RARE Ancient Chinese Hongshan Jade "Devil Fish Eel" Amulet/Pendant w/Translation

Description

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
Artifacts, Antiques & Fine
Collect
i
bles
Neolithic
Jade Eel (
Mányú
) Pendant/Amulet
English
Translation of 20+
Inscription
Characters
“Slithering
Devil Fish”
Hongshan
Culture
4500
BC—2250 BC
NOTE:
William D. Houghton, the President of ANCIENT
CIVILIZATIONS
, a State of Washington Licensed
Business,
assumes all responsibility for the information
contained in this description and for the English translation and transcription
of the ancient Chinese graphic characters.
Furthermore, I prohibit the further dissemination of this information in
any written, video, or electronic format without my expressed, written
approval.
Thank You!
SUMMARY
Item:
Chinese Neolithic Asian Swamp Eel
Pendant/Amulet
Material:
Jade—cream colored
Type:
Pendant/Amulet
Country:
China
Dynasty/Culture:
Hongshan Culture
Est. Date:
4500 BC—2250 BC
Measurements:
·
Height:
4.96” (126mm)
·
Width:
2.51” (64mm)
·
Thickness:
.76” (19mm)
·
Weight: 9.1 oz. (258 gr.)
NOTE:
These items offered for sale by Ancient Civilizations are unconditionally
guaranteed authentic. They were legally imported to the United States years ago
and are legal to sell and own under U.S. Statute Title 19, Chapter 14, Code
2611, Convention on Cultural Property.
This jade pendant/amulet
is approximately 5,000-years-old and the characters on one side of amulet are literally
what the ancient Chinese called the “Slithering Devil Fish.” We now call them
an Asian Swamp Eel or in Chinese
鳗鱼
(mányú).
The eel was a common food source in Neolithic
China and is still consumed today in China, Japan, and many parts of Asia.
The ancient Hongshan culture
called it the “Slithering Devil Fish” as the eels’ blood is poisonous, which
discourages other creatures from eating them. A very small amount of eel blood
is enough to kill a person, so raw eel should never be eaten. Their blood
contains a toxic protein that cramps muscles, including the most important one,
the heart.
However, cooked eel is safe
to eat and is considered a delicacy in Asia.
This lovely jade “Devil Fish”
has perhaps 20+ pictographs on both side of the eel that document the animal
sacrifices the sons and grandsons made to the Ancestors on behalf of their departed
father/grandfather.
Therefore, this jade
eel was likely part of the ritual offerings made by the Sons at a temple above
the tomb of their father.
{See
details below.}
DETAILS
For millennia, fish were an important
motif in Chinese mythology. There are various myths and legends involving fish
as in Chinese the word for “fish”,
yu
, is a homophone for
“abundance” and “affluence.”
Because the Chinese character for fish (yu
鱼
)
is pronounced the same as the Chinese character for surplus (
yu
余
), the fish symbol is frequently used to
symbolize the wish for “more” in the sense of good luck, good
fortune, long life, or children.
The eel pendant has a suspension hole on
the very top of the amulet.
Archaeologists classify these holes a “double-bevel holes,” which were
one of the common type of hole made by the Hongshan Culture.
It was necessary to drill from both sides
with a hollow, bone tube that would be dipped into abrasive and then rotated
rapidly against the stone to affect a ring-form type of hole, leaving the solid
core intact.
Therefore, the meeting
place of the two borings is not true to a single, straight channel and a curved
remnant ridge that is not ground or polished-out remains at the common
junction.
The center core was often
snapped off by tapping or pushing the center core to one side and thus completing
the long hole.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF CHARACTERS
Note:
I assume all responsibility for the
information contained in this description and for the English translation and
transcription of the ancient Chinese graphic characters.
Furthermore, I prohibit the further dissemination
of this information in any written, video, or electronic format without my
expressed, written approval.
Thank You!
There are perhaps 20+ ancient pictographs/characters
incised and percussively pecked onto this jade eel.
These pictographs are some of the earliest written
symbols ever used in ancient China.
To the best of my ability, I have
attempted to translate the pictographic symbols I can see clearly enough.
