Jade burial suit

Jade burial suit of Liu Sui, Prince of Liang, of Western Han, made with 2,008 pieces of jade

A jade burial suit (Chinese: 玉衣; pinyin: yù yī) is a suit made out of jade. It was used for the burial of Han dynasty princes and princesses.

Description

Jade burial suits were meant for Han dynasty emperors. The emperor can give jade burial suits to members of his family. The jade pieces of the emperor's jade suit are tied together with gold threads. Princes and princesses can only use silver or copper threads.^[1] The jade suit of Liu Sheng, Prince of Zhongshan had more than 2498 plates of jade.^[2]

History

The people of the Hemudu and Majiabang cultures buried their dead with jade objects. In the Han dynasty, this became the jade burial suit.^[1] Jade suits were mentioned in the Book of Han and the Book of the Later Han.^[3] Emperor Wen of Han banned the use of jade suits.^[1]

The first jade suits were found in Liu Sheng's tomb.

Jade Burial Suit Media

Jade burial suit at the Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King, in Guangzhou
Jade shroud for King of Zhongshan, Liu Xiu (d. 57 BCE), in the National Museum of China, Beijing, China.
Excavation of the Jade Burial Suits taken from the Hebei Museum in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China.
A Han Dynasty jade burial suit at the National Museum of China, Beijing
Jade burial suit at the Henan Museum, in Zhengzhou
Detail of a jade burial suit with replaced copper wire in the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts
Close up detail of a jade burial suit with replaced copper wire in the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum
Detail of the head section of the jade burial suit of Liu Sui, Prince of Liang, of Western Han
Detail of the hand section of the jade burial suit of Liu Sui, Prince of Liang, of Western Han

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Li, Shuicheng (2015). "Eternal Glory: The Origins of Eastern Jade Burial and Its Far-Reaching Influence". In Renfrew, Colin; Boyd, Michael; Morley, Ian (eds.). Death Rituals, Social Order and the Archaeology of Immortality in the Ancient World. Cambridge University Press. pp. 315–327.
↑ Thorp, Robert L (1991). "Mountain Tombs and Jade Burial Suits: Preparation for Eternity in the Western Han". In Kuwayama, George (ed.). Ancient Mortuary Traditions of China: Papers on Chinese Ceramic Funerary Sculptures. Far Eastern Art Council. ISBN 9780875871578.
↑ Kao, Jeffrey; Yang, Zuosheng (November 1983). "On Jade Suits and Han Archaeology". Archaeology. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41728773.

[rituals-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Li, Shuicheng (2015). "Eternal Glory: The Origins of Eastern Jade Burial and Its Far-Reaching Influence". In Renfrew, Colin; Boyd, Michael; Morley, Ian (eds.). Death Rituals, Social Order and the Archaeology of Immortality in the Ancient World. Cambridge University Press. pp. 315–327.

[thorp-2] Thorp, Robert L (1991). "Mountain Tombs and Jade Burial Suits: Preparation for Eternity in the Western Han". In Kuwayama, George (ed.). Ancient Mortuary Traditions of China: Papers on Chinese Ceramic Funerary Sculptures. Far Eastern Art Council. ISBN 9780875871578.

[archaeology-3] Kao, Jeffrey; Yang, Zuosheng (November 1983). "On Jade Suits and Han Archaeology". Archaeology. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41728773.

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