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Jade and gold clothes of a prince's wife
Jade and gold clothes unearthed from the tomb of Prince Jin of Zhongshan of the Han Dynasty. [Photo/Atron.Net]
An exhibition
featuring gold and silver wares, jade wares and weapons unearthed from tombs of
the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC- 220AD) launched in Changsha in Hunan province
today.
Among the
showpieces, the jade and gold clothes of Dou Wan, the wife of Prince Jin of
Zhongshan, attracted much attention. With 2,160 jade pieces held together by
700g of gold wire, the 1.72m long clothing is a rare national cultural relic.
Jade face decorations from the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC). [Photo/Artron.Net]
Also called yuxia, gold-woven clothes were the finest
garb for dead emperors and high ranking nobles in the Han Dynasty.
A complete suit
consists of six parts: a head covering, upper clothes, sleeves, gloves,
trousers and shoes. Each part was made by various shapes of jade pieces. On the
jade pieces, there are many small holes, through which the pieces can be
"woven" into a suit or clothing using fine gold, silver or bronze
wire.
Evolution of jade and gold clothes
Jade and gold clothes unearthed in a tomb in Xuzhou in Jiangsu province. [Photo/Artron. Net]
The clothes were
developed from jade decorations that covered the faces of the dead. These jade
pieces made in the shape of eyebrows, noses, mouths and eyes were sewed onto
cloth. The earliest jade face decorations were excavated from a tomb dating to
the late Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC).
By the Warring
States Period (475-221 BC), the decorations had become very popular. Emperors
and nobles often had jade face decorations as funeral objects.
In the early period
of the Han Dynasty, the jade decorations extended to the areas of the head,
hands and feet. The change prepared for the coming of a full body suit of made
of jade and gold.
Later, with the
formation of the Silk Road, large quantities of hetian jade came to China and
provided enough material for emperors and nobles to cover their whole bodies
when they died. The most beautiful and earliest jade and gold clothes unearthed
in a tomb in Xuzhou in Jiangsu province were made of 4,248 pieces of white
hetian jade and 1,600g of gold wire.
Jade and gold clothes. [Photo/Artron.Net]
Happy posthumous life
Jade and gold
clothes were thought to prevent a dead body from decaying. Moreover, people in
the Han Dynasty believed in the immortality of the soul. In their mind, as long
as the soul was protected well, dead people could still enjoy their posthumous
lives as much as when they were alive.
Jade and gold clothes. [Photo/Artron.Net]
Since the soul can
only exist with the body, the emperors and nobles in the Han Dynasty endeavored
to find ways to keep the body unchanged when they passed away. They believed
that jade and gold are two essences of nature, which have magical functions to
protect the human body.
To keep the soul in
the body, they also intended to use jade to block the nine holes on the human
body: eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, sexual organs and anus.
Undoubtedly, only
emperors and high rank nobles could enjoy such a luxury.
Jade face decorations. [Photo/Artron. Net]
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