Study On Funeral Jade In The Early Shang Dynasty

Due to the scarcity of jade resources and the ancient belief that jade had special significance in social life,jade has been an important resource that the upper classes have competed for since the middle Neolithic period.Jade played an important role in the ritual hierarchy of early kingship states,and jade,like bronze,marked identity and status,and jade for burial was an important part of the funerary ritual system.As the second early widespread kingship state in Chinese history,jade was found in the early Shang period at the Zhengzhou shang city and Yanshi shang city and in the Middle Shang period at the Huanbei shang city and other capital sites,as well as at other regional sites such as Xiaxian Dongxiafeng in Shanxi Province,Yuanqu shang city,Huixian Mengzhuang,Panlongcheng in Hubei Province,Jinan Daxinzhuang and Hebei Gaocheng Taixi site,where jade was mostly buried with bronze and other artifacts.These jade artifacts were mostly buried with bronze artifacts,reflecting the status of the tomb owner and the burial jade custom of merchants at that time.This paper explores the jade rituals of the pre-Shang dynasty based on the jade burial data of the pre-Shang dynasty.The pre-Shang dynasty burials with jade can be divided into two levels according to the burial form,burial goods and martyrdom,including middle-level noble burials and low-ranking noble burials.According to the function of the pre-Shang dynasty burial jade can be divided into three major categories,namely,ceremonial vessels,decorative objects,tools,including more than 20 kinds of vessels,the pre-Shang dynasty burial jade has the same point with the Erlitou culture period,the most common burial vessels are jade handle-shaped vessels,the difference is that the pre-Shang dynasty burial jade appears more decorative objects.Most of the jade vessels buried with both are flake vessels,which are made in a more regular manner,using the saw blade cutting technique.The decoration is mostly stringed,and some of the objects still have traces of grinding on the surface,while a few are decorated with toothlike teeth to represent animal forms.This phenomenon is consistent with that of the Erlitou period.From the point of view of the types of jade tools used in the burial,jade goblets and jade handle-shaped tools are mainly used,and the population of jade goblets and jade handle-shaped tools buried with them is divided.Some of the jade tombs were accompanied by only one jade stem-shaped vessel,so it is presumed that the social status of the tomb owners was not very high,and they should be low-ranking nobles or wealthy commoners.The phenomenon of burial jade is common in the burials of low nobility in the pre-Shang dynasty kingdom and the surrounding Shang culture area,and is excavated from all the burials at each site,with the quantity of burial jade being smaller than that of pottery and bronze,accounting for a smaller proportion.The number and types of jade objects buried within the sites with rich data on jade tombs are observed to have variability.From the viewpoint of the types of buried jade,the Wanggi area buried with jade handleshaped ware and jade ritual ware such as jade go,followed by jade ornaments and other,the surrounding Shang culture area is mostly dominated by jade handle-shaped ware and jade ornaments,buried with more animal-type jade ornaments,such as jade birds,snake-shaped jade ornaments,horse-head-shaped jade ornaments,etc..A few jade types are not seen in Zhengzhou shang city,perhaps for the characteristics of the local jade.From the perspective of the relationship between the buried bronze and jade assemblages,Zhengzhou Shang city and Panlongcheng have the richest form of bronze and jade assemblages,reflecting the more diverse populations,the more pronounced differentiation of classes,and the higher degree of social sophistication at these two sites.The form of the burial bronze and jade assemblage at other important sites reflects the Shang dynasty’s ability to rule over local political and economic resources.The difference in jade use between the two sexes in the early Shang dynasty is large,and there are far more male noble jade tombs than female noble jade tombs,and the number of jade buried with male noble jade tombs is also far more than that of female noble,and the specific jade category is also closely related to the gender of the tomb owner.Jade weaponry such as jade goblet,jade spear,etc.were mostly used in male burials,while decorative jade objects such as jade mat,jade hairpin,etc.were mostly used in female burials,and jade handle-shaped objects were the most common jade ritual objects found in the burials of both sexes.The phenomenon of vermilion burial in jade tombs in the early Shang dynasty reflects the importance that merchants attached to the natural properties and spiritual and cultural aspects of vermilion,and the funerary concept of "death is like life" of the noble class in the early Shang dynasty.The use of jade and the acquisition of vermilion materials both reflect the special status of such noble class in terms of resource possession and the unique funeral rituals of such noble class.The animal jades buried in the early Shang dynasty reflect the control of resources by the noble class in the early Shang dynasty and the expression of faith and worship through animal jades in the spiritual culture.