The Research On The Ritual Connotation Of Jades Unearthed From Chu Tombs

The Sphere of influence of Chu extends to parts of Jiangsu,Shandong,and Zhejiang,but the central ruling region is still Hubei,Hunan,and part of Henan,where the Chu Tombs are most abundant in jade,there are not only typical Chu-style jade,but also a small number of jade influenced by Chu culture.These jade are nothing more than the"LiuQi" and "LiuRui" mentioned in the ZhouLi,and also include a large number of jade ornaments,all constitute an important symbol reflecting the class and the identity of the tomb's owner,which reflects the ritual system reflected in the important occasions such as sacrificial rites,court engagements and funerals.There are many jades unearthed from Chu Tombs,which can be divided into five categories according to their rank:King of Chu,Fengjun and Shangdafu,Xiadafu,Shi,commoner.At present,the situation of Jades unearthed from the Dafu graves is most complicated,it can be divided into two parts:one is the coffin decorated with jade,the other is the tomb with or without the martyrs,the jade was buried near the human bones or somewhere else in tomb.From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States period,the use of Jades in Chu Tombs changed greatly,the number of Jade Bi unearthed gradually increased,the use of jades was more common than that of Jade Huang,to some extent reflecting that the Chu did not fully follow the ZhouLi,and then gradually formed a unique system of using jade.The ritual connotation of the Jades unearthed from Chu Tombs is mainly reflected in the status of the owner,which has a direct impact on the burial of Jades.Basically,the higher the status of the tomb's owner,the more the number and types of jade funerary objects,and the size of male jade is generally higher than female.And in some of the higher-level tombs with human sacrifice,most of these people are women and most do not have any funerary objects,even if the use of jade burials,but also far from the scale of its owner with jade.Among the jade articles buried with the dead,Jade Bi is the most special one,which is not only numerous in number and widely used,but also has the function of marking the head direction and evoking the soul as a coffin ornament,and is also used to serve the Gods and King in the sacrifice and the court,the status of Jade Bi is obviously higher than other kinds of jades.In the course of comparing Chu Jades with Zhou Jades,it was found that jades,as ritual vessels,ornaments,sacrificial vessels and funeral vessels,had different usage habits from that of Zhou Jades,namely Chu uses the jade already to follow a part Zhou Li also to have own characteristic.There were also non-chu nationality countries such as Zeng and Huang near the central ruling area of Chu.Because of inheriting the ritual system of Zhou's jade,there were significant differences between their jades with Chu jades,reflecting the differences in the use of jades between different countries in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.Like the bronze wares,jades can be used as ritual wares to show the rank of identity,and the differences in the rank embodied are basically the same,and because the records of the use of jades in the book of rites are not very rich,therefore,compared with the bronze wares to distinguish the function of the class is relatively weak.