Quick Answer: What Are Chinese Jade Pendants Pei?
Pei (佩, pèi) are ornaments worn on the body. A composite jade pendant, or zu yupei (组玉佩, zǔ yùpèi), brings several pieces together, often with stone beads, tubes or rings.[1][2]
- Components: One Warring States set combines jade with agate, turquoise and crystal.[1]
- Placement: Warring States waist pendants and a Western Zhou burial arrangement across the torso give different evidence of placement.[1][2]
- Movement: The Book of Rites connects the sound of jade pendants with the way a person walks and turns.[5]
Check each object’s date, find position and display notes before using it to explain how a set was worn.
Museum displays can make many separate stones look like one jewel. Start with the pieces. Their material, holes and position provide evidence that a photograph of the whole arrangement cannot supply by itself.
Read the Pieces in a Composite Pendant
A Warring States zu yupei in the National Museum of China includes a jade disc and curved jade dragon, two white agate rings, six turquoise beads and two crystal beads. A shallow relief pattern on the dragon belongs to the carved stone. Read the rings and smaller beads as separate components. They belong to the same assembly as the larger carved pieces.[1]
The overall name comes from the jade ornaments and does not describe every component. On a close view, compare a ring’s central opening with the channel through a tube bead. Both can take a cord, but they sit differently when strung.
Where the Pendants Were Worn
The National Museum describes the Warring States example as a type worn at the waist. A pendant hangs from dress, while a jade belt hook can close the belt itself. Look for the attachment point when two pieces are shown near the same part of the body.[1]
A Western Zhou noblewoman’s burial presents different evidence. The museum records 577 agate beads and 21 jade tubes in a twelve-tier assembly found from the right side of the chest down toward the abdomen. The catalog places that find in a tradition of wearing such arrangements at the neck. The find location describes where the stones lay in the burial.[2]
What the Sound of Jade Meant
In the Yu Zao chapter of the Book of Rites, the sound of jade accompanies formal movement. The passage relates the ornaments to walking, turning and changes of posture. It describes a ritual ideal of measured conduct. The passage gives a context for interpreting the sound. The sound of a specific object would depend on how its pieces were mounted and moved.[5]
The Palace Museum describes a late Ming dynasty composite pendant measuring 53.6 centimeters overall. Its multiple jade pieces help explain the physical possibility of pieces touching as a wearer moves. The catalog discusses this sound as a feature of the type.[4]
How to Read a Reconstructed Pendant
The Met presents five early eighth-century jade elements in a reconstructed assembly. Tang dynasty murals and stone engravings show comparable ornaments suspended from a woman’s belt. The record identifies two arc-shaped pieces and three cloud-shaped pieces. The display brings them together using evidence from images of Tang dress.[3]
Read the label for words such as reconstructed, and look for a drawing or photograph of the find. Later Qing court necklaces may also have multiple strands, but their structure and the setting in which they were worn have their own evidence.
FAQs About Chinese Jade Pendants
Are all the beads in a jade pendant set made of jade?
A set can combine several materials. The Warring States example includes agate, turquoise and crystal alongside jade.[1]
Were composite jade pendants always worn at the waist?
Some were worn at the waist. The Western Zhou example was found across a noblewoman’s torso and is interpreted in the context of neck-worn sets.[2][3]
Does a displayed arrangement show the original stringing?
It may show a reconstruction. In the Met example, depictions of Tang dress support the arrangement and suspension from a belt.[3]
資料來源
[1] National Museum of China. Warring States Composite Jade Pendant
[2] National Museum of China. Composite Pendant with Agate Beads and Jade Tubes
[3] The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Assemblage of Pendants
[4] The Palace Museum, Beijing. Composite Jade Pendant
[5] Book of Rites, hosted by China Confucius Network. Yu Zao