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This thread is for analysis, research & discussion on genuine Hongshan culture "Hook & Cloud" (Guoyun) jade objects exhibited in museums in China, from legal excavations.

All my comments, theories & hypothesis are based on photos and information that I obtained through the internet.

I am not a jade material/tool mark expert or someone with extensive knowledge on archaeology or Chinese history.

All photos shown in this thread that are not mine are credited to the websites where they are taken from, as shown on the photos itself, or referenced in my posts.

My knowledge on jade is limited to what I have learned from the jades that I have collected and analysed, and the information that I have been able to read over the internet in the last 2.5 years.

I will start by posting photos to show where these "Hook & Cloud" objects are found in Hongshan Culture graves.

Attached is a pdf article written by Elizabeth Childs-Johnson on jades of the Hongshan Culture:

file:///C:/Users/Jon/Pictures/Hongshan%20Jade%20Sculptures%2011/jadesofthehongshanculture.pdf

Extracted from the article:

Almost all C-14 dates from Hongshan sites are concentrated in the middle of the 4th millennium: one from Dongshanzui, Liaoning dates to 3490 BC, and three from Niuheliang, Liaoning dating to 3020, 3625 and 3630 BC, respectively.

Excavators have dated Hongshan culturea remains at Xishuiquan, Chifeng to before ca. 2600 BC and within the range of the Hougang phase of the Yangshao Neolithic. A working timetable for the Hongshan culture is ca. 4000-2500 BC.

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Top & middle phote:

Where grave was found - Hongshan Culture second place on the 7th tomb mound 1, Niuheliang.

Where object found/placed on the deceased - Around his chest.

Photo credit: http://www.archaic-jade.com/hongshan/hongshan1.htm.

Bottom photo - The "Hooked & Cloud" object found in the grave above, displayed in a museum.

The holes around the breakage area of the object suggests that it may have been broken, perhaps accidentally when used in rituals or ceremonies, and not discarded but reattached and buried with the owner.

Size: I don't have the exact dimensions, but the object is not a small pendant.

Length is 12.9 cm?

No hook in the centre.

Two pair of eyes?

The Goddess of Fertility jade sculpture that I said I have, have eyes similar to this genuine piece.

Museums do no have an example of a Hongshan Culture female jade figure with a face.

They have unearthed pregnant female clay figurines, with their heads missing.

How would any self proclaimed jade expert be able to identify a genuine Hongshan Culture goddess of fertility, if they have never seen or handle a genuine piece before?

The best approach for a Hongshan Culture jade collector to identify what they have is to compare it against all unearthed Hongshan Culture objects displayed in museums and modern or old fakes/copies.

This is what I do when I evaluate the jades that I have collected.

I have one "Hook & Heads" jade object with surface texture that looked old but I am not confident that it is genuine.

Perhaps in the future, as more Hongshan Culture jades are unearthed and displayed in museums, I would have more information to determine the authenticity of my Hook & Head piece.

The length of the white, broken "Hook & Cloud" object in my previous post is 15.8 cm. I have not seen a photo of the underside of that broken "Hook & Cloud" object, so I would not know if it is flat or grooved like the front.

Photos of the next genuine unearthed "Hook & Cloud" jade object:

Where grave was found: Niuheliang.

Where object found/placed on the deceased: Around the chest.

Dimension: I don't have the exact dimensions. It is not a small Guoyun pei but a large jade sculpture with a flat underside and holes for attachment.

Unlikely to be suspended around the neck, when in use as there are no holes drilled through the top middle portion of this large jade sculpture.

Perhaps this "Hook & Cloud" jade object was made thick and large to prevent accidental breakage.

Photo credit: http://www.archaic-jade.com/hongshan/hongshan1.htm.

Bottom photo - The "Hooked & Cloud" object found in the grave above, displayed in a museum.

The correct orientation of this object is as shown in the bottom photo. I have seen a photos of this "Hook & Cloud" jade object displayed upside down.

Unearthed at niuheliang, Lingyuan, Liaoning Province, 1987.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/travel/2011-12/27/c_131329221_21.htm.

More photos of this 5,000+ years old jade object, placed upside down.








URL Title :Exhibition on Life and Production in Neolithic China

Photos of the 3rd genuine unearthed "Hook & Cloud" jade object:

Length 22.5 cm, from Sanguandianzi, Liaoning.

I have not seen any photo showing where this object is placed with the owner in his grave.

Underside or reverse side is flat with 4 pairs of eye slits, perhaps for threading or suspension.

Notice the smooth uninterrupted flow of the groove channel from the pointed tip of the spiral "hook" to the hump of the bottom right protrusion/arc, on the bottom photo.

More sharp photos, 3rd piece, to help collectors differentiate between genuine ancient Hongshan Culture Gouyun and modern imitations.

Photos of the next genuine unearthed "Hook & Cloud" jade object:

Where grave was found: Niuheliang?

Where object found/placed on the deceased: Beside the left jaw.

Dimension: I don't have the exact dimensions. It looked smaller than the first two.

This piece has a hole in the centre instead of a spiral hook and is flat with no grooves.

Perhaps the earliest or the simplest form of the Hook & Cloud shaped jade objects of the Hongshan Culture.

The owner of this Gouyun object has a face plate/face mask placed on his abdomen and a horse hoof cong above his head.

Perhaps by studying all the objects buried with each owner in Hongshan Culture graves, a trained scholar could come up with sound theories relating to the function/use of Hook & Cloud shaped jade objects.

Photo credit: http://www.archaic-jade.com/hongshan/hongshan1.htm.

Botto, photo - The "Hooked & Cloud" object found in the grave above, displayed in a museum.

The middle photo is that of a neolithic stone drill found at the Lingjiatan ruins. Perhaps the Hongshan Culture people has a similar tool used to shape the centre holes of their jade sculptures.

