JADE: A COMPARISON OF TWO WORKS

Amanda Vasquez
Art 117A: Art of China and Japan
May 11, 2016

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Black jade covered in lines that mimic the veins of the living, the cong from the Asian
Art Museum of San Francisco holds the story of a culture. The cong, (pronounced tsong) is a
ritual implement from the Shang Dynasty and is just one of the two pieces being uncovered in
the following essay. The second art piece discussed in the essay, is the botanical Cabbage vase
from the Qing Dynasty. While both art pieces are created from jade, neither their process of
creation nor their use, is similar. After a brief description of the works, a comparison of the two
works side by side will illustrate the differences between the two pieces.
The cong on display at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is created from black
nephrite, also known as true jade. It is described by the Asian Art Museum website in the
following:

Made of black jade with bluish-gray veins showing mottle areas as

well as flaws and cracks, the body of this tube is of uneven
thickness, square on the outside and round on the inside. The outer
surfaces of round openings are partially flattened, corresponding to
the four flat exterior walls of the square body. The interior surface
of the cylinder reveals rough traces left from grinding. The
simplicity of the irregular shape, expresses the archaic mood.1
According to Asian Art Museum: Selected Works, a cong is, a tube that, in section, is
square on the outside and round on the inside.2 There are several Neolithic cultures that
incorporated the cong into their culture, thus the decoration featured on congs vary. However,
focusing on the Shang Dynasty styled cong, discussed in this paper, it can be noted that there are

Online Collection, Asian Art Museum, accessed May 5, 2016.

http://searchcollection.asianart.org/view/objects/asitem/search@/3?t:state:flow=9421229e-67d24df8-a244-68cd93ae3a4e
2
Asian Art Museum: Selected Works (San Francisco: Asian Art Museum of San Francisco,
1994), 129.

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no incorporations of decoration featured on the outside body of the piece. The only disruption
between the black nephrite and the viewer is the bluish- gray veins3 infused by the jade.
While there are still some unanswered questions as to why the cong was created and how
it was used ritually, there is some evidence and theories that surround the congs function. A
theory presented by the Asian Art Museum: Selected Works states, the earliest reference to these
objects, found in texts of the late Bronze Age, tell us that cong were used in rituals to worship
the earth.4 It is brought to light by the Khan Academy that the cong also served in burial rituals.
They were buried in large numbers: one tomb alone had 33 cong.5 The text The Arts of China,
also dictates the finding of cong in graves. ritual objects have been found in graves chiefly in
east and northeast Chinamany jade bi, a disk with a hole in the center, and cong tubes, circular
inside and squared on the outside.6 As stated previously, the meaning behind the creation of the
cong is still under speculation.
The process of carving jade and creating a cong is discussed in several texts such as the
Asian Art Museum: Selected Works, The Arts of China, and the Khan Academy website. In the
book, The Arts of China, it states, the hardness and toughness of jade make it difficult to carve.
To work it one must use an abrasiveit is possible, given time, to drill a hole in a slab of jade
using only a bamboo bow drill and builders sand mixed with water7 The Khan Academy
website also states that jade is resistant to carving and provides a possible theory as to how the
cong receives it shape and color:

Asian Art Museum: Selected Works.129

Asian Art Museum: Selected Works.129
5
Ritual Implements (cong and bi), Khan Academy, accessed May 5, 2016,
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/imperial-china/neolithic-art-china/a/ritualimplements-cong-and-bi
6
Michael Sullivan, The Art of China (London: University of California Press, 2008.), 12.
7
Michael Sullivan, The Art of China, 12.
4

Jade is extremely hard and cannot be carved. It must be worn away

with using drills or saws. Jades such as this would have taken a
long time to create. Some scholars have suggested that these
jades were heated, in order to be worked with such fine lines.
Others have suggested they were ritually burned as part of the
burial process. Burning or heating might account for the lighter
color of some jade cong.8
Lastly the Asian Art Museum: Selected Works also provides an explanation to the
creation of the cong. Several techniques were used to make this piece. The central opening was
drilled from the top and bottom toward the center. The four corners were worked in low relief.9
While the correct process of creating the cong is known only to the cultures that made it, it is
through research and discovery that we unfold the history of the cong.
Naturalistic, lifelike and botanical the Cabbage vase on display at the Asian Art Museum
in San Francisco could be considered quite different from the previously discussed cong. The
Cabbage vase is described by the Asian Art Museum in the following manner:

