ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 

Artifacts, Antiques & Fine Collectibles

 

 

Chinese Hongshan Jade Cicada Amulet
   Immortal Cicada {Chan (蝉)} and Two Dragons

Early Pictographic Characters


c. 4500 BC—2250 BC



“A Dragon can be unseen or visible, minute or huge,

long or short.  However, always it is great.”

—Shuo Wen (c. 100 AD) 



 

 

Summary



This exceptionally large, Cicada Amulet is made of prized, Nephrite Jade and measures approximately:

 

·       6.03 (153mm) long

·       3.39” (86mm) wide

·       1.88” (49 mm) thick

·       Weight:  1.75 lb. (28oz.) (794gr.)

 

This cicada, a symbol of immortality, has an estimated 30+ characters painted, incised, and pecked into all sides of the cicada.  These characters describe the offering of this jade amulet to the ancestors in order to ensure safe passage of the soul of the departed to immortality in Heaven. This number of characters is large for this Neolithic time period in China, as smaller jade cicada amulets only have none or less than five characters on them.

 

This amulet has perhaps 30+ pictographs painted, incised, and pecked into the hard jade.  But perhaps the most interesting are the two pecked and painted dragons that are on the eyes of the cicada.  They are only about 18mm long and were meant to symbolize the Dragon Ancestors in Heaven (Tien in Chinese) who were looking with benevolence upon the ritual offerings that the Sons were making to them on behalf of their father. {See macro photos # 10-12}

 

This jade offering appears to be from the son and grandsons of the deceased and was certainly a ritual offering to the Ancestors in Heaven to grant the deceased immortality.  This amulet offering had to be crafted and engraved for a wealthy upper class or royal person, as only those individuals would have the means to afford such an expensive and elaborate offering.  More details below.

 

Condition:  This amulet is in exceptionally good, museum quality condition, with no repairs or restorations.  There are some natural, surface fissures in the jade, but that it normal. The jade cicada shows moderate pitting and differential weathering that is period correct.  It has been professionally cleaned by the previous owners of many of the mineral and earthen deposits that now allows us to better see the character inscription/dedication. But it still retains its lovely, original patina of calcium and other mineral deposits on the surface and in the cut lines.   

 

 

Details

 

Jade was highly prized by these early civilizations in China, and it was thought to have positive energy to drive away evil spirits and bring good luck and fortune to all who wore a piece on their person—in life and in death. Jade was also believed to be a portal or messenger that could carry prayers to Heaven and send messages to those on Earth from departed ancestors and Gods in Heaven.  Offerings of jade, money, meat, and wine were usually offered by the sons and grandsons at the temples that were built about the royal tombs.

 

 

Cicadas are called chan (蝉) in Mandarin Chinese. But they are also referred to as guo guo (蟈蟈), which generally refers to a cricket.  In ancient China, the cicada was a symbol of transformation and resurrection because of its life cycle.  The first 13 to 17 years of its life are spent underground, after which, it emerges in its final nymph stage.  It then sheds its skin to reveal a mature form with wings, as this cicada is represented.  Cicadas were a symbol of this resurrection and the hope for immortality of the soul as it departed for Heaven.

 

This adult cicada is carved with tear-drop shaped wings and a long tail that also contains an ancient pictograph of the Heavens.  The bottom of the cicada has a slightly convex shape and has numerous pictographs on it. 

 

This jade amulet has two, curved holes under the head of the cicada that would have been used for suspension around the neck.  Archaeologists classify these curved holes as “Ox-Nose Holes” and they have been drilled by ancient hand tools at low RPM from both sides of the amulet—see macro photo # 5.  These holes are period correct and have a wonderful layer of calcium and micro-crystalline jade inside the bore holes—perfect for the advanced private collector.

 

 

English Translation of Jade Cicada Offering

 

As noted above, this unique amulet contains an estimated 30+ tiny, ancient, Chinese pictographic characters that have been incised and pecked into the amulet.  The characters were normally written to document the sacrifices made to the Ancestors and plead that they accept the soul of the departed into Heaven (Tien) for eternal life. 
 