Sharper photo of the 4th piece, to show the presence of white, reflective patches on the surface of the jade sculpture.

These white, silvery, reflective patches are "marks or certificates of authenticity" issued by mother nature that a jade should look for when evaluating the authenticity of the pieces that they have collected.

I do not know if this Hook & Cloud jade object from Shanghai museum was unearthed legally or acquired.

Based on the photos of the object shown below, I believed this is an ancient artwork, not a modern imitation.

Shown here for reference & comparison between unearthed pieces and what reputable museums in China displayed as genuine Hongshan Culture artifacts.

I don't know the dimension and if you do, please share.

The back of this Gouyun pei is flat.

Groove on the center spiral hook is uninterrupted and there are two grooves on each of the four protuberances.

Top and middle photos are that of the Hook & Cloud plaque form Shanghai Museum.

If an ancient artist/designer were to combine or join two Hook & Cloud plaques to for a more sophisticated larger plaque, what would it look like?

Perhaps the design of the Toothed Face Plaque shown on the bottom photo was based on the idea of joining two Hook & Cloud plaques and these objects have similar functions.

Bottom Photo:

Jade Plaque with Animal Mask Desgin, Hongshan Culture (c. 4700-2900 BC), unearthed at Niuheliang, Lingyuan, Liaoning Province, 2003.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/travel/2011-12/27/c_131329221_22.htm







URL Title :Jade Plaque with Animal Mask Desgin, Hongshan Culture (c. 4700-2900 BC), unearthed at Niuheliang, Li

After examining the three genuine "Hook & Cloud" jade sculptures, shown below, I noticed the following:

1. Each of the 4 protuberances at the 4 corners of the rectangular plaque has the same shape.

2. The protuberance look more like the mouth and head of an animal or beak and head of a bird.

3. The small hump at the end of the elongated protuberance looked like the head of an animal or bird.

Based on the above observations, it would be more appropriate to call these Hongshan Culture jade sculptures "Hook & Heads" plaques as no parts has shapes that resembles clouds.

Length 17.9 cm?

Broken with 3 fragments and reattached, not discarded, but buried with the owner.

More sharp pictures.

If soil is attached to a genuine Hongshan Culture jade object, this is how it should look like.

Perhaps the white and brownish cloudy patches and pits on the surface this genuine Hongshan Culture jade object wasn't there when the object was first created and was formed through interaction with the soil particles attached to its surface over more than 4,500 years in a stone piled grave.

I do not know where or when this piece was acquired or unearthed or its dimensions.

I believed this piece is indeed a genuine Hongshan Culture jade sculpture.

Perhaps the design of this piece evolved from the simpler "Hook & Heads" pieces shown in my previous posts. Although it has no hook in the centre, it is rectangular in shape, is flat with eye slits on the back and has protuberances at each of its 4 corners that resembles animal/bird heads.

This object is a good example of a Hongshan Culture jade sculpture that conjoin 2 or more different animal/bird totems.

Photos of the same object displayed in a museum in China, in vertical and horizontal orientation shown below to help the viewer see their correct orientation and interpretation of this object.

The reverse side is flat, two pairs of holes (eye slits) that suggest the object could have been displayed in horizontal as well as vertical orientation.

Perhaps the stylized bird and creature that I can see on this sculpture is an early form of the Chinese phoenix and dragon.

What were the function of these "Hook & Heads" jade sculptures of the Hongshan Culture? A tribal totem? An object used in rituals or worships?

More photos to show its dimensions.

Length is 10.3 cm?

Found this video today.

https://youtu.be/09Xbirvnl0Q

Towards the end of the video, Guo Dashun, the Chinese expert on Hongshan Culture jades said that this object is a dragon and phoenix?


URL Title :Guo Dashun decryption Hongshan Culture

I found this "Hook & Head" shaped jade sculpture from the internet, perhaps from illegal excavation.

I believe this piece is genuine based on its form/shape and surface appearance.

This piece is "my genuine" Hongshan Culture sculpture although it does not belong to me and is not from legal excavation or displayed in a credible museum.

The photos of a 19.5 cm jade phoenix unearthed from a grave in Niuheliang are shown below.

It is a large jade sculpture with holes on the flat underside for suspension/attachment, like the other unearthed "Hook & Heads" jade objects.

Perhaps the design of this jade phoenix evolved from and serve the same purpose as the other "Hook & Head" sculptures shown in my previous posts.

Photo credit: http://www.archaic-jade.com/hongshan/hongshan1.htm.

Bottom photo - The "Hooked & Cloud" object found in the grave above, displayed in a museum.

What is the function of these "Hook & Heads" objects?

Perhaps they were made for and used by Hongshan Culture shamans and buried with them.

Their size together with holes visible only on the flat reverse side suggest that they were worn or hung around the chest/abdomen, to be visible to worshipers, perhaps used as an object to ward off evil spirits or bring good fortune?

I have no information about its size or when it was unearthed or acquired.

Surface texture looked genuine to me.

Shown below is a Hongshan Culture "Hook & Head" jade object from illegal excavation.

I do not know if the reverse side is flat with eye slits, just like those from legal controlled excavations shown in my previous posts.

Surface texture of this illegally excavated objects is similar to Hongshan Culture jade sculptures unearthed legally.

I believed this piece is of the Hongshan Culture period.

http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.sg/2015/05/chinese-authorities-bust-intricate-ring.html#.Vd1UKNSqpBd




URL Title :Chinese authorities bust intricate ring of tomb raiders Read more at: http://archaeologynewsnetwork

Hi Jac,
Can you e-mail me at maxsean61@gmail.com for a private conversation? I collect archaic jades. Hongshan and Lianngzhu. Thanks.

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