Other Jades in National Palace Museum, part1

Welcome to the National Palace Museum's collection of other jades! Here, you can explore some of the most beautiful and unique jade pieces from China's imperial past. We have a variety of different jades on display here, including a Xi Bodkin with Chi Tiger Pattern, Jade High-stemmed Cup, Jade Staff Finial in the Shape of a Pigeon, Jade Brush Wash in the Shape of Lotus Leaf, and a Jade Pi-Hsieh, an auspicious beast. These are all important pieces in Chinese history that tell us about how people interacted with each other during this time period. Come take a look at these fascinating artifacts today!

1. Xi Bodkin with Chi Tiger Pattern

The "xi" is a type of hornless dragon resembling a tiger. This piece, carved as the profile of a "xi" dragon, its head turned back, with hints of russet red, gives it quite a unique coloration. The way in which the head connects with the trunk is typical of how this creature would be represented by jade craftsmen of the Warring States period.

2. Jade High-stemmed Cup

This is an attractive, elegant example of a jade single-handled cup with high foot, carved from a piece of lustrous, semi-translucent white jade. The cup itself is long and slender, with a round cavity bored through, fitted with a handle and given a high foot. There are five horizontal bands extending from the rim to the top of the foot, carved in shallow relief with variations on the cloud and four-petal motif. Several points on the rim, the outside of the handle, and the high foot as far as the base of the cavity have been discolored through contact with bronze corrosion, creating a blue-green hue. This discoloration on the rim is more markedly blue, perhaps due to the fact that the bronze object that it had been in contact with had been cast using azurite. In ancient China, it was believed that beautiful jade was imbued with a life force, and that the material was sensitive to external stimuli. Han dynasty aristocracy particularly placed high values on jade vessels, hoping that the energy of jade would be absorbed by the water or alcohol in the cup, thereby making the drinker immortal. According to the chapter on Emperor Wu of Han in the "Shiji" (Records of the Grand Historian), in the year 115 BC, Emperor Wu-ti collected dew in a bronze bowl and jade drinking vessel, and drank this together with crushed jade. In recent years, a bronze bowl and jade cup set has been excavated from the tomb of a king of the Nan-yueh kingdom in the Guangdong region of Southern China, matching the description of the set of vessels used for collecting dew as recorded in the "Shiji."

3. Jade Staff Finial in the Shape of a Pigeon

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4. Jade Brush Wash in the Shape of Lotus Leaf

This jade cup is almost totally brownish yellow, with the occasional grey-white mottling and a russet red that follows the lines of an inscription. The shape is of a dried lotus leaf, with crinkled edges, curling up on itself in a triangular fashion with veins on the external surface rendered in intaglio lines. The cup also comes with a rosewood stand, also carved, in a multi-layered openwork design, to resemble lotuses, further enhancing the beauty of the cup. This jade cup is almost totally brownish yellow, with the occasional grey-white mottling and a russet red that follows the lines of an inscription The shape is of a dried lotus leaf, with crinkled edges, curling up on itself in a triangular fashion with veins on the external surface rendered in intaglio lines The cup also comes with a rosewood stand, also carved, in a multi-layered openwork design, to resemble lotuses, further enhancing the beauty of the cup

5. Jade Pi-Hsieh, auspicious beast

The "pi-hsieh" is a mythological creature commonly thought to be able to ward off evil forces with its magical powers. In the Han dynasty, "pi-hsieh" were commonly represented as winged, four-legged beasts, a form that was probably transmitted from Western Asia. Often found as huge stone statues, they would be placed along the spirit road leading up to tombs. This example, originally carved from a piece of green jade, is represented with its head raised and jaws open as if the creature is emitting a low growl. The long beard of this spectacular creature sprouts from its lower jaw and extends all the way down to its chest, its tail brushes the ground behind it. Over the years, the color of the jade has changed to a mottled yellowish brown. This is one of the larger examples of Han dynasty jade "pi-hsieh" known. It is different from other jade carved "pi-hsieh" in that its snout is relatively long, resembling that of a horse, where others appear more like that of a tiger. Furthermore, it bears an uncanny resemblance to objects that scholars refer to as "dragon heads", adornments on bronze furnaces recently unearthed in Inner Mongolia and dating to the middle and late Han periods. This example in the collection of the National Palace Museum was once an important part of the imperial collection, and one of the emperor's poems is carved onto the chest. The Museum also has a two-tiered rosewood stand that accompanies this piece, the upper tier of which is carved with the words "Imperial curio for the Qianlong Emperor", and the lower tier carved with the same imperial poem found on the creature's chest.

6. Jade Hooked Cloud-shaped Pei Ornament

The Hongshan culture saw birds of prey soaring over the vast deserts and steppes to the west of the Liao River and north of Mount Yan. As a result of which they concluded that this magnificent bird with a strong arched beak was a "mystical" messenger of the gods. The beautiful piece, an abstract carving that was thought to show apparently shows the "mystical bird" hidden in the clouds, was worn by sorcerers during ceremonies held to converse with the heavens. When polishing stone tools, the ancients discovered that jade was strong and durable, shining like the sunlight in spring. Ancestors of the Chinese believed that jade and fine silk with a sunny spring luster were rich in "power" or "energy," which is why they frequently used these two materials as ceremonial items when offering sacrifices to the gods. It was also widely believed that objects of a certain shape or decorated with certain patterns were equally magical. For this reason, jades were carved to follow the perceived rhythm of the cosmos or the shape of ancestors and mystical animals. They were used while praying, as the belief was that such adornments would help convey deepest wishes of people to their ancestors and gods alike.

7. Jade Pig-dragon

This unusually shaped pig-dragon is a jade object from the Hongshan Culture. The pig-dragon has bat ears, a wrinkled nose, and an arched mouth, and it resembles an animal embryo. Prehistoric people may have believed that an embryo represented the purest primal life force, and created this formal design as a symbol of vitality. Evidence of Hongshan Culture has been found in regions of northeastern China, today's Mongolia and Liaoning Province. It postdates Xinglonghua Culture by five or six thousand years, but inherits some of that culture's characteristics. Hongshan Culture is most notable for its fine jade objects carved with animal themes. Scholars have debated the proper name for these objects. Some have called them "pig-dragons" and others "bear-dragons." Pigs are essential farm animals, while bears were objects of worship by ancient inhabitants of northeastern China. Dragons are mythical creatures.

8. Jade Cong Tube

This large jade cong tube probably entered the Qing court in the 19th century, which is why its surface was not adorned with imperial inscriptions of praise by the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-1795) and thereby retains its original appearance. It is carved from a piece of deep green nephrite with light and dark ochre spotting. The surface still reveals the arcing traces of depressions lefty when the jade was first cut Of a tall, square, columnar form, the top is slightly larger than the bottom. The hole in the center was drilled from both ends, there being a slightly uneven ledge where the two did not match up The upper hole is slightly flaring, while the wall of the lower is straighter With patterns of small eyes as the center of the four corners, extending from top to bottom is a total of 17 small-eye masks carved on the piece

9. Jade Cong Tube

The Liangzhu Culture developed around the drainage basin of Lake T'ai in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River around 4000 to 5000 years ago. Cong tubes were basically square cylindrical objects with a hole bored through the center, running from top to bottom.

10. Jade Gui Tablet