An archaic greenish-grey jade axe (Yue), Shang dynasty | 商 玉鉞

While collectively termed 'axe' in English, jade axes have variations of translations in Chinese. Ceremonial jades of a trapezoidal form with a straight or curved edge would be named yue, produced for a long duration of time from the Neolithic period to the Zhou dynasty. As a ceremonial weapon, jade yue symbolised power in ancient Chinese culture. This jade yue would have been attached to a wood pole to be carried by officials as an emblem of authority. Compare a similar example preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Jingtian gewu, Zhongguo lidai yuqi daodu [Art in quest of heaven and truth, a guide to Chinese jades through the ages], National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2011, p.45, fig.4-3-5a; and another, published in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.21, fig.5b.