Page 423 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

This example, carved from a single piece of
translucent white jade, has an unusual form, con-
sisting of a dragon with a sinuous body in a double
2
band. The creature s head is shown in striking
profile; its large eye is emphasized by a distinct
relief ridge, and it has small crest or horn behind
the head. In its open jaw, the dragon grasps a ring,
which is braced by one of its claws; the second claw
emerges from the underside of the body. The con-
vex surface of the jade is exquisitely carved: sharply
H3 cut lines delineate the head and claw, and interlink-
light; the
body catch the
ing scrolls incised on the
Jade belt hook reverse of the hook is plain.
The combination of dragon and disk appears
3
!
Height 6.2 (2 / 2), width 18.8 (7 /«), depth 0.6 ('A) in a painted coffin design and in a banner from
Western Han Dynasty, second century BCE
3
Mawangdui, on which two dragons wind through
From the tomb of the King of Nanyue at Xianggang,
a central disk. The design may have originated in
Guangzhou, Guangdong Province
simple pendants (produced from the fifth century
The Museum of the Western Han Tomb of the BCE onward and common in tombs of the fifth to
Nanyue King, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province fourth centuries BCE) composed of carved disks
supported by dragons on either side. The painted
Hooks were used to fasten the two ends of a belt: banner and coffin, while ostensibly simply formal
a round stud at the back attached the object to elaborations of the earlier jade pendants, in fact
one end of the belt, while a loop or ring attached constitute a more powerful rendering of the motif.
to the other end of the belt slotted over the hook. The jade belt hook seems to be a return to the
Such functional ornaments seem to have been representation of these elements in ornamental
introduced during the sixth century BCE, possibly pendants. JR
from Central Asia. Among the earliest to be found
in China are some finely cast gold hooks from Yi- 1 See Rawson 1995, 303 - 307.
2 Excavated in 1983 (D 45); reported Guangzhou 1991,
men, near Baoji, in Shaanxi province. Gold belt 1:192-193, fig. 125:3.
hooks seem to have been prized in areas to the west 3 For the tomb at Mawangdui, see Hunan 1973, i: figs. 24, 38.
of the Qin state; elsewhere, hooks were also made
in bronze and, less commonly, in jade; bronze
examples are sometimes decorated with gilding,
precious-metal inlays, and semiprecious stones. 1

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