Art

Every culture boasts of a certain unique medium and art form that defines their civilization. In some parts of Asia, particularly in the Southeast, gold played an important role in identifying status symbols, and determined how rich a society then was. On the other hand, China used a natural element to help them establish their culturethey used jade found in mountains and rivers and cut and polished them to make them useful.

In this paper, several Chinese artifacts will be examined and analyzed, as regards their composition, use, and aesthetic values these will also be compared and contrasted with each other in order to create a conclusion that would best define the cultural context of these artifacts.

To understand the use of jade in these artifacts, first, there is a need to trace its history. According to researches, the development of jade ware began at about 10,000 years ago. During the New Stone Age, jade ware was mostly used for personal decoration, witchcraft, and as an emblem of privilege Soon, jade ware became more practical and the belief of the jades supernatural powers spread. Between 221 BC-220 AD, jade was believed to aid in the longevity of the life of whoever owns one. People then believed that whoever wore jade would live forever hence, burying jade ware with the dead became a common practice. All thanks to this practice, jade ware artifacts were preserved, with the remains of dead people, for our and the future generations to study.

After tedious excavations and research, jade ware artifacts were unearthed and some, brought to museums, such as the Smithsonian Institute. To date, the Smithsonian Institute houses over 360 jade ware artifacts from China which are ready for everyone to enjoy. From this collection, our attention shall be turned to four artifacts which will be compared and contrasted.

Headdress with Mask 
This artifact is interesting in that it shows the wonderful craftsmanship of past Chinese artisans. As a natural mineral, there is no doubt that jade is hard to manipulatedifficult to cut, polish, carve, etc, etcand yet, something as exquisite as this was produced. As was already mentioned, jade ware serves as status symbol for the Chinese back then. This headgear, on the other hand, may have been once owned by a gentleman with the carving of a dragons face, it signifies the nobility of the owner.

Disk (Bi)
Jade disks, such as this, were used to ornament the garments of the Chinese elites. It was believed that the living wear jade as a symbol of their moral integrity ( HYPERLINK httpwww.chinatownconnection.comchinese_jade.htm httpwww.chinatownconnection.comchinese_jade.htm, 2005), and so as much as possible, the Chinese wore jade everyday, even until they died.

Axe (Fu)
What is interesting in this artifact is that it shows that not only were jade made for adornment and decoration, but also, they were used as tools such as the axe shown above. Discovered at the Lake Tai region, this axe is believed to exist between 3300- 2250 BCE. Although the aesthetics of this piece is quite simple, it may be noted that what it lacked in aesthetic value, it made up for conventional utility.

Axe-shaft Butt (Dun)
Like the axe shown above, this artifact is proof that jade, even with its majesty and importance in Chinese culture, found its way to the common household, to common people. From these two artifacts, we may infer that not only is jade a symbol of greatness and beauty, it also serves the needs of everyday living.

These four artifacts were specifically chosen to serve as the primary evidences of the different uses of jade in Chinese art and culture. All these were chosen and compared, so much so because of the special functions of each artifact. It can be observed that each artifact served unique purposes during the time these were usedthe headdress and the disk, specifically to mark a persons rank and status in society and the axe and the axe shaft, used for everyday purposes.

The similarities these artifacts have are, that these existed during the same period (3300-2250 BCE), these were all found in the same region (Lake Tai), and that these are all made of jade. However, their similarities end here the purpose and use of these artifacts are very much different from each other.

The first two shown above, the headdress and the disk, were particularly used as adornment and decoration. Chinese people used and wore them to show their nobility, their social status, and their morality. They used jade ware in such that, they believed that the jade contained powers that helped them become stronger and better people, and helped them achieve a longer life even after death.

On the other hand, the axe and the axe shaft, prove that not only is jade good for warding off evils and helping achieve a better life, it is also a good material to use in making utensils and everyday tools. These were used by Chinese warriors and guards for defense and ordinary men relied on these to help them build things.

From these four artifacts, it may be concluded that, while jade served as a status symbol and which enhanced the Chinese way of living and culture, it cannot be ignored that the jade provided a higher purpose by making known to the world the versatility of not only the jade, but also the Chinese culture.

These artifacts also show that even then, jade may be regarded as one of the most important natural elements China has. During the Neolithic period, the Chinese people also used jade as tools for their weapons and for knives it has also played its part in worship and in the peoples beliefs and morality and, it has also served its purpose in enhancing Chinas culture and aesthetics.

The importance of these artifacts is that they function as proof of how people then used to live and how they used jade to help them live their lives. From these chosen artifacts, we can infer that everyday living, during the Neolithic period from when these jade wares emerged, was definitely hard. But with the help of the jade, the peoples moral values were strengthened, their cultural heritage reinforced, and their common problems, solved.