We know that this amulet was made in the mid-Hongshan Culture (4700 BC—2250 BC) because of the characters on this amulet, as this Neolithic culture used this type of character/word (also called graphics) from 3,800 BC until about 3,000 BC.  This style of writing called “graphic” or Shuowen Jiezi later were used to form China’ first written language.

 

These amazing graphics can best be seen under 10x magnification, but even then I cannot see all of them clearly enough to decipher and translate them.  Millennia of mineral deposits, pitting, and natural weathering have made it difficult for me to clearly see the tiny figures.  This sculpture is truly spectacular and of museum quality.

 

Here are just a few of the characters that are engraved in the ancient pictographic script over 5,000-years-ago:

 

·       The largest character is the one composed of the four vertical lines that hang down from a horizontal line on the top.  It measures 3.66” (93mm) long and is stylistically on the tail on the cicada. That is the character that means “all that is hanging down from the Heavens—Sun, Moon, Stars, & Earth.”  {See macro photo # 6 }

·       Two Dragons on the cicadas eyes—each one only about 18mm long.  Incredible!! {See macro photo # 10-12 }

·       Ancestors

·       Offering by the Son of raw flesh from a sacrificed animal. The son has a flint knife in his hand. These characters are painted in black on the cicada’s chin.

·       And over an estimated 25+ other graphics/characters.

 

In ancient times, inscriptions, and dedications to honor the deceased were oftentimes inscribed in places that only the Ancestors and Gods could see, or made so small that only the Ancestors could read them.  It was believed that mere mortals were not worthy to read inscriptions meant only for the eyes of departed Ancestors in Heaven (Tien).  

 

 

The Hongshan Culture

 

The Hongshan were temple builders and city builders who created some of the earliest nephrite jade carvings. Their sophisticated Jade carving techniques employed technologies that exceeded simple explanations. It has recently been discovered that the Hongshan possessed the knowledge of metallurgy and employed the use of copper and iron from meteorites as tools to work their jade masterpieces. Many of the Hongshan Jade artifacts are well persevered because the Hongshan culture utilized slab burial tombs and because of the dry arid climate of Inner Mongolia.

 

As many of you know, Nephrite jade, also known as “soft jade” or “ancient Jade” in China, was used from China’s early Neolithic cultures in 8,000 BC to 1800 AD for carving all types of ritual and utilitarian items.  Nephrite, which is somewhat “softer” than the jadeite used by Neolithic Japanese and European cultures, was easier to cut, carve, polish, and drill than jadeite.  So, the ancient Chinese found that Nephrite Jade could be worked by using quartz or garnet sand, polished with bamboo or jade dust, and even drilled with wood drills that used a slurry made of jade dust and water as the abrasive.  

 

Based on artifact evidence and 30 years of study, it appears that the Hongshan employed advanced jade shaping and carving tools that may have been made from meteorite iron or even diamonds. One fascinating study is the evidence of high content iron found in black jades used for ritual objects by the early Hongshan. Many of these artifacts are often magnetic and express the possibility that the Hongshan were aware of magnetic earth forces.

 

During China’s Neolithic Period, Hongshan Jade ritual and tomb objects were created for a period of more than 2,000 years. Hongshan jades have been discovered in large quantities with over 52 different types of Jade objects in various shapes and forms—usually always containing at least one jade cicada in every tomb.

 

Dragon Symbolism in China

 

This large, jade amulet depicts a coiled, mythical, Pig Dragon who was meant to serve as a fierce, protective creature that could fight-off Evil Spirits that could prevent the man’s soul from reaching immortality in Heaven. Dragons are also revered for their ability to transport humans to the celestial realms after death.

 

 

In China, the Dragon (in Chinese “Long” or “Lung”) has for millennia been the symbol of the Emperor, the Son of Heaven, eternity, Yang and Yin, as well as for male vigor and fertility.  The Dragon is considered as one of the 12 Ornaments and one of the most complex and multi-tiered Chinese symbols. The Chinese dragon can fiercely protect one from Evil Spirits and harm.

