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China & Taiwan · c. 3500 BCE – today

Jade & hardstone amulets

Meaning

Jade (yu) was the stone of heaven, purity and immortality: hard, cool and unchanging. Neolithic pig-dragons and bi discs, Han cicadas placed in the mouths of the dead (the cicada emerging from the earth means rebirth), and gangmao exorcism batons all use jade's power.

Intent

Jade was worn and buried to protect the body, preserve it from decay and help the soul to immortality. Han princes were buried in jade suits. Jade pendants of bats, gourds and peaches brought fortune and long life.

Significance

Jade is the longest continuous amulet material in the world, worked in China for about 8,000 years, and it remains central to Chinese identity and gift-giving.

History

Jade amulets appear in the Xinglongwa and Hongshan cultures (c. 6000–3000 BCE), become royal in the Shang and Zhou, and are standard funerary protection in the Han (206 BCE–220 CE). They are still made today.

Making yours
1–8 cm nephrite carved with abrasives. Cicadas have a few bold “Han eight-cut” strokes. Practise in soapstone or serpentine.
China & Taiwan: the tradition

China has one of the oldest continuous amulet traditions, from Neolithic jade (Hongshan and Liangzhu, c. 3500–2300 BCE) to Han dynasty exorcism batons (gangmao) and cicada tongue-amulets for the dead. Daoism developed fu talismans, writing in a celestial script that commands spirits and is issued like official documents. From the Han period coin-shaped charms (yasheng qian, 'suppressing coins') carried auspicious words and spells. Much Chinese protective imagery works through puns: bat (fu) sounds like fortune, fish (yu) like abundance, gourd (hulu) like protection.

See all 10, save the ones that feel rightAsk about having one made
I-Ch'ing (Ba Gua & Yin-Yang symbol) Chinese jade pendant amulet, Oude Pekela (2018)I-Ch'ing (Ba Gua & Yin-Yang symbol) Chinese jade pendant amulet, Oude Pekela (2018)MET 32956MET 32956Huangjin Wanliang (黃金萬兩) combined charachter (連字) - PrimaltrekHuangjin Wanliang (黃金萬兩) combined charachter (連字) - PrimaltrekHan jade dragenHan jade dragenCina, dinastia tang, oggetto rituale con drago, in giada, 618-907 dc caCina, dinastia tang, oggetto rituale con drago, in giada, 618-907 dc ca玉環 玉佩 古玩古董 047玉環 玉佩 古玩古董 047玉環 玉佩 古玩古董 072玉環 玉佩 古玩古董 072Chinese numismatic peach charm - Scott SemansChinese numismatic peach charm - Scott SemansJade cicada amulets. Western Han Dynasty 206 BCE - CE 8Jade cicada amulets. Western Han Dynasty 206 BCE - CE 812 zodiac12 zodiac

More from China & Taiwan: Coin charms (yasheng qian) · Longevity locks · Taoist fu talismans
Every type in the gallery

Anything in the gallery can be made, by hand, in the prescribed metal or yours and, where the tradition names an hour, at that hour or with a plain note that it was not. Numbered. Price on commission, quoted first. I reply within one business day.