Chinese Neolithic Hongshan Dyn.Jade Qilin Dragon Amulet Characters w/Translation

Description

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
Artifacts, Antiques & Fine Collectibles
Ancient Chinese Jade Qilin Dragon Amulet
25+ Pictographic Character Inscription & Translation
Hongshan Culture
4500 BCE—2250 BCE
“A Dragon can be unseen or visible, minute or huge,
long or short.  However, always it is great.”
~Shuo Wen (c. 100 AD)
NOTE:
William D. Houghton, the President of ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
, a State of Washington Licensed Business,
assumes all responsibility for the information contained in this description and for the English translation and transcription of the ancient Chinese graphic characters.
Furthermore, I prohibit the further dissemination of this information in any written, video, or electronic format without my expressed, written approval.
Thank You!
Summary
Item:
Chinese Jade Qilin Dragon Amulet
Material:
Nephrite jade, with an estimated 25+ pictograms incised, painted, and percussively pecked onto the jade amulet.
Culture:
Hongshan Culture, China
Date:
4500 BCE—2200 BCE
Measurements:
·
Height:
2.51” (64mm)
·
Width:
3.40” (87mm)
·
Depth:
.74” (19mm)
·
Weight:
3.1 oz. (86gr.)
Diameter of Center Hole:
.328” (8.4mm)
Condition:
This nephrite jade, Hongshan Culture amulet is in particularly good condition with no repairs or restorations.
The once, olive-green jade has turned orange with black highlights from the iron, manganese, micro-crystalline jade, calcium, and other elements in the damp soil that have been absorbed into the jade after being buried for thousands of years.
This patina should never be removed, because the natural patina is one way to identify an authentic Hongshan jade.
It has only minor mineral deposits and pitting from differential weathering.
Provenance: This amulet/pendant/ is one of several that were obtained from a private collector in China.
I believe these pendants would have been included in an Emperor’s tomb or an above-ground temple to provide him a safe journey and eternal life in Heaven.
These pendants have for years been in this author’s private collection in the State of Washington.
This is the first time it has been offered for sale in the United States.
Percussively incised, pecked, and painted in black paint on all sides of the amulet are incredibly small pictographs that verify that this man/woman was the Emperor or at a minimum held a high-level position in the Emperor’s court or his family, as no ordinary man or woman would have dared to have an Imperial Dragon on a piece of jade that would have been placed in a tomb or in his or her temple.
{See details below.}
This 5,000-year-old ritual jade amulet contains an estimated 25+ pictographs and characters that have been painted, incised and percussively pecked into the jade dragon.
The characters document the offering made by the Sons and family of the departed to the Ancestors and Gods in Heaven. These pictographic characters on ritual and tomb jades are the earliest form of a written language in ancient China.
Modern archeologists call these early pictograms oracle bone script as they have been found as a permanent record that was written by scribes on both oracle bones of cattle and on ritual jade artifacts.
NOTE:
All items offered for sale by Ancient Civilizations are unconditionally guaranteed authentic. They were legally imported to the United States years ago and are legal to sell and own under U.S. Statute Title 19, Chapter 14, Code 2611, Convention on Cultural Property.
Details
This lovely jade amulet dates to the Neolithic Chinese people known as the Hongshan Culture (4500 BC—2250 BC.)
The Hongshan are believed to have been one of the first people in China to ever use jade as a marker of social status.
This nephrite jade amulet shows a mythical, dragon-like chimerical creature known in Chinese mythology a “Qilin” or “Kirin.”
The Qilin, shown here with large ears and bulging eyes in order for the Qilin to better hear and see the offering presented by the Sons, is coiled around a center hole that represents Heaven (
Tien
in Chinese) and was meant to serve as a protective amulet against Evil Spirits that could prevent the man’s soul from reaching immortality in Heaven.
The Qilin Dragon is shown with a pointed snout that appear to have exceedingly small pictographic characters painted on it.