Any errors are of course mine alone.
There are two, faintly incised pictographs
located just below the suspension hole/eye of the eel.
They each measures about 26mm tall.
The two Neolithic characters look sort of like
the English letters “
I
” and “#.”
They appear to be a Neolithic version of the modern
Chinese Radical # 195 “
Shan
” and it this ancient version literally means
“Slithering Devil Fish.”
In modern
Mandarin Chinese, it refers to the
Asian Swamp Eel or in
Chinese
鳗鱼
(
mányú
).
(See photos # 5-6}
Next to the
Devil Fish
characters,
there are an additional 10 or so much smaller pictographic characters that have
been percussively pecked in the jade and that have turned tan in color and
surrounded by a black color from the minerals that have leached into the jade.
The largest pictograph of this side measures
about 12mm tall and is that of a standing Son with his arms raised as he offers
sacrifices to the Ancestors in Heaven (
Tian
in Chinese).
Next to his right arm, is an even smaller figure
only about 6mm tall that looks like a tiny frog.
It is in fact a grandson that is too small to
stand, but is still present at the ritual to offer his prayers for his
grandfather.
(See photo # 7}
On the same side, there is another
pictograph of a son sacrificing a large animal with an axe.
(See photo # 8}
I am unable to decipher the other characters
on this side, as they are not clear enough to make a positive translation.
Located around and even on the inside
surfaces of the eye holes and some characters that are less than < 2mm tall!
Holes were considered gateways or
portals to Heaven or “
Tian
” in Chinese.
They are so very small and were only meant for the eyes of the
Ancestors, as human eyes were not worthy to read them.
(See photo # 9}
On the reverse side of the fish amulet
there is a horizontal row of an estimated 20+ characters that are engraved in
very low relief, but they are so faint that I cannot see them clearly enough to
translate them.
It is possible that they
provide the name of the deceased.
(See photo # 11}
In the middle of the jade eel on the reverse
side, there is a 10mm long, brown image of what appears to be a sacrificed oxen.
In this macro image, you can see his horns and
his two rear legs portrayed as lying flat on the ground after been sacrificed
by the son, who is less than 2mm tall and is portrayed standing to the left of
the beast he has just killed, with a flint axe in his hand.
(See photo # 12}
Based upon similar Neolithic jade amulets
made during the Hongshan Culture over 5,000-years-ago, I believe these all these
symbols/characters document the sacrificial offerings and prayers that were
made by the Sons and Grandsons on behalf of their departed
father/grandfather.
During such ritual
offerings, the sons and grandsons would offer wine, sacrificed animals, jade,
money, and bronze items—all the things the departed would need in his/her
journey to the afterlife.
REFERENCES:
·
The Ancestral Landscape
, David N. Knightley, 2000
·
Chinese Characters,
Dr. L. Wieger, S.J.
·
The Great Bronze Age of China
:
An Exhibition
from the People’s Republic of China
, edited by Wen Fong, 1980
·
Metropolitan
Museum of Art, NYC
·
Ancient Chinese Warfare
, Ralph D. Sawyer, Mei-chün Sawyer
·
Archaeology
, Archaeological Institute of America, Feb/March 2015
·
Shanghai
Museum, China
·
Museum of
Chinese History, Beijing, China
·
National
Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
·
British Museum
·
Smithsonian Museum, Sackler & Freer Gallery, WDC
NOTE:
Please note that there are hundreds of modern
reproductions for sale on eBay from China and the USA, but nearly all are
modern fakes, and some aren’t even jade.
So please ensure that you are bidding on the real thing if that is what
you want before you bid.
If you only
want a reproduction piece for a few dollars that is simply fine, just be sure
you are getting the quality and authenticity you are paying for.
Please examine the macro photos carefully as they are part of the
description.
The stand and the ruler are not part of
the auction, just included to give you a better
perspective.
And please ask any
questions before you buy.
International Buyers are responsible for all import duties, import taxes, shipping charges and insurance costs.
International Returns are
NOT
accepted.
Note:
Please ask any questions you
may have before you bid!  Thanks for Looking!