X-RARE Ancient Chinese Black Jade Heaven Messenger Birds Amulet w/Translation

Description

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
Artifacts, Antiques & Fine Collect
i
bles
Chinese Hongshan Culture Black Jade Disk (
Yuan
) Amulet
Three “Messengers of Heaven” or “Heaven Birds”
English Translation of Early Chinese Pictographic Characters
A Son’s Ritual Offering to His Father
c. 4500 BC—2250 BC
Summary
This Black Jade "Heaven Birds" Disk measures approximately 3.08” (78 mm) in outside diameter x 1.87” (47 mm) inside diameter, and weighs 3.9 oz. (110 gr.) of highly prized Black Jade.
The round shape of the amulet with a large hole in the center represents Heaven or “
Tien
” in Chinese.
The three Heaven Birds were thought to safely carry the soul and prayers for the departed into
Tien
for immortality with the Ancestors.
Condition:
No chips, cracks, repairs, or restorations, just a lovely, authentic and original patina. Museum Quality!
The disk is definitely hand-tooled and not perfectly round; it appears to have been made in haste for a Son’s ritual offering to the Ancestors on behalf of his departed father.
Details
This jade Falcon Amulet disc (called a “
Yuan
”) is made of Black Jade and Chinese experts believe that black jade has special, powerful properties to protect those who wore it from Evil Spirits in both life and in the soul’s journey to Heaven (
Tien
in Chinese) and immortality.
It dates approximately to the Late Hongshan Culture of ancient China (4700—2250 BC) or about 4,500 years ago.
This remarkable black jade disk has three Falcon heads on the outer edge of the amulet—each with a pictographic character on the
inside
of each hole.
One hole depicts the Son offering this jade amulet to behalf of his father to the Ancestors—see photo # 2 with yellow arrow pointing to the figure.
While the hole shown in photo # 3 depicts a four-legged animal for sacrifice.
The final hole (see photo #4) unfortunately I cannot read due to the heavy mineral deposits in the hole, but it may be ritual wine, as those items are the three most common items presented at almost all ritual offerings.
There is at least one additional graphic on the inside edge of the amulet (see photo # 6) that again depicts the son with his arms raised as he is being raptured and transported mentally in the presence of his Ancestors, by his filial love for his father and desire to please his Ancestors and accept his father into Heaven and grant him immortality.
I believe there are additional graphics on this amulet, but I cannot see them clearly enough to decipher them.
In ancient times, inscriptions and dedications to honor the deceased were oftentimes inscribed in places that only the Ancestors and Gods could see.
For example, inside a bronze wine vessel or in this case inside each of the three holes and on the inside edge of the amulet.
It was believed that mere mortals were not worthy to read inscriptions meant only for the eyes of departed Ancestors in Heaven (
Tien
).
The Jade Yuan is polished flat and smooth on both sides. This piece was meant to be laid perfectly flat against the chest.  It does have three drilled holes that perhaps were used to attach feathers from the Amur Falcon to the amulet.
These holes, drilled from both sides of the amulet are classified as “double-bevel holes” by archaeologists and are period correct.
Amur Falcons in Chinese History
At first glance, this jade disc looks like a jade water disc, called in Chinese
Xuanji
, but a closer looks clearly shows the three, outer decorations are not the sharp, tooth-like cuts of a
Xuanji
.
Instead, they are in the modeled shape of a bird’s head with the beak of a falcon.
Specifically, my research indicates that this amulet is likely based on the Amur Falcon, which was also known as the Eastern Red-Footed Falcon until recently.  The Amur Falcon breeds in Northern China in the same area as the Hongshan Culture lived and the falcons migrate in the winter to Southern Africa.  Ancient Chinese records from the Heian Dynasty in China indicate that falcons were presented as royal gifts in 2205 BC.
Some historians estimate that since about 8,000 years ago, the earliest civilizations in Northern China believed that birds were “Messenger from Heaven” that was sent by the Gods to fetch departed souls that were destined for immortality.  Chinese mythological and religious beliefs thought that a person’s soul, once freed from its Earthly body, traveled to Heaven in the form of a Heaven Bird.  The Amur Falcon’s winter migration pattern to South Africa would have made it appear to the ancient Chinese that the Falcons had left Earth and returned to the Heavens.  The Falcons immortality was reaffirmed when they appeared back in China in the Spring.
The Hongshan Culture
The Hongshan were temple builders and city builders who created some of the earliest nephrite jade carvings. Their sophisticated Jade carving techniques employed technologies that exceeded simple explanations. It has recently been discovered that the Hongshan possessed the knowledge of metallurgy and employed the use of copper and iron from meteorites as tools to work their jade masterpieces. Many of the Hongshan Jade artifacts are well persevered because the Hongshan culture utilized slab burial tombs and because of the dry arid climate of Inner Mongolia.
As many of you know, Nephrite jade, also known as “soft jade” or “ancient Jade” in China, was used from China’s early Neolithic cultures in 8,000 BC to 1800 AD for carving all types of ritual and utilitarian items.  Nephrite, which is somewhat “softer” than the jadeite used by Neolithic Japanese and European cultures, was easier to cut, carve, polish, and drill than jadeite.  So, the ancient Chinese found that Nephrite Jade could be worked by using quartz or garnet sand, polished with bamboo or jade dust, and even drilled with wood drills that used a slurry made of jade dust and water as the abrasive.
Based on artifact evidence and 30 years of study that the Hongshan employed advanced jade shaping and carving tools that may have been made from meteorite iron or even diamonds. One fascinating study is the evidence of high content iron found in black jades used for ritual objects by the early Hongshan. Many of these artifacts are often magnetic and express the possibility that the Hongshan were aware of magnetic earth forces.
During China’s Neolithic Period, Hongshan Jade ritual and tomb objects were created for a period of more than 2,000 years. Hongshan jades have been discovered in large quantities with over 52 different types of Jade objects in various shapes and forms.
Jade (called the “Stone of Heaven” by the Chinese) is priceless.  Testifying to how much the Chinese are fond of jade is this time-honored proverb: “
Gold may have a price, but jade is priceless.
” The value of gold can be determined by measuring its weight. Not jade. The value of a piece of jade is “assessed” by taking numerous factors into account. For example, the luster, purity and color, the sound it produces when struck, and when the jade piece was discovered or when and where a jade artifact was produced can affect a piece’s value.
REFERENCES:
The Great Bronze Age of China
:
An Exhibition from the People’s Republic of China
, edited by Wen Fong, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980.
Jade
, Roger Keverne, Editor, 2nd Edition 2010
Stephen Payne, "
How to Purchase Archaic Jade
"
Ancient Chinese Warfare
, Ralph D. Sawyer, Mei-chün Sawyer
Archaeology
, Archaeological Institute of America, Feb/March 2015
Shanghai Museum, Hongshan Culture
British Museum, Hongshan Culture
National Palace Museum
MET, Hongshan Culture, NYC
Please examine the photos carefully as they are part of the description.
The stand and AA battery are not part of the auction, just included to give you a better perspective.
And please ask any questions before you buy.
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