Page 58 - The Arts of China, By Michael Sullivan Good Book

his body a tsung, symbol of earth; to the east of the body was
placed a kuei sceptre, to the west a tiger, to the north (at his feet) a
huang (half-circle), to the south a chang (a short stubby kuei); the
seven orifices of the body were sealed with jade plugs, while a flat
plaque, han, generally in the shape of a cicada, was placed in the
mouth. Thus was the body protected from all harm without, and
scaled lest any evil influences should escape from within.
An extreme instance of the belief in the preserving power of
jade was thejade burial suit, long known from references in early
literature but never seen (except in fragments) until the accidental
discovery of the tombs of a Han prince and princess at Man-
ch'cng, Hopci, in 1968 (see p. 78). The corpses of Lui Sheng (died
113 b.c.) and of his wife Tou Wan were completely encased in
head mask, jacket, and trousers, each made of over two thousand
thin jade plaques sewn together with gold thread. Each suit, it has
been calculated, would have taken an expertjadesmith ten years to
make.
In addition to mortuary jades, the early Chou lapidaries carved
many kinds of pendants and ornaments, as in the Shang Dynasty,
49 Ritual tube. Hung. Jade. Chou but as these were to be far more beautiful and refined in the late
Dynasty.
Chou period, we will defer discussion of them to Chapter 4.

50 Jar. Stoneware covered with
greenish-yellow glaze. From a tomb at
Pei-yao-ts'un, Loyang, Honan. Western
Chou period.