Feb., 1912. 



Jade. 



43 



Figures 2 and 3 represent two other dance-axes illustrated in the 

 Ku yii t'u p'u, both ascribed to the Han period. The one is made of 

 jade pale-yellow and bright-white in color, without flaw and engraved 

 with the monster t'ao-t'ieh (in the text called huang tnu "the yellow- 

 eyed") and a cicada pattern (chart wen) by which the leaf -shaped prongs 

 are understood, so frequently displayed on the bronze beakers called 

 ts'iDi. The other axe-head (Fig. 3) is of a bright-white jade with 

 greenish speckles comparable to moss and decorated with "cloud and 



^Anjb\ = ^ 



Fig. 4. 

 Hatchet of Yellow Red-Spotted Jade. 



#*^j#L 



thunder" (yiin lei) patterns (meanders) and cicada designs with leaf 

 veins. 



It will be readily seen that these ceremonial jade hatchets of the 

 Han are widely different in their artistic shapes and decorations from 

 those of the Chou period, which are plain and unpretentious. 



Another hatchet of jade is figured by Wu Ta-ch'eng in his Ku yii 

 Vu k'ao (reproduced in Fig. 4) and explained by him as an ancient 

 dance-axe on the ground of the passages referred to. It will be rec- 

 ognized that this specimen is much simpler than any of the Han dynasty, 

 and I am inclined to place it in the Chou period. Its rectangular shape, 

 the form of its cutting edge, the perforation in the butt are all features 

 occurring in the Chou celts, while the peculiar indentations in the lateral 

 sides betrav the ritualistic character. 



