts'ung in
hand, saying: ** this is a symbol of heaven and earth, you see heaven is
round and the earth is square/' as if this remark explained everything. As
a matter of fact, the ts'ung was in no way concerned with heaven and was
mainly concerned with the worship of earth as well as with other less
important ceremonies.
In shape the ts'ung is a cylinder ssanked by four prisms united by a ssat
surface to form a wall. The Chinese say, “ the ts*ung is rectangular
without and circular within," At either end the cylinder projects in a
sort of rim or lip. Though the form of the ts'ung is always the same there
are great variations in proportion, size, colour, and workmanship. Some
are 18 inches long and 4 inches wide—others are almost as broad as they
are long; others again are very small. The most important and the
rarest of these emblematic jades were undoubtedly those used in the ritual
worship of Earth, If possible, jade of a rich yellow-ochre colour was
selected for this purpose, but if no complete block of orange or yellow
jade was available, jade of another colour, but showing yellow ssecks or
spots, was used as a substitute. The colour yellow was chosen to sym-
bolise earth, as it was characteristic of the alluvial soil of China, the loess
itself being yellow in tone.
Archaeologists agree that the ts'ung is of very ancient origin. Dr, Gieseler,
who has devoted much study to the ts'ung of Chou days, is convinced
that the distinction between the cylinder and the prisms attached to it
had a real origin / in other words, that the prisms indicative of the four
regions and of the elements were at some period or another clamped on
to the cylinder which in itself was an older emblem and probably the
object of a domestic cult.
The primitive Chinese are said to have lived in huts and caves excavated
in the soil. In the roof of these huts there was a cylindrical opening or
chimney made of clay. In the primitive home this cylindrical chimney
was known as chung liao (central gutter for rain). It allowed the smoke
to escape and the rain to enter. “ The chung liao was exposed to the rain,
that is to say, it opened on to the sky to admit of those exchange move-
1 See La Tablette Tsong du Tcheou Li, Rev. Arch., 1917.
36
THE TS* UNG
The ts'ung is an emblem of peculiar interest both on account of its form
and its significance. In the Chou Li it is stated that the Master of
Religious Ceremonies used the yellow jade tablet ts'ung with which to pay
homage to Earth, One sometimes hears collectors of jade, ts'ung in
hand, saying: ** this is a symbol of heaven and earth, you see heaven is
round and the earth is square/' as if this remark explained everything. As
a matter of fact, the ts'ung was in no way concerned with heaven and was
mainly concerned with the worship of earth as well as with other less
important ceremonies.
In shape the ts'ung is a cylinder ssanked by four prisms united by a ssat
surface to form a wall. The Chinese say, “ the ts*ung is rectangular
without and circular within," At either end the cylinder projects in a
sort of rim or lip. Though the form of the ts'ung is always the same there
are great variations in proportion, size, colour, and workmanship. Some
are 18 inches long and 4 inches wide—others are almost as broad as they
are long; others again are very small. The most important and the
rarest of these emblematic jades were undoubtedly those used in the ritual
worship of Earth, If possible, jade of a rich yellow-ochre colour was
selected for this purpose, but if no complete block of orange or yellow
jade was available, jade of another colour, but showing yellow ssecks or
spots, was used as a substitute. The colour yellow was chosen to sym-
bolise earth, as it was characteristic of the alluvial soil of China, the loess
itself being yellow in tone.
Archaeologists agree that the ts'ung is of very ancient origin. Dr, Gieseler,
who has devoted much study to the ts'ung of Chou days, is convinced
that the distinction between the cylinder and the prisms attached to it
had a real origin / in other words, that the prisms indicative of the four
regions and of the elements were at some period or another clamped on
to the cylinder which in itself was an older emblem and probably the
object of a domestic cult.
The primitive Chinese are said to have lived in huts and caves excavated
in the soil. In the roof of these huts there was a cylindrical opening or
chimney made of clay. In the primitive home this cylindrical chimney
was known as chung liao (central gutter for rain). It allowed the smoke
to escape and the rain to enter. “ The chung liao was exposed to the rain,
that is to say, it opened on to the sky to admit of those exchange move-
1 See La Tablette Tsong du Tcheou Li, Rev. Arch., 1917.
36