 

 

In China’s long history, the dragon is credited with having great powers that allowed it to make rain and control floods by striking the river with its mighty tail, for example. They are symbols of the natural world, adaptability, and transformation to immortal status. When two dragons are placed together in opposite directions, they symbolize eternity, i.e., the famous Yin-Yang symbol that looks like the modern version of two coiled, pig dragons of millennia ago.

 

Chinese emperors literally thought they were the real dragons and Sons of Heaven. Thus, the beds they slept on are called "dragon beds;" the throne, a "dragon seat;" and the emperor's ceremonial dresses are known as "dragon robes."

 

In the minds of the early Chinese people, the dragon was a god that embodied the will and ideals of the Chinese people. It is said that the dragon is a large-scaled reptile, which can become dark or bright, large or small, long or short, and fly into the sky in the spring and live underwater in the fall.  It seems that the dragon is capable of doing almost anything.

 

Traditionally, the dragons were considered the governors of rainfalls in Chinese culture. They had the power to decide where and when it would rain. They also believed kings of water dragons lived in dragon palaces under the ocean. The Chinese sign for the dragon appeared during the Yin and Shang dynasties (16th-11th century BC -- the period of the earliest Chinese hieroglyphs), between inscriptions on bones and turtle shields. The inscriptions depicted a horned reptile, with teeth, scales and sometimes even claws.

 

In ancient China, nobody had any doubt about the existence of dragons. People showed great respect for any depictions of dragons—weather they were in paintings, carvings, or writings. As a result, the dragon became the symbol of the Chinese nation. All people in China, including the emperor, prostrated themselves before the image of a dragon with reverence and awe. As a result, this fictional creature became the spiritual sustenance for the nation first as the totem of a tribe and then as the symbol of the nation. Eventually, the dragon became the symbol on the national flag of the last feudal dynasty, the Qing Dynasty. The Chinese people considered themselves the descendants of the dragon.

 

As the emblem of the emperor and imperial command, the legend of the Chinese dragon permeates the ancient Chinese civilization and has shaped its culture. Its benevolence signifies greatness, goodness, and blessings.

 

 

REFERENCES:

 

•       The Ancestral Landscape, David N. Knightley, 2000

•       Chinese Characters, Dr. L. Wieger, S.J.

•       The Great Bronze Age of China: An Exhibition from the People’s Republic of China, edited by Wen Fong, 1980

•       Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

•       Ancient Chinese Warfare, Ralph D. Sawyer, Mei-chün Sawyer

•       Archaeology, Archaeological Institute of America, Feb/March 2015

•       Shanghai Museum, China

•       Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, China

•       National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

•       British Museum

•       Smithsonian Museum, Sackler & Freer Gallery, WDC

 

Value


  I have carefully examined this ancient jade amulet and I GUARANTEE it to be original and authentic or your money back! I’ve looked under 10x and 50x magnification under both natural and Black Light and I can find no signs of any modern tool work or repairs. The hand tool marks left in the jade by the master stone artist who carved, shaped, and engraved this work of art appear to be consistent with those marks of other ancient jades I have examined.


 Each object I sell is professionally researched, translated (if I can...(smile), and compared with similar objects in the collections of the finest museums in the world. I have been dealing in fine antiquities for over 45 years and although certainly not an expert in every field, I have been honored to appraise, buy, collect, and enjoy and recently sell some of the finest ancient art in the world. When in doubt, I have worked with dozens of subject matter experts to determine the condition and authenticity of numerous antiquities and antiques. This careful examination helps to insure you are buying quality items and helps to protect your investment. There are many modern reproductions or "fakes" on the market today, so be sure and buy only from experts in the field.

 

Please examine the macro photos taken indoors carefully, as they are part of the description.

The stand, ruler, & digital ruler are not part of the auction, just included to give you a better perspective.

And please ask any questions before you buy. 


International buyers are responsible for shipping and any import duties or taxes.  Thank You!