CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

85
Jade pel pectoral
Length c. 50 (19 Vs)
Late Western Zhou Period, eighth century BCE
From Tianma-Qucun (Beizhao, Quwo),
Shanxi Province
Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology,
Taiyuan
This pectoral, 1 part of a complex array of jades, was
suspended from the wearer's neck. It is composed
of a jade ring joined with two pairs of arc-shaped
pendants and a small bar by sets of beads; a second
jade ring is thought to have been part of this ornament.
The two rings and two of the arcs are relatively
plain, although one of the arcs retains traces
of lines that have been worn (or smoothed) away.
The two arcs at the ends of the ornament carry
incised designs of dragons with interlacing ribbonshaped
bodies, a pattern developed during the
Middle to Late Western Zhou period. It seems likely
that the jades were originally carved for other uses;
the same probably holds true for the other jades
that compose the burial apparatus.
A notable feature of all such complex ornaments
is the use of beads in several materials, particularly
in agate or carnelian and in varieties of
faience. Beads, especially hardstone beads, are
surprisingly rare in the history of Chinese decorative
art; only a few of the Neolithic peoples who
inhabited the Chinese landmass before the advent
of the Shang used these ornaments to any appreciable
extent (the fine tubular beads of the Liangzhu
peoples are outstanding examples). 2 Inhabitants of
the southern areas (notably the peoples of Xin'gan
in present-day Jiangxi) used jade and turquoise
beads in the latter part of the second millennium
BCE. 3 Beads were used only rarely by the Shang at
Anyang, nor were they common during the first
centuries of Zhou rule.
Beads came into more widespread decorative
use during the tenth to ninth centuries BCE. Among
the earliest of the assemblages that include beads
are those from Western Zhou period tombs at
Liulihe, Fangshan near Beijing, 4 where turquoise
was favored over faience, popular in western Asia.
Beads that might be regarded as forms of faience,
that is, fired mixtures of silica and pigment, have
been found in Middle Western Zhou tombs at
Rujiazhuang near Baoji in western Shaanxi
province. 5 That beads were used as decorative
ornaments in two so widely separated corners of
the Western Zhou kingdom during approximately
the same period suggests that they were not a local
invention, but rather reflected the influence of
peoples in the border areas, a development that
figures in other decorative arts as well. It seems
possible that these beads demonstrate an interest
in decorative jewel-like ornaments shared by
peoples on the periphery in China, a feature
that was perhaps also common to other parts of
Central Asia.
Beads used in this pectoral are of considerably
later date than those found at Fangshan or
Rujiazhuang. Complex pendants should be treated
as part of a relatively late phenomenon. The association
of pectorals with face plaques (cat. 84) suggests
an intent to create a formidable display. It is
likely that the jades illustrated here and in cat. 85
manifest a completely new approach to the world of
spirits and the afterlife that developed in the latter
part of the Western Zhou period. JR
1 Excavated in 1992 (M 8:114-124); reported: Beijing 1994.
2 For beads of the Liangzhu culture, see Ma and Ho 1992,
nos. 80, 81, and 82.
3 For beads from Xin'gan in Jiangxi province, see Ma 1994,
nos. 88 and 94.
4 For ornaments from Liulihe, see Rawson 1996, no. 56.
5 For beads from Rujiazhuang, see Lu and Hu 1988, color pi.
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252 BRONZE ACE CHINA