Discs and rings with holes in the center are perhaps the most common object in the ancient world. It has a ritual or ceremonial purpose and is often used as a decoration. Here is another type of this kind of works of applied art - the Chinese BI disc. Discs were made of jade; they appeared on the territory of modern China in 4-3 millennia BC. in burials at the Neolithic sites of the Hunshan archaeological culture. The ancient discs were quite simple, later, during the Shang, Zhou, Han dynasties, they are decorated with rich carvings, sometimes in the form of an octagon. Perhaps this symbolism contains a cosmological meaning (4 directions in space).
The BI disk was considered a symbol of heaven, was associated with the strength and talents that its owner would like to possess, and generally signified the favor of heaven. An expensive piece of art, therefore, it could only belong to a wealthy person from the upper social strata of society. During the Zhou period (and in others), the BI discs were of very great importance - the defeated ruler gave his disc to the winner as a sign of submission, perhaps because of this, difficulties came out with the lost imperial seal. During burial, the BI disk was placed on the body of the deceased, on the chest or stomach. Perhaps this symbolized the connection between man and heaven. However, there was a second artifact, TsUN - a symbol of the earth, paired with the BI disk. About him below.
Disc BI, mid 3rd millennium BC, jade, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Hunshan culture belongs to the Neolithic, 5-3 thousand BC, widespread in Mongolia and in the Chinese provinces of Liaoning and Habei. Received its name from the archaeological site in Hunshanhou, discovered by Torii Ryuzo, a Japanese archaeologist. It is assumed that the culture was founded by native speakers of the Altai languages. The oldest jade items, including dragon amulets and copper rings, were found in Xinglongwa burials.
Disc of variegated jade, late 3rd - early 2nd millennium.
A unique ritual complex of this culture was found in Liaoning province - the temple was built underground at a depth of one meter from stone slabs. The eyes of the clay female idols, exceeding human height, were inlaid with jade. Jade or jadeite jewelry is found in burials. Pairs of pigs are also often found in burials. In the early period, they were buried under the floor of dwellings.
Promotional video:
Bi, end 3 - early 2 thousand BC, Metropolitan Museum.
The middle course of the Yellow River, where the first Xia dynasty was formed, is considered the cradle of Chinese civilization. The Hunshan culture originated almost 2 and a half millennia earlier, however, it was considered a small remote culture. It has now been established that the climate in this area was livable and gradually suffered drought, which could have prompted its inhabitants to move to the traditional historical areas of the formation of Chinese civilization.
BI, jade, 2-3 centuries BC, Metropolitan Museum.
The most famous of the jade discs is He Shi Bi, which literally means He's jade disc. A legend has survived about Bian He who found jade in the Chu kingdom and showed it to Prince Xiong Shun. However, the prince did not understand the value of the stone and ordered to cut off Bian Hen's leg. The story repeated itself with the next prince - Xiong Tong, who ordered the poor man's second leg to be cut off. Only under the third prince Wen-Wang (only I imagined the third son Ivan the Fool here?) A disc was made from very rare white jade in honor of Bian He - He Shi Bi, that is, "He jade disc." In 221 BC. The prince of the Qin kingdom conquered 6 Warring Kingdoms, founded the Qin dynasty, so the disc fell into the hands of Prince Shi Huang and was converted into the Imperial Seal of China. Chief Counselor Li Si came up with, and Master Sun Shou wrote on it: "By the mandate of heaven, may the emperor live happily ever after."The adventures of the disk in the form of a seal continued for a long time, but in the end, after one and a half thousand years, the seal disappeared.
1500 BC
Zhou Dynasty Bi Jade Disc.
Disc bi with masks, Zhou dynasty.
Disc (bi), Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Warring States Period, 4-3 c. BC, jade, fishnet dragon tiger carvings, 11 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Rare Chinese Eastern Zhou Dynasty jade disc with bronze rosette, 16-10th centuries BC
Tsun from the Metropolitan Museum, circa 2400 BC, the most complex form of the Neolithic jade - a cylindrical tube enclosed in a square prism, tapering slightly from top to bottom. Decorated with simple masks with round eyes.
If BI symbolized heaven, then the paired artifact, the symbol of the earth, was called TsUN. These are square boxes of different proportions with a hollow cylindrical insert, for which BI served as a lid, as it were. These vessels and lids were used by shaman priests during rituals. However, the full meaning and ritual function of the object remain unsolved. In burials, many such artifacts are sometimes found around the dead. Interestingly, in cross-section they look like a circle inscribed in a square, such a geometric symbol in China meant the unity of Heaven and Earth.
Many other categories of products were also performed in the form of tsuns - jewelry (pendants, beads), musical instruments (flutes) and awl-like wands, which once again confirms the highest degree of their authority in the southeastern communities. And yet, the special interest of researchers in these products is due not only and not so much to their alleged cultural significance and artistic merit: together with discs-bi, wands-gui and amulets-huan, they make up four categories of products that are included in the most ancient set of royal regalia for China … Such a set, called "six jades" (liu yu), is constantly mentioned in ancient (V-III centuries BC) books, where it is said that it was invented by the founding kings of the national statehood and was preserved as such during subsequent ruling houses. Literary descriptions of tsun cups,disks-bi and amulets-zdan almost completely coincide with the appearance of Liangzhu artifacts. The gui rod was supplemented with an upper part in the form of an isosceles triangle. Another two categories of items made of "six jades" are the zhang rod - a plate in the form of half a gui rod, and the pendant-hu amulet - a plate in the form of a silhouette image of a profile figure of a lying tiger. According to written sources, the "six jades" had cosmological symbols and were necessarily used during the main state ceremonial actions in ancient Chinese society.and an amulet pendant-hu - a plate in the form of a silhouette image of a profile figure of a lying tiger. According to written sources, "six jades" had cosmological symbols and were necessarily used during the main state ceremonial actions in ancient Chinese society.and an amulet pendant-hu - a plate in the form of a silhouette image of a profile figure of a lying tiger. According to written sources, "six jades" had cosmological symbols and were necessarily used during the main state ceremonial actions in ancient Chinese society.
Discs and cups were thought to be the embodiment of Heaven and Earth, respectively, as sacred entities and were used in sacrifices to them. The gui and zhang wands symbolized the east and spring, south and summer, respectively, the hu and huang amulets - west and autumn, north and winter and were used in seasonal sacrifices.
It should be added that in the Hunshan culture there were not only disks with holes, but also various figurines, including pig-necked dragons, birds, cicadas, etc.
Amulet, Hunshan culture, and below are a few more amulets from the same culture.
The last two pieces are jade discs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, dating back to 2000-1500 BC.
Comparison - jewelry made of jade, Guatemala, the Incas, the Metropolitan Museum, which is interesting - 8 petals) also special preference is given to jade, also an agricultural culture
And this is a lady from Ecuador, also Metropolitan.
A circle in a square - I was looking for Chinese, but I got caught from Peru)) corners - chest) It's time to put an end to this) a story about discs in the context of Hunshan culture, the development of tradition and parallels - everything is essentially))