Jade
1045 CE
China
Museum Rietberg
Details
Culture/Civilisation
Ancient China, Shang Dynasty
Theme
Ancient Societies
Subtheme
Death in Ancient China – Ancestral Connections
Case Title
Ancestral Connections
Display Location
Coomaraswamy Hall
Findspot
China
Measurements
H. 15.8 W. 7.6 Weight. 7.7
Accession Number
RCH 807
Description
Jade was a luxury material and implied immortality. The elite were frequently buried with several jade objects like the ones you see here: a square tube Cong, and another in the exhibition – the disc-shaped Bi, perhaps representing the earth and the heavens. Both have circular holes in the centre. The most finely worked Bi discs were placed on the stomach and chest.
In later periods, the bodies of the very rich could be entirely encased with a jade suit.
