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- with the shape of the tongue or possibly because of its association with transfor�mation and resurrection by way of its life cycle�this being the case, the soul of the dead could also awaken to a new life beyond the grave. The use of such mouth pieces appear to have been more popular than the orifice plugs, which were limi�ted to use by the aristocracy.9
Among hand-held burial objects, the jade pig was the most common and was in extensive use by the first century A.D. In general, the pigs are very simply carved and are not meant to be objects of beauty. They were mainly placed in the tombs for their magical purpose of protecting the body against decay.
The secularization of jade accounts for the relatively large number of ornamental objects, which form the third category of Han jades. These include non-utilitarian personal ornaments and utilitarian jade objects as well as jade pieces for inlay. Non-utilitarian pieces consist mainly of jade pendants, which had been in popular use since the Shang dynasty. Among the utilitarian jade objects are hairpins (used by both men and women), ear ornaments, bracelets, clasps, belt hooks, seals or chops, the four sword furniture accessories (the pommel, sword guard, scabbard slide and scabbard chape) and the gongmao amulets, which were hung from the belts for the purpose of warding off evil by means of evil-dispelling lines carved on the four sides.
The fourth and last category of Han jade objects includes vessels and sculp�tures, usually small in scale and rendered in the full round. Sculptures depicting animals, human figures and images of mythical creatures, notably the chimera appear to be popular themes in Han jade.
After the fall of the Han dynasty in 220 A.D., China would be fragmented for much of the next few centuries between barbarian dynasties in the north and Chi�nese dynasties in the south until the Sui dynasty reunited the empire in 589. This unsettled period, often referred to as the Six Dynasties period (220-589), was a dark age for China, as no less than thirty dynasties and lesser kingdoms would rise and fall. This period of strife and disunity brought with it chaos and poverty. Confucianism, as a state religion, lost its popularity, and the people looked to a new religion, called Buddhism, from India for peace of mind.
Since the Six Dynasties period was a time of constant upheaval, the trade in jade from Central Asia must have either stopped or dwindled to almost nothing. The dynasties in the north, especially the Northern Wei (386-534), produced magnifi�cent sculptures of sandstone and limestone as can be seen in the many Buddhist grottoes found in northern China, but hardly any jade carvings have been dis�covered in excavations of their tombs. In the south at this time, during the Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang and Chen dynasties, some Buddhist sculptures were carved but the most interesting sculptures were the huge imposing stone funerary sculptures of chimeras and winged lions at the tombs of emperors and princes in the Nanjing and Danyang area. On this basis, many ancient jade chimeras have been attributed to the Six Dynasties period. However, this type of mythical creature executed in stone as well as jade was also extremely popular during the Han pe�riod, and since no excavated jade chimeras have been found in tombs of the Six Dynasties period, one should think twice before assigning a Six Dynasties date to a jade chimera.'0
Since only the south part of China was under Chinese rule during this time, it is here that we find the perpetuations of earlier cultural traditions. There are a few jades which have been found in Six Dynasties tombs in the vicinity of Nanjing, but these were mainly limited to tongue amulets in the form of cicada and pig-shaped objects, which shows the continuance of Han burial practices. More accurate
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