As one of essential ritual vessels in ancient China, Cong, a square outer section with a circular inner hollow, visualizes our ancestors’ belief that heaven is honored with Bi (a round flat piece of jade with a hole in its center for ceremonial purposes in ancient China) and the earth with Cong. The structured patterns, delicate carving skills and dignified deity images have imbued Cong with an imposing, solemn and mysterious sense, as well as a strong sense of original witchcraft. It reflects the ancestors’ belief of communicating with heaven and praying for blessings. For a long time, Cong has enjoyed great popularity and its shapes and ornamentations have evolved. In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), amidst a wave of collection and retro fever, a great number of antique jade artifacts emerged, hence Cong went to public again. From the Song Dynasty to Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), imitations of antique Cong were mostly ornamented with popular patterns in early years. This piece can be dated back to the Song Dynasty for the imitation of objects rooted in Liangzhu Culture. It appears in a square form with simplified humanoid-deity design cut out on its four sides. With the corners as its central axis, carvings in relief generate diverse layers with fine cuts and complement the hair-thin incised lines. In the center of its four sides, there are emperors’ seals and inscriptions in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) as follows: the seals of “His Majesty at Seventy”, “the Hall of Five Blessings and Five Generations”, “Abdicated Emperor’s Seal” and “Seal of His Majesty at Eighty”. It is typical among the popular antique jade artifacts with outstanding craftsmanship and basic characteristics of Liangzhu Culture. It ranks high due to marvelous corrosive color, graceful appearance and historical endurance, as well as the inscriptions and seals in the Qing Dynasty. The enjoyment of studying jade culture lies in these profound investigations and explorations of jade objects like Cong. Embarking on a journey of a high-level spiritual experience to unveil the embedded historic clues in jade objects, it is absolutely a great opportunity to reproduce true ancient cultures and social landscapes and have a dialogue with the history and culture, which is the best way to genuinely inherit and pay homage to our great human civilization.

(Edited by Li Hanning & Yang Zhige, 2021)