フリア美術館收藏の儀仗の利器と其の一類 (圖版 王匁嵌石禽獣飾秘利器 嵌石饕餮夔龍文玉援戈)

Abstract

In the collection of Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, U.S.A., there is a ceremonial sickle of jade, attached to the haft which is said to have been discovered at An-yang. Considering its shape and design, it cannot be an actual weapon. The bronze parts are all richly inlaid with turquoise. Thakas to the systematic excavation at An-yang, we know the similar kind of ritual halbards, though it lacks the haft. It is, therefore inferred that the An-yang bronze halbards indicate the orignal form of this kind of ritual weapon, and at the same time we know that more conventionalized blades of jade were in existence. From the archaeological point of view, the culture of the latter part of the Yin dynasty was in a more developed stage than the one where bronze weapons were in practical use. In other words, the culture of Yin in its latter part already reached a stage where this sort of weapon, originally in bronze, had become a ritual object. This phenomenon seems to have been in parallel with the prevalence in the Yin dynasty of the bronze vessels, indicating peculiar aspects of Yin culture.