Antique Chinese Culture Jade Melon Wedding & Wish for Sons or Gift/Offering

Description

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
Artifacts, Antiques & Fine Collect
i
bles
Chinese Hongshan Jade
Melon
Wedding & Wish for Sons Amulet or Offering
c. 4500 BC—2250 BC
Pumpkin (
nan
gua
南
瓜
) sounds like "boy" (
nan
男
) in Mandarin and symbolizes the wish for sons.
SUMMARY
This antique Chinese Melon is made of Nephrite Jade in the shape of melon—complete with segmented sections and even a tiny, curved stem.
In our Western culture, this amulet looks more like a pumpkin to me, but the ancient Chinese did not have pumpkins, as they were only found in the New World.
This round, jade melon only weighs about 2.4 oz. (68 gr.) and is about 1.5" (46 mm) tall x 1.66" (42 mm) in diameter.
This Jade Melon also has several ancient pictographic characters etched into the jade!
Although obscured by pitting and differential weathering, one can still see such characters as those for: ancestors, spirits, death, man, beasts, etc.
Melons (or gourds) are important foods with interesting symbolisms such as wearing one can be a symbol for longevity and it has the power to ward off evil demons that were thought to lurk everywhere. Watermelon, called a western melon in Chinese, is one of many melons beloved by all.
Others say that they symbolize the wish for sons.
Women, on their feast day (the seventh day in the seventh month), make offerings of melons, and on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, they make melon cakes. This, they believe, will bless them with sons. What with girls so interested in this vegetable (or what some believe is a fruit), the term melon seed is a poetic expression for a smiling young girl. Did you ever wonder why such a popular women's item never appears in gifts of food given to them (or men)? The reason is that in some Chinese dialects, the word for melon sounds similar to the word for death.
Details & Condition:
Of all aspects of the early cultures in Eastern China, the use of jade made the most lasting contribution to Chinese civilization.
Because this hard stone can last indefinitely—even in damp tombs or underwater—it is the perfect medium to make into ritual or ceremonial objects.
By engraving pictographic or later the first written characters (words) into the jade, we are able to translate the meaning and often the purpose of the item, and perhaps even who commissioned the work of art.
Jade was highly prized by these early civilizations in China and it was thought to have positive energy to drive away evil spirits and bring good luck and fortune to all who wore a piece on their person--in life and in death. Jade was also believed to be a portal or messenger that could carry prayers to Heaven and send messages to those on Earth from departed ancestors and Gods in Heaven
Please look closely at the detailed carving on this wonderful Jade Melon.
As many of you know, Nephrite jade, also known as “soft jade” or “ancient Jade” in China, was used from China’s early Neolithic cultures in 8,000 BC to 1800 AD for carving all types of ritual and utilitarian items. Nephrite, which is somewhat “softer” than the jadeite used by Neolithic Japanese and European cultures, was easier to cut, carve, polish, and drill than jadeite. So, the ancient Chinese found that Nephrite Jade could be worked by using quartz or garnet sand, polished with bamboo or jade dust, and even drilled with wood drills that used jade dust as the abrasive.
In China, this jade melon could have been a wedding gift for a newlywed couple.
It also could have been placed in the tomb or temple of the departed by his family as an offering to protect him or her from evil spirits on his journey to the afterlife and to allow him/her to enter Heaven.
It would show the ancestors/spirits that he/she was a wealthy and honorable person.
Jade was highly prized by these early civilizations in China and it was thought to have positive energy to drive away evil spirits and bring good luck and fortune to all who wore a piece on their person—in life and in death.
This jade amulet was an offering to the gods and ancestors in Heaven, and it was thought to be able to carry safely the spirit of the deceased to Heaven (
Ti’en
” in Chinese) and immortality.
Jade was thought to represent Heaven and was considered more precious than gold in ancient China.
The nephrite jade melon has a dark-brown color and shows light pitting and differential weathering with a wonderful patina.
English Translation of Inscription/Dedication
And in photos, if you look very carefully, you can see very tiny ancient Chinese characters that are only about 2-3 mm tall that have been carved into the sides of the jade amulet.
On one side, you can see the stick figure of a man with his hands raised in prayer, which is actually the character for an ancestor who is presenting an offering to the gods and ancestors.
I am not able to read most of the other characters as the pitting of the jade has made it difficult to accurately read the characters.
Although obscured by pitting and differential weathering, one can still see such characters as those for: ancestors, spirits, death, man, beasts, etc.
The Hongshan Culture
The Hongshan were temple builders and city builders who created some of the earliest nephrite jade carvings. Their sophisticated Jade carving techniques employed technologies that exceeded simple explanations. It has recently been discovered that the Hongshan possessed the knowledge of metallurgy and employed the use of copper and iron from meteorites as tools to work their jade masterpieces. Many of the Hongshan Jade artifacts are well persevered because the Hongshan culture utilized slab burial tombs and because of the dry arid climate of Inner Mongolia.
As many of you know, Nephrite jade, also known as “soft jade” or “ancient Jade” in China, was used from China’s early Neolithic cultures in 8,000 BC to 1800 AD for carving all types of ritual and utilitarian items.  Nephrite, which is somewhat “softer” than the jadeite used by Neolithic Japanese and European cultures, was easier to cut, carve, polish, and drill than jadeite.  So, the ancient Chinese found that Nephrite Jade could be worked by using quartz or garnet sand, polished with bamboo or jade dust, and even drilled with wood drills that used a slurry made of jade dust and water as the abrasive.
Based on artifact evidence and 30 years of study, it appears that the Hongshan employed advanced jade shaping and carving tools that may have been made from meteorite iron or even diamonds. One fascinating study is the evidence of high content iron found in black jades used for ritual objects by the early Hongshan. Many of these artifacts are often magnetic and express the possibility that the Hongshan were aware of magnetic earth forces.
During China’s Neolithic Period, Hongshan Jade ritual and tomb objects were created for a period of more than 2,000 years. Hongshan jades have been discovered in large quantities with over 52 different types of Jade objects in various shapes and forms.
NOTE
The stands and AA battery are not part of the auction, just there so you can better judge the size.
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