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Source Description
This type of jade disc (bi) was found primarily in burials and buried caches. According to ancient Chinese cosmology, heaven is regarded as a circle and the earth a square. A jade bi thus represented the circular heaven. It was believed that placing these discs on the deceased body would protect it from evil spirits and ghosts and also confer prosperity and security in the afterlife.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
16542
label
Disc (Bi)
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
16542
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Disc (Bi)
description
This type of jade disc (bi) was found primarily in burials and buried caches. According to ancient Chinese cosmology, heaven is regarded as a circle and the earth a square. A jade bi thus represented the circular heaven. It was believed that placing these discs on the deceased body would protect it from evil spirits and ghosts and also confer prosperity and security in the afterlife.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1916, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
3rd millennium BC (Neolithic)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Precious Stones & Gems
discs
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
13.7
height
3.2
dimensionsRaw
Diam: 5 3/8 × D: 1 1/4 in. (13.7 × 3.2 cm)
Source extras
cul
Chinese
med
jade
creator_ids
6238
collection_ids
CHN
PRE
exhibition_ids
none
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
abf4c6b5b99e7ad2