China, a large jade Bi disk measure: 14.75” diameter and .75” thick

Beautiful Display Decor.

Including Our Certificate of Authenticity

The thick round heavenly ritual jade of a medium mottled green jade stone partially altered and retaining thin remnant sections inside the central hole.

A complimentary custom-made display Stand is included.

Jade bi and cong are regarded as cosmological symbols and as signifiers of status and wealth.

These older jades were handmade and hand abraided and hand polished using Primitive tools of the time: bamboo, stone, water and stone dust. Notice the calcification on this example.

Provenance:

Our private collection and accompanied by our Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.

We have been dealing in authentic Chinese art and natural stone paintings, Japanese antique garden ornaments, lanterns and water basins for many years. We travel internationally each year to meet network partners who assist us in finding best examples. Our president personally inspects each work of art to ensure its old age, authenticity and quality condition.

History:
Flat jade discs with a round central hole bi are among the earliest surviving artifacts of China and must be considered among great ancient art forms- masterpieces of the Neolithic period. Nephrite jade from which discs were fashioned is a prime hard and strong stone, arduous to work by hand using Primitive stone tools and abrasives. It’s no wonder then that jade discs bi represent remarkable craftsmanship.

While all theories presented to date are speculative, we can forward one Based Upon the warring states text Zhou Li that bi are thought to represent symbols of heaven and were used in ancient rituals together with square tubes cong symbolizing the earth. To worship heaven with a bi explains their importance and use. Bi also symbolize status of high social rank and sheds light on why many carved jades have been found in Zhou royal tombs. They are prominently found in varied qualities, quantities and sizes. Their ritual prominence stretches from the most ancient of Chinese history-Hongshan/Liangzhou/Longshan (4700-2190 BCE) Qi Jia cultures and on to the Zhou dynasty (3000-250 BCE) onwards.

Today jade bi are emblematic of power, status and privileged classes and offer more complex, varied meaning. Please refer to these excellent publications: Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, exhibition catalogue The British Museum, London, 1995, pp 13ff, and Section 4. And also Radiant Stones Archaic Chinese Jades, the Myrna and Samurai Myers collection 2000 curated by Filippo Salviati, PhD, entry 14, Bi Disc.