The Research Of Decorative Jade In Zhou Dynasty

The decorative jade defined in this thesis refers to those which are either in direct contact with the wearer’s skin or worn on their clothing.The former includes jade ornaments on hair,ear,neck,wrist,arm and finger.The latter is mainly composed of jade set and jade for waist decoration.Under the influence of "jade is from gorgeous stones",jade ornaments such as slotted rings,necklaces,hair accessories,etc.have been used since the Neolithic Age.In addition to satisfying people’s material life,some decorative jade also represent the spiritual culture in different periods.The analysis and research on such decorative jade are thus attached with significant academic value.This thesis includes 7 chapters in total.The first chapter is the introduction which introduces the background of the topic,reviews the research history of jade in Zhou Dynasty,explains the research ideas and defines some concepts involved in the thesis.The second and third chapters roughly divide Western Zhou capitals and the vassal states into several regions,and detailed sort out the unearthed situation of jade wares in the tombs of each region.The fourth chapter focuses on jade headwear and is divided into two sections:jade for hair accessories and jade earrings.In general,jade for hair accessories could roughly be divided into hairpin,hole,bead tubes and jade pieces,composite and others.Among most of the jade for hair accessories,there are differences in the popular period and the wearer’s grade,but such differences become smaller when they are specific to region and gender.As for jade earrings,the slotted jade rings account for the largest proportion.According to the characterized shape and unearthed location,the slotted jade rings are mostly found clipped on ear,through pierced ear directly or attached by thread.Regarding the wearing of the slotted jade rings,obvious differences can be found in the popular period and grade.Some are popular in the Central Plains and Wu Yue regions and the gender difference is mainly reflected in low-grade tombs among which the number of female tomb owners using slotted jade rings is several times more than that of males.The fifth chapter discusses the use of jade for neck and torso in Zhou Dynasty,which is also the key point of the thesis.This chapter is divided into three sections:necklace,jade set and jade for waist decoration.Different types of jade necklace are also different in the popular period.Except for some containing shellfish and special materials,most jade necklaces have no obvious geographical differences in distribution.Affected by their status and economic strength,low-level female tomb owners would have priority in the use of necklaces compared to male.The jade set of Zhou Dynasty is roughly divided into "Huang"set,Trapezoid set,and the jade pendants of "Heng" set.The wearing method is mainly judged by the location of unearthed objects in the tomb.Regarding the posing resource,the "Huang"set in early Western Zhou Dynasty was reconstructed by memory based on the tradition of Huang ornaments on neck or chest in the Yangtze River Basin of the Neolithic Age.The combination of such tubes was promoted by red agate tube as overseas resource,and the animal-shaped jade ornaments included in the jade set are the inheritance and development of the view of "God Worship" in late Shang Dynasty.As for the "radial" trapezoid set,this unique shape may be presented by the imitation of the tail feathers of phoenix.The special status of phoenix is the premise of such creation.The popular period of these types of jade sets are found relatively clear.In terms of grade,the wearers of jade sets in the "Huang" set are mostly high-rank aristocrats,and the number of jade set used varies according to the grades.Some of the "Heng" sets are related to the material of their components in terms of distribution rule,while the Trapezoid set has the most obvious gender difference.The jade for waist decoration is divided into three categories which are jade belt hook,jade belt buckle and jade belt decoration while jade belt hook amongst occupies the most various using methods.The late Spring and Autumn Period marks the primitive time of jade belt hook as the hook component was fixed in different methods.The Warring States Period symbolizes the peak time of jade belt hook.In addition to the increase in quantity and types,most jade belt hooks at this stage have also converged in basic shape and size.Most of the wearers are high-level nobles without gender differences.The sixth chapter is the study of jade used for limbs in Zhou Dynasty and is divided into two sections which are jade ornaments on wrist and arm,and jade decoration on finger.Jade ornaments on wrist and arm can be divided into two categories which are ring bracelets and string ornaments.Both utensils have been used since the Neolithic Age but not evenly distributed geographically.Such difference may also affect the wrist and arm ornaments,especially bracelets,of Zhou Dynasty.The use of wrist and arm ornaments has roughly extended from early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of Warring States Period,and the bracelets and arm ornaments of different periods contain different materials and components.In general,the number of jade ornaments on wrist and arm unearthed in high-level tombs is bigger,while such number from low-level female tombs shows considerable differences than that of male tombs.Being the key point of jade decoration on finger,the naming of jade"She"(韘)has been continuously controversial.Most of jade "She" were only used by high-level male nobles,and its distribution ranges gradually from the Central Plains of Western Zhou Dynasty to the territories of the vassal states in Eastern Zhou Dynasty.Such utensils boomed from the middle and late Spring and Autumn period till the late Warring States period and might transfer to symbolic ornaments in such period.The seventh chapter is the comprehensive discussion which divides the developing of decorative jade in Zhou Dynasty into four stages,and points out related changes in different stages in terms of utensil shape,component type and amount used.According to the differences in the use of jade decoration by tomb owners,the four levels of tombs can be divided into three schools.The decorative jade in Zhou Dynasty shows the characteristics of"women are superior to men",which is mainly reflected in the earrings,necklaces and wrist ornaments while the Trapezoid set also has an absolute quantitative advantage in female tombs.There is few obvious difference in jade for hair accessories and for waist decoration due to the practicability.The Central Plains with Zhou cultural system as the core can be regarded as the center of decorative jade in the Western and Eastern Zhou Dynasties.Since Spring and Autumn period,some vassal states have been continuously influenced by the Central Plains in the production and use of decorative jade while cultivated their own style.The Chu culture system represented by the state of Chu has become another focus of decorative jade after the Central Plains region.The developed transportation and commerce have promoted the exchange and interaction of decorative jade among regions and thus formed a complex situation of mutual penetration.The conclusion part gives an overview of the previous chapters,and expounds the problems and deficiencies in the writing process of this thesis.