A large celadon jade disc, bi, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period to early Western Han dynasty | 東周戰國至西漢初　青白蒲紋大玉璧

Chang Wei-Hwa, Taipei, 21st June 1992.

The Lantien Shanfang Collection, no. HJ-156.

The present jade bi disc, finely carved from celadon jade, exemplifies the stylistic transition and technical refinement achieved from the Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period to the early Western Han dynasty. Bi discs were among the most significant ritual jade forms in ancient China, and according to the Zhou Li (Rites of Zhou), compiled during the Western Han dynasty, the bi symbolised the sun and was employed in ceremonial rites honouring celestial phenomena.

Compare with two closely related jade discs in the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection at the Harvard Art Museums: 1943.50.550 and 1943.50.545, illustrated in M. Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 1975, p. 528, no. 365, and p. 527, no. 364, respectively. See also another similar example in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in Gu Fang, The Complete Collection of Unearthed Jades in China, vol. 7, Beijing, p. 104.

來源

雲中居，台北，1992年6月21日入藏

藍田山房收藏，編號HJ-156

此件玉璧尺寸較大，厚度相當。璧為古代中國禮儀玉器之重器，據西漢《周禮》所述：「以玉作六器，以禮天地四方」。相似之例，見哈佛大學藝術博物館所藏Grenville L. Winthrop 舊藏之兩件相關玉璧：編號1943.50.550及1943.50.545，著錄於Max Loehr，《Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum》，劍橋，1975年，頁527編號364及頁528編號365。此外，南京博物院亦藏一類似之例，可參考古方，《中國出土玉器全集7：江蘇、上海卷》，北京，頁104。