The placement of characters near a Dragon’s eyes is common during this Neolithic period and was meant to symbolize his watchful eyes looking with benevolence on the ritual offerings that were being presented to the gods and Ancestors in Heaven (
Tien
in Chinese).
The
.328” (8.4mm)
hole in the center of the amulet symbolizes Heaven, the immortal home of the Ancestors and the destination of departed souls after death on Earth.
This hole has been drilled from both sides of the amulet and it is cone shaped on each side—this hole that is classified by the experts as a “bi-conical bore hole.”
On the inner edges of the hole, there are several, tiny characters maybe 2mm long that have been incised and painted with black paint that symbolize the prayers and offerings to the immortals in Heaven.
They are very tiny as they were meant only for the eyes of the immortal ancestors and not for the unworthy eyes of humans. (
See photos # 1-3)
At the very top of the amulet is a suspension hole that is much smaller a classified as a “ox-nose bore hole,” as it also has been drilled from both sides of the Dragon’s back and curves to complete the hole.
The inside edges of the holes contain micro-crystalline particles that can only form on worked jade that is over 2,000-years-old.
These crystals, which are also evident in the cut lines on the jade dragon, are very fragile and should never be removed as they confirm that this amulet is ancient.
{See macro photo # 2}
English Translation of Early Chinese Written Words/Characters (Pictographs)
NOTE:
William D. Houghton, the President of ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS, a State of Washington Licensed Business, assumes all responsibility for the information contained in this description and for the English translation and transcription of the ancient Chinese graphic characters.
Any translation errors are unintentional and strictly mine.
This 5,000-year-old ritual jade amulet contains an estimated 25+ pictographs and characters that have been incised, pecked, and painted with black paint onto the jade Qilin dragon.
These pictographic characters on ritual and tomb jades are the earliest form of a written language in ancient China.
Modern archeologists call these early pictograms oracle bone script as they have been found as a permanent record that was written by scribes on both oracle bones of cattle and on ritual jade artifacts.
The once, olive-green jade dragon and the tiny pictographic characters incised onto it have turned an orange/brown color from the iron, micro-crystalline jade, calcium, and other elements in the damp soil that have been absorbed into the jade after being buried for thousands of years. The shallow incised characters have been differentially eroded on the jade and thus are exceedingly difficult to transcribe and translate.
All the pictographs are ridiculously small, some only 2mm long, that were only meant to be seen by the Ancestors, as human eyes were not worthy. Although the characters are tiny and may look just like random spider webs or blotches of paint, under 10x magnification you can see them.
Here are just a few of the pictographs I’ve translated:
1.
The Sons and Grandsons offering the traditional items of jade, ritual wine, and sacrificed animals to the Ancestors.
2.
A Son sacrificing an animal with a flint knife.
3.
A Son offering a string of cowrie shells—the money used during Neolithic Hongshan period.
4.
Ancestors pictured watching the offerings presented by the Sons and Grandsons.
5.
A Fire-Breathing Qilin Dragon percussively pecked into the left side of the Qilin’s tail.
{See photo # 4-5}
6.
The three parallel lines on the bottom side of coiled Qilin are the character “
San
” and in this case represents “Man, Earth, and Heaven (
Tien
)” and is also known as the “Three Powers.”
{See photo # 8}
7.
Perhaps 20+ other pictographs that are indecipherable.
Qilin Dragon Symbolism in China
This large, jade amulet depicts a coiled, mythical, Qilin Dragon who was meant to serve as a fierce, protective creature that could fight-off Evil Spirits that could prevent the man’s soul from reaching immortality in Heaven. Dragons are also revered for their ability to transport humans to the celestial realms after death.
Qilin generally have Chinese dragon-like features. Most notably their heads, large eyes with thick eyelashes, manes that always flow upward and beards. The body is fully or partially scaled and often shaped like an ox, deer, or horse. They are always shown with cloven hooves. In modern times, the depictions of Qilin have often fused with the Western concept of unicorns.
