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- 4 bi disc with openwork animal decorations projecting beyond the outer sphere of the discs of the 2nd and 3rd types.
The last three types of bi discs appeared for the first time during the Warring States period, while the first type�the plain bi disc�had occurred as early as the Neoli�thic period in China. From archaeological evidence, it is clear that the jade bi and gui of the Han period were not limited to use in rituals alone. Bi discs were worn as personal ornaments on belts and were sometimes linked together as wall deco�rations, which is evident in Han pictorial art. These discs were also discovered placed on the chest or back of the dead, and sometimes between the inner and outer coffins or inlaid on the surface of the coffin.4
A large number of Han jade belongs to the second category of burial jades, ob�jects especially made for the purpose of preserving the body. The idea that jade could bestow immortality was an important feature of Daoist beliefs, which devel�oped in the late Zhou and Han periods. The ancient Chinese were totally imbued with the belief that jade, the essence of the yang (male) element in the yin and yang theory, reinforces the vital spirits and thus protects the body against decay. For this reason, jade objects were placed in and around the body of the deceased. Burial jades can be broken down into four types: jade suits, jade plugs, jade mouth pieces and the jade objects, usually arc-shaped or pig-shaped, which were held in the hand of the deceased.
The notion of jade as a protective agent against decay reached its climax with the creation of complete jade suits which fit the corpses of high-ranking aristo�crats.5 The jade suits were sewn together with gold, silver, or bronze thread de�pending on the rank. Between 1968 and 1978, a total of 22 jade suits were exca�vated. The most impressive examples came from two unlooted tombs in Hebei, which have been firmly attributed to Liu Sheng, the brother of Emperor Wu, and his consort, Dou Wan. Liu Sheng�s armour-like suit is made up of 2,690 plates of jade sewn with 1,100 grammes of gold thread, that of Dou Wan is composed of 2,156 plates of jade sewn with 703 grammes of gold thread. Each plate had been cut with an extremely fine saw, and had one millimetre holes drilled at the corners with a sand drill. The pieces were carefully designed to fit the contours of the body. It has been estimated that it would take an expert jadesmith of the Han dynasty more than ten years to complete a single suit.6 These types of jade suits probably evolved from the cloth burial shroud with jade applique of Eastern Zhou times. Only the availability of jade in relatively large amounts could have allowed for the making of such jade burial suits. So far no jade suits have been found dating after the fall of the Han dynasty.
The �nine orifice plugs� were another type of burial jade, which held a similar function of preserving the body. These include oval jade plaques placed over the eyes, jade plugs for the ears and nostrils, crescent-shaped plug for the mouth, a plug for the anal passage and a sexual organ cover, which differed according to sex. It was felt that plugging the nine orifices of the body prevented the escape of vital essences. A Daoist scholar named Ge Hong, who lived in the fourth century A.D., said �If there be gold or jade in its nine orifices, then the corpse does not putrefy.�7
Large numbers of cicada-shaped jade objects have been found in the mouths of the dead in Han tombs. This custom goes at least as far back as the ninth cen�tury B.C., as attested by the find of a cicada-shaped jade piece in the mouth of a corpse in a tomb at Luoyang.8 These jade cicada, which can be flat or round in high and low relief, might have been placed in the mouth because of its similarity
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