DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.63296#0066
EARLY CHINESE JADES
In the Vu Shu, ts'ung is explained academically as a badge of rank of
different sizes made in jade* Further it is described as having eight corners
with a round hole in the centre and looking like a wheel* The eight
corners are said to denote the eight regions, and in general shape the
ts'ung was supposed to resemble the earth* The badge was worn by
Feudal Princes under the Chou dynasty, especially when presenting
complimentary offerings to an Empress* When such offerings were
presented to an Emperor the Princes wore a pi.
To Wu Ta ch'eng, Chinese archaeologist and politician in the suite of
Li Hung Ch'ang, belongs the honour of rediscovering the ts'ung.1 He
says that most of the ancient jades known as wheel-naves are identical
with ts'ung. Dr* Laufer, too, clearly proved that the jade wheel-naves
were really ritual ts(ung.
It is improbable that any of the plain tsung were made in Han days*
The Hans were fond of decoration and loved covering their surfaces and
spaces with animals and patterns* The ts'ung did not escape decoration
and there are examples covered with decorative designs as elaborate as
those of Chou bronzes* For example, by the kind permission of Dr*
Gieseler, I am enabled to reproduce a drawing which gives details of
the ornament on a tslung in his collection (i).
x
KUEI
The object known to collectors as the kuei is an extremely old symbol;
it frequently appears in conjunction with the pi among the bone relics of
the Shang dynasty* In shape it is an oblong rectangle with ssat surfaces
terminating at the end in a point or sharp angle* Wu Ta ch'eng quotes a
saying of Tai Yeh, “ The points in all tablets called kuei are one inch and
1 Ku yii tu K'ao, 1889.
42
In the Vu Shu, ts'ung is explained academically as a badge of rank of
different sizes made in jade* Further it is described as having eight corners
with a round hole in the centre and looking like a wheel* The eight
corners are said to denote the eight regions, and in general shape the
ts'ung was supposed to resemble the earth* The badge was worn by
Feudal Princes under the Chou dynasty, especially when presenting
complimentary offerings to an Empress* When such offerings were
presented to an Emperor the Princes wore a pi.
To Wu Ta ch'eng, Chinese archaeologist and politician in the suite of
Li Hung Ch'ang, belongs the honour of rediscovering the ts'ung.1 He
says that most of the ancient jades known as wheel-naves are identical
with ts'ung. Dr* Laufer, too, clearly proved that the jade wheel-naves
were really ritual ts(ung.
It is improbable that any of the plain tsung were made in Han days*
The Hans were fond of decoration and loved covering their surfaces and
spaces with animals and patterns* The ts'ung did not escape decoration
and there are examples covered with decorative designs as elaborate as
those of Chou bronzes* For example, by the kind permission of Dr*
Gieseler, I am enabled to reproduce a drawing which gives details of
the ornament on a tslung in his collection (i).
x
KUEI
The object known to collectors as the kuei is an extremely old symbol;
it frequently appears in conjunction with the pi among the bone relics of
the Shang dynasty* In shape it is an oblong rectangle with ssat surfaces
terminating at the end in a point or sharp angle* Wu Ta ch'eng quotes a
saying of Tai Yeh, “ The points in all tablets called kuei are one inch and
1 Ku yii tu K'ao, 1889.
42