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- A few quotes of the Zhouli are given here in order to establish the literary back�ground for the names and functions given to the various ceremonial objects by la�ter scholars. The Zhouli, when dealing with the functions of the Master of Cere�monies, states: �He makes of jade the six objects to do homage to Heaven, the Earth, and to the Four Points of the Compass. A blue bi disc was used for the wor�ship of Heaven; a yellow cong tube for that of Earth; a green gui tablet for the East; a red zhang tablet (half gui) for the south, a white (hu) tiger-pendant for the West; and a black huang arc pendant for the North.�22 These objects are known as the Six Auspicious or Ritual Jades.
The so-called �Six Auspicious or Ritual Jades�: (1) bi-disc, (2) cong-tablet, (3) gui- tablet, (4) zhang-tablet, (5) huang arc-pendant, (6) hu-(tiger) pendant.
The Six Auspicious Jades as depicted on a rubbing from an Eastern Han dynasty (A.D. 23-220) tomb stele. The pictorial representation, based on information from the Zhouli, Liji and Yili, shows that even in Han times they were not sure what the Six Auspicious Jades looked like. In the case of the cong, it has an octagonal shape.
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