Page 126 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

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FIG. i. Reconstruction of wooden handle was originally inlaid. The fine
the axe and fittings. material, extraordinary workmanship, and, above all,
Drawing by D. Chaffee.
the imposing form of these jade axes command
power and respect. Indeed they probably served
exclusively as symbols of political and military au-
thority, for few, if any, show signs of wear.
The axe served this symbolic function through-
out the Bronze Age and during the early centuries
of imperial China. Several bronze axes resembling
the jade form have been found in royal tombs of
5
the Shang period. Two axes of impressive size
and decoration (see cat. 52) were found in the tomb
of Fu Hao (d. c. 1200 BCE) — an eminent female
general and the consort of King Wu Ding — who
led the Shang armies in several military campaigns. 6
Ancient documents also record that the king held
the axe as he directed his armies in battle and
delegated his military authority to his general by
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presenting him with the axe. As this practice sub-
sequently diminished in later periods, the axe be-
came a ceremonial weapon in the regalia and was
illustrated on the royal banners. It remained an
emblem of the sovereignty until as late as the six-
teenth century, when its image was embroidered
on the emperor's dragon robe, an allusion to its
functions in remote antiquity. 8 zs

Axes carved of jade appeared during the Liang- 1 Excavated in 1986 (M 20:144); reported: Zhejiang 19883,
16. The two jade haft fittings were excavated from M 20
zhu period and had by then become larger and along with the axe. See Zhejiang 19883,16.
flatter than their stone predecessors. The many jade 2 Fu 1985, 820 - 829.
axes found at Liangzhu sites vary considerably in 3 Shanghsi 1984, 3, fig. 18; for 3 detsiled photographic
reproduction, see Shanghai 1992, pi. 92.
size and proportion, but all have a thin, flat blade, 4 Zhejiang 19883,14 -15, fig. 25.
one or two perforations near the butt, and a curved 5 Fu 1985, 820-829.
6 Zhongguo 19803, color pis. 13:1, 2.
cutting edge beveled on both sides. Found exclu-
7 Lin 1965, 311-312.
sively in large and richly furnished tombs — gener- 8 For an illustration, see Fong 1996, pi. 162.
ally one to a tomb — the axes were placed next
to the left hand of the tomb's occupant, with the
cutting edge pointing outward. The handles, made
of wood or other organic material, have rarely sur-
vived, but those that have show evidence of lavish
decoration. An ivory handle found at Fuquanshan,
Shanghai, entirely covered with complex engrav-
ings, is among the most exquisite works of Liangzhu
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art. Small bits of jade found between two ornate
end fittings in a tomb at Fanshan suggest that the

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