Page 81 - Christie's Hong Kong November 29, 2022 Chang e Wha Collection of Jades

玉辟邪
AN EXCEPTIONAL JADE BIXIE
有翼神獸（獅、虎、鹿、羊、鷹…等），在中國古代文物的
藝術主題中流行時間很長，表現形式也很多（紋飾、片雕、
圓雕），其中尤以圓雕＜辟邪＞最引人囑目。
＜辟邪＞一詞，見西漢元帝時黃門令史游所作的《急就篇》
卷三：「射鬾、辟邪除羣凶。射鬾、辟邪皆神獸名也，…辟邪，
言能辟禦妖邪也，謂以寶玉之類二獸之狀以佩帶之，用除去
凶災而保衞其身也。」古人認為獅虎凶猛，可除凶祟，所以
用這種神獸來看守闕門和神道。在四川出土的漢代畫像石上
有一對老虎，一件標記「辟卯（邪）」（「卯」應是筆誤），
一件標記「除凶」，既可用於成對的獅子，也可用於成對的
老虎，古代對於辟邪一詞的使用，或獅或虎並不嚴格。
＜辟邪＞的主題類型和裝飾風格與西亞和歐亞草原流行的
格里芬藝術（griffin，鷹首獅、帶翼獅…等，起源於公元前
三千的兩河流域）在各方面都很相似，二者是互動共存關
係。＜辟邪＞在中國藝術中的地位很微妙，它雖是以外來的
獅子形象作為依托，但卻在精神內涵中融入中國猛虎的形
象，而且還經常與其他表現異國情調的動物一起構成具有
「紀念」性質的中國古代藝術形式，特別是最為輝煌漢代，
宮觀、祠畤、陵墓等建築往往都有大型的銅雕和石刻作裝
飾，如翁仲、麒麟、天祿、辟邪、大象、駱駝、駿馬等，
＜辟邪＞即在這類主題佔有重要地位。
在材質方面，玉製的辟邪圓雕極為稀有而珍貴，如 1966 年
在陝西省咸陽市西漢渭陵遺址出土了兩件＜玉辟邪＞，一件
作昂首挺胸式，頭上有雙角，貼頭頂向後彎 ( 圖一 )；一件
作低首匍匐狀，頭上也有雙角，雙角並合，角端向左右分開
(圖二)。又如台北故宮藏有一件東漢＜玉辟邪＞，口吻較長，
近似龍或馬臉，不同於常見的短口吻、似虎臉之辟邪，造形
及羽翅特徵和中亞、西亞的「格里芬藝術」神獸形式相類 ( 圖
三 )。
綜觀為數極少的出土與傳世圓雕＜玉辟邪＞，以陝西省咸陽
市西漢渭陵遺址出土的兩件＜玉辟邪＞年代最早，說明以玉
製作辟邪形圓雕，最晚在西漢中期已開始。兩漢時期玉辟邪
Winged beasts (lion, tiger, deer, ram, eagle… etc.) are a popular and
enduring subject in ancient Chinese works of art, and exist in many
different forms (as decorative pattern, flat carving or carving in the
round). The most eye-catching amongst them are carvings of bixie
in the round.
The term bixie first appeared in Jijiupian by Shi You in Western Han
period:
‘Sheji, bixie are both names of mythical beasts… bixie means ‘warding
off the wicked’. It is said that jade pendants in the form of these two
beasts can help prevent adversity and provide protection.’
It is believed that lions and tigers are so fierce that they can chase
misfortunes away, so they are used to guard gates or spirit ways.
On stone carvings excavated in Sichuan there is a pair of tigers,
one marked bimao (probably a mis-transcription of bixie); the other
marked chuxiong (eliminating calamity). These terms can be used on
either pairs of lions or pairs of tigers, so the term bixie is not strictly
associated with lion or tiger.
The iconography of bixie and its decorative style is closely associated
to that of griffin, popular in the Western Asia and Eurasia steppes,
and originated in Mesopotamia in 3000 B.C. Bixie occupies a
curious position in Chinese art. It is based on the imagery of a lion,
a foreign animal, but has the spirit of a fierce tiger. It is often depicted
alongside other exotic animals as artistic backdrops for monumental
architectures, especially in the Han Dynasty where palaces, temples,
shrines and tombs were often decorated with large scale bronze or
stone sculptures of Weng Zhong, qilin, tianlu, elephants, camels
or horses. Bixie is an important component amongst the array that
make up this subject matter.
Material wise, jade bixie carvings in the round are extremely rare
and precious. There are two jade bixie excavated in the Weiling
tomb in Xianyang, Shaanxi province: one is striding upright, with
two horns curling backwards along the head (fig. 1); the other is
crouching with its head down, with two horns growing closely
alongside and bifurcating at the tip (fig. 2). There is a Eastern Han
jade bixie (fig. 3) in the Taipei Palace Museum with a long snout
resembling either a dragon or a horse, unlike the more common
79