This elegant white jadeite vase in the shape of three heads of

cabbages is an outstanding botanical piece. The dark green veins of
the jadeite, as well as the various insects decorating the cabbages,
give the vase a naturalistic touch. A praying mantis stands guard
on the tallest leaf, a butterfly hovers in front, while a katydid hides
behind. This vase is reminiscent of an earlier prototype: the famous
nephrite cabbage in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.10

Ritual Implements (cong and bi), Khan Academy

Asian Art Museum: Selected Works.129
10
Online Collection, Asian Art Museum, accessed May 5, 2016.
http://searchcollection.asianart.org/view/objects/asitem/search@/1?t:state:flow=6b989ba8-2f394e3e-8be9-22362cd6ae41
9

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The vase is 6 in tall and 3 in wide. The dark green veins of the jadeite,11 are similar
to the bluish-grey veins seen on the cong from the Shang Dynasty. The colors of the jadeite
found in the Cabbage vase are significant not only for the vase, but also as an influence on artists
of the time. According to the Asian Art Museum website, cabbages are green (qing) and white
(bai) in color, Qingbai is a term meaning pure and stainless. Many Chinese artists painted
cabbages to signify their stainless backgrounds."12 The influence and dcor of the Cabbage vase
therefore could be argued to serve more than a functional purpose. Several resources including
The Arts of China, Asian Art Museum: Selected Works, and Sensuous Surfaces refer to the style
of the Cabbage vase, as decorative art. Decorative art is defined by The Metropolitan Museum of
Art Bulletin as, objects ranging from those produced primarily for functional purposes to
creative works that are realized by means other than painting or sculpture.13
Pieces such as the Cabbage vase are made through workshop production. Produced
during the time of the Qing Dynasty, the Cabbage vase, and many pieces like it, were produced
in imperial workshops. The imperial workshops oversaw the production of arts and works that
were being carved. Skilled craftsmen and artisan were gathered in order to run the workshops
and manage production. Robert Mowry in the article Chinese Jades from Han to Qing states,
the jade workers of the mature Qing period were consummate masters, their works often
standing as pyrotechnical displays of skill.14

11

Online Collection, Asian Art Museum, accessed May 5, 2016.

Online Collection, Asian Art Museum, accessed May 5, 2016.
13
Denise P. Leidy, Wai-fong Anita Siu, and James C. Y. Watt. 1997. Chinese Decorative Arts.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 55, no. 1. The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1-71,
accessed May 4, 2016, http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.csus.edu
14
Robert D. Mowry. 1981. Chinese Jades from Han to Qing. Archaeology 34, no. 1.
Archaeological Institute of America 52, accessed May 4, 2016, http://www.jstor.org/
12

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The Cabbage vase may have been created to serve the function of a vase however it has
qualities that are often searched for in Western culture. Jonathan Hay in his book Sensuous
Surfaces discusses the demand and view of decorative art such as the vase on Western culture:

The long Western familiarity with Chinese decorative arts derives

from the fact that during the most of this period (1570 1840) of
almost three centuries, until around 1800, China was a dominant
force in the global import-export trade for luxury handicrafts.
Chinese decorative objects became an increasingly important part
of the Western visual environment15
While both pieces, the Shang Dynasty cong and the Qing Dynasty Cabbage vase are both
a form of jade, are both carved by hand, and are both valuable, the differences between the two
are significant. To begin with, looking back at the document, it is noted that the cong is created
with the jade form nephrite. Nephrite is referred to as true jade. The color of nephrite in its pure
form is white, however, as with many minerals, the incorporation of impurities alters the color of
nephrite to a wide range of colors. Nephrite is found in the riverbeds of the Khotan region in
Central Asia,16 and gives rise to the concept that jade did not exist in its true state in China.17
In terms of the creation of the cong, using the information about the availability of nephrite in
China allows one to determine that the creators of the cong used an invaluable material as their
art source. Unlike the cong, the Cabbage vase is made from a different form of jade known as
jadeite. Jadeite is found in Burma. Jadeite is made from interlocked crystals that reflect a variety

