Zeng Marquis Yi 16th section dragon and phoenix jade hanging ornament
Warring states
Length 48 cm, width 8.3 cm, thickness 0.5 cm
In 1978, Tomb No. 1 in Huigudun, Suizhou City, Hubei Province was unearthed
The whole vessel is carved into 16 sections from 5 pieces of jade, which are connected by 3 oval rings and a jade dowel. Each section is carved into a dragon, phoenix or bi, ring, and the details and bi of the dragon and phoenix are engraved on both sides, and the grain pattern, cloud pattern, oblique line pattern on the ring, etc. The whole vessel uses open-cut carving, relief carving, yin carving and other techniques to carve 37 dragons, 7 phoenixes and 10 snakes. The vessel was unearthed on the head of the tomb owner and may have been a jade tasse (hat band) on the crown. In the second section (counting from right to left in the picture), the cloud pattern on the jade bi is based on the method of pressing the ground, and the four dragons are attached to the four sides of the bi, which is a form that was not widely adopted until the late Warring States period; The eleventh section is carved into the shape of three dragons connected by dragons, and the dragon body is "S" shaped, which is the shape of jade pei that began to be popular in the Central Plains in the late Spring and Autumn Period; Sixteen jade ornaments, however, cleverly applied them to a large dragon; The jade ornaments in verses 12 and 13 are composed of dragons on the backs of the two prime ministers and two prime ministers, respectively, and each dragon is carved with a dragon on its body; The two ends of the fifteenth section of the jade ornament are respectively engraved with the motifs of standing phoenixes and phoenix birds and serpents, which are common themes in Southern Chu art and are frequently found in lacquerware and other paintings.
This jade ornament is located near the tomb owner's skull and may have been an ornament hanging from a hat. The jade material is blue-white, and it is cut in half by 5 pieces of jade, cut continuously, carefully ground into a fixed or movable ring at the joint, and then connected into a large dragon with 3 oval rings made of mortise and tenon and a jade dowel. The whole vessel is composed of 16 jade sections, and the dragon body uses open-cut carving, relief carving, yin carving and other techniques to carve 37 dragons, 7 phoenixes and 10 snakes.