In China, the Dragon (in Chinese “
Long
” or “
Lung
”) has for millennia been the symbol of the Emperor, the Son of Heaven, eternity, Yang and Yin, as well as for male vigor and fertility.
The Dragon is considered as one of the 12 Ornaments and one of the most complex and multi-tiered Chinese symbols. The Chinese dragon can fiercely protect one from Evil Spirits and harm.
In China’s long history, the dragon is credited with having great powers that allowed it to make rain and control floods by striking the river with its mighty tail, for example. They are symbols of the natural world, adaptability, and transformation to immortal status. When two dragons are placed together in opposite directions, they symbolize eternity, i.e., the famous Yin-Yang symbol that looks like the modern version of two coiled, pig dragons of millennia ago.
Chinese emperors literally thought they were the real dragons and Sons of Heaven. Thus, the beds they slept on are called "dragon beds;" the throne, a "dragon seat;" and the emperor's ceremonial dresses are known as "dragon robes."
In the minds of the early Chinese people, the dragon was a god that embodied the will and ideals of the Chinese people. It is said that the dragon is a large-scaled reptile, which can become dark or bright, large or small, long or short, and fly into the sky in the spring and live underwater in the fall.
It seems that the dragon is capable of doing almost anything.
Traditionally, the dragons were considered the governors of rainfalls in Chinese culture. They had the power to decide where and when it would rain. They also believed kings of water dragons lived in dragon palaces under the ocean. The Chinese sign for the dragon appeared during the Yin and Shang dynasties (16th-11th century BC -- the period of the earliest Chinese hieroglyphs), between inscriptions on bones and turtle shields. The inscriptions depicted a horned reptile, with teeth, scales and sometimes even claws.
In ancient China, nobody had any doubt about the existence of dragons. People showed great respect for any depictions of dragons—weather they were in paintings, carvings, or writings. As a result, the dragon became the symbol of the Chinese nation. All people in China, including the emperor, prostrated themselves before the image of a dragon with reverence and awe. As a result, this fictional creature became the spiritual sustenance for the nation first as the totem of a tribe and then as the symbol of the nation. Eventually, the dragon became the symbol on the national flag of the last feudal dynasty, the Qing Dynasty. The Chinese people considered themselves the descendants of the dragon.
As the emblem of the emperor and imperial command, the legend of the Chinese dragon permeates the ancient Chinese civilization and has shaped its culture. Its benevolence signifies greatness, goodness, and blessings.
REFERENCES:
·
The Ancestral Landscape
, David N. Knightley, 2000
·
Chinese Characters,
Dr. L. Wieger, S.J.
·
The Great Bronze Age of China
:
An Exhibition from the People’s Republic of China
, edited by Wen Fong, 1980
·
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
·
Ancient Chinese Warfare
, Ralph D. Sawyer, Mei-chün Sawyer
·
Archaeology
, Archaeological Institute of America, Feb/March 2015
·
Shanghai Museum, China
·
Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, China
·
National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
British Museum
Smithsonian Museum, Sackler & Freer Gallery, WDC
Value
I have carefully examined this ancient jade amulet and I GUARANTEE it to be original and authentic or your money back! I’ve looked under 10x magnification under both natural and Black Light and I can find no signs of any modern tool work or repairs. The hand tool marks left in the jade by the master stone artist who carved, shaped, and engraved this work of art appear to be consistent with those marks of other ancient jades I have examined.
Each object I sell is professionally researched, translated (if I can...(smile), and compared with similar objects in the collections of the finest museums in the world. I have been dealing in fine antiquities for over 45 years and although certainly not an expert in every field, I have been honored to appraise, buy, collect, and enjoy and recently sell some of the finest ancient art in the world. When in doubt, I have worked with dozens of subject matter experts to determine the condition and authenticity of numerous antiquities and antiques. This careful examination helps to insure you are buying quality items and helps to protect your investment. There are many modern reproductions or "fakes" on the market today, so be sure and buy only from experts in the field.
Please examine the macro photos taken indoors 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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