The Shang
people belonged to the Eastern Yi tribal group. They migrated from
the Liao River valley to western Shantung and then west to eastern
Honan, where the royal house of Shang was established. The Chou
clan, like the Hsia and Chiang clans, was a member of the greater
Hua-Hsia tribal group, and lived in the Wei River basin in Shensi.
Arising from different clans, the Shang and Chou naturally
developed unique cultures and ritual jade traditions. Yet these
traditions also shared broad similarities due to the prolonged
interaction between the two clans and the nature of their
relationship as predecessor and successor to the royal house.
From
written and archeological evidence, we know that the most highly
esteemed ritual objects during the Shang period were those of
jade. Unlike bronze vessels, which are widely found in small- to
medium-sized tombs of the nobility, jade objects were used
exclusively by the highest-ranking members of society. The Shang
and Western Chou not only inherited the pi disc and
ts'ung ritual tube from
Neolithic times, but also elevated the ritual status of the
kuei tablet, such that it
gradually replaced the ts'ung as the highest ranking ritual
jade complementing the pi. The kuei of this time
were made in two forms. One, a descendent of the axe, had a flat
top edge. The other, representing a ko dagger, had a sharp
symmetrical tip. The plain pi discs, plain ts'ung
ritual tubes, and ko daggers in this display
were all important ritual objects during the Shang and Western
Chou periods. A "kuei chuan" was used during sacrificial rites as
wine ladles to pour libations upon the ground. The handle-shaped
objects in this exhibit are probably the handles of this
sacrificial implement.
The
Shang people inherited the culture of the Yi and Yueh tribal
groups and produced many animal-shaped jades, examples of which
are displayed in this exhibit. It is recorded that when the army
of King Chou (the last Shang ruler) was defeated, the king donned
his shaman vestment sewn with many small jade animal figurines and
committed suicide by fire. The king, who also held the position of
chief shaman, may have hoped that the essential vital force of the
jade and the power of the animals represented in this precious
mineral would help his spirit find its way to heaven. This belief
continued in the Western Chou period. It was also customary for
the Chou monarchs and high-ranking nobles to wear ensembles of
jade huang pendants.
There are several jades displayed in this exhibit with zoomorphic
motifs. Jade sculptures or inlays depicting human figures were
often mounted as finials on a long staff used by the shaman to
summon the spirits of the gods and ancestors during sacrificial
rites. Some jade pendants combined human and dragon designs,
implying perhaps that the wearer could communicate with the
heavens. Many species of animal are depicted as well--from
insects, amphibians, fish, and birds to domestic animals, wild
beasts, dragons, and fabulous creatures of mythology. Some of the
animals are unadorned in their natural state or with simple
patterns suggesting wings. Others are carved with whorl patterns
signifying the movement of the primal forces of the universe. Some
of the figures wear a kuei crest, representing the power of
the monarch, and others have horns shaped like the character
symbolizing clan ancestors (tsu ). On all of the
animal jades with symbolic designs or features, the eyes of the
creatures are carved similar to the character for eye (mu )
as written in the Shang and Chou script. The character mu is also
a prominent part of the character meaning virtue (te ), the original meaning of which was "heaven-sent
endowment." Jades with this motif derive from the ancient belief
that the ancestors of tribal clans received the gift of life from
Shang-ti, the heavenly deity, through the medium of sacred
animals. This is the essence of the saying that the gentleman
(chun-tzu ), a member of the
aristocratic elite, should look to the qualities of jade as a
model for human virtue.
A reconstructed set of jade pendants from the late Western Chou
period can be seen in this exhibit. This type of pendant set was
usually hung around the neck. On many of the huang pendants
displayed here, the dominant designs are dragons, tigers, and
humans. As the ritual traditions of the Western Chou matured,
these adornments became progressively more refined. The longer the
pendants were, the more slowly and dignified the wearer had to
walk. It also has been observed that in many of the graves of
high-ranking nobles, the number of huang in the pendant set
worn by the deceased corresponds exactly to the number of bronze
ting vessels in the coffin. This phenomenon is an area of
Western Chou rites that is worthy of further study.