15

Jonathan Hay, Sensuous Surfaces the Decorative Object in Early Modern China (Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 2010), 7-14.
16
Michael Sullivan, The Art of China, 11
17
Michael Sullivan, The Art of China, 11

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of green colors, from emerald to apple green. It is popular in creating jewelry and decorative art
pieces.
The process of creation is distinct between the two works. The cong, as briefly discussed
in the document, is made through a process of removal and grinding away the jade. The creator
of the cong is thought to have used a method that combined a bamboo bow drill, sand, and water,
as a means to file away the unwanted parts of the jade. The process is laborious and requires
dedicated time. The creator of the cong may not necessarily be an artist. The creator of the cong
more than likely has little training in carving, other than through trial and error. In creating the
Cabbage vase, a different process is chosen. If one were to refer back to the previous paragraph
that discussed the creation of the Cabbage vase, it would be noted that the Cabbage vase was
created during the Qing Dynasty, a time when an imperial art-shop was in practice. The
Cabbage vase would have been created in a workshop by an artist or jade master. Unlike the
creator of the cong, the creator of the Cabbage vase would have been trained in the process of
jade carving, and would have possibly needed less time to create the piece. Due to the changes in
tools and having imperial workshops, that allowed art to be more easily created, the decorative
pieces such as the Cabbage vase were allowed more freedom in carving and design. This
improvement in technology and positive viewing of art allowed for more delicate and artistic
qualities to be found in the later works as compared to early Neolithic cultures.
The function of the two pieces can be thought of as quite different from one another. The
cong was thought to have been created as a ritual item. The idea of the cong representing earth is
referenced both in this paper and in the book, The Arts of China. The cong is later associated
with heaven and earth. The Arts of China states, By the late fist millennium B.C. these bi and
cong had become associated with Heaven and Earth, and they continue to bear these symbolic

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meanings today.18 Again, looking back at the essay one will remember that the function of the
cong is still under speculation and until further investigation is done the mystery behind the
function of the cong remains. Unlike the cong the function of the Cabbage vase is upfront. The
Cabbage vase was created to serve as a vase. Due to the size and technique behind the creation of
the vase it is not known whether the vase was actually put to use or was used for decorative
display. It has been noted by Jonathan Hay in his book Sensuous Surfaces that pieces such as the
cabbage vase would be placed along side antiques and would be displayed. In residential
interiors, early modern objects would often have been displayed in combination with antiques.
As a general rule, the wealthier the owner the more likely antiques were to be part of an interior
decoration.19
Colored veins that mimic those of the living surround two jade art works that are from
two different eras, cultures and ideologies. A ritual Shang Dynasty cong with its simplistic and
stylized form stands out among the many works created in jade. Alongside the cong a
naturalistic, organic Cabbage vase represents the idea of nature in hard to create surfaces. While
both pieces share an arguably common material, both objects represent two cultures in a way that
is unique from one another.

18

Michael Sullivan, The Art of China, 13

Jonathan Hay, Sensuous Surfaces the Decorative Object in Early Modern China (Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 2010), 10

19

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Bibliography

Asian Art Museum: Selected Works San Francisco: Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 1994,
129.
Hay, Jonathan. Sensuous Surfaces the Decorative Object in Early Modern China. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 2010.
Leidy, Denise P., Wai-fong Anita Siu, and James C. Y. Watt, Chinese Decorative Arts, The
Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 55 no. 1 (1997): 1 71, accessed May 4, 2016.
http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.csus.edu
Mowry, Robert D. Chinese Jades from Han to Qing, Archaeology 34 no. 1 (1981): 52 55,
accessed May 4, 2016. http://www.jstor.org
Online Collection, Asian Art Museum, accessed May 5, 2016.
http://searchcollection.asianart.org/view/objects/asitem/search@/3?t:state:flow=9421229
e-67d2-4df8-a244-68cd93ae3a4e
Ritual Implements (cong and bi), Khan Academy, accessed May 5, 2016,
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/imperial-china/neolithic-artchina/a/ritual-implements-cong-and-bi
Sullivan, Michael, The Art of China (London: University of California Press, 2008.), 12.

*Images provided by the Asian Art Museum Online Catalogue

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