For many civilizations and cultures such as in the Orient, the jade had the honor of being the protagonist of the majority of their religious ceremonies; the Chinese performed different types of rituals and practices with this stone in each of their funeral customs and cults to revere their ancestors.
This beloved gem was considered by Orientals as the bridge between life and immortality, in other words, it was a portal between heaven and earth which guided the deceased to lead a better life after death. To give meaning to these rituals, the Chinese designated a meaning or symbolism to each jade stone used. Next, we will get to know the fascinating religious ceremonies with the jade stone and what this valuable gem meant to them.
The Chinese gave objects of jade several funerary meanings; each of them represented a different virtue which paid tribute to heaven and earth as well as the 4 cardinal points. This symbology was: “Pi”, “Tsung”, “Kwuei”, “Chang”, “Hu”, “Huang”.
“Pi” was a jade of bluish color in the shape of a round tablet and was used to pay tribute to the heavens. “Tsung” was a tube of yellow-colored jade and was used to venerate the Earth. The “Kwuei” venerates the Eastern region; the red Chang pays tribute to the Southern region; the white tablet “Hu” pays tribute to the Western region, and the black jade “Huang” in shape of a circle, is to pay tribute to the North. These were the objects that after being prepared were placed with the deceased in their coffin.
Funeral customs: during the “Chou” Han dynasty (1030-256 BC), the jade fulfilled a key role for the funeral rituals of that time, in this case deities pieces in jade must be buried in the tomb of deceased, they placed them as a form of amulets to preserve the decomposition of the body. On the other hand, being buried with jade objects determined their social rank. Later and to other dynasties, the jade was losing its original value of sacred use and was mostly used as a decorative object of the imperial tombs where were adorned with figures and jade statues.
Worship to the ancestors: In these rituals prevailed two feelings: love and fear; were that they were being taken to the center of the religious experience, this was the reason by which was gave meaning to the being of a man and an ancestor; in where was sought a kind of identification that would allow the man to possess some power emanated from an ancestor, which made these rituals in a reciprocal relationship. To worship their ancestors, many times performed songs and created melodies with instruments made of jade.
With these rituals and religious ceremonies the man was looking to discover how to achieve a better existence after death using this sacred gemstone.
ALFA