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Ceremonial bi disc with a gui sceptre
(圭 璧)
Ming dynasty 1368-1644
- Medium
- jade (nephrite)
- Measurements
- 23.5 × 13.8 × 0.8 cm
- Place/s of Execution
- China
- Accession Number
- 2521-D3
- Department
- Asian Art
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1923
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Gordon Darling Foundation - Gallery location
- Not on display
- Physical description
- The brownish jade is carved in a circular ring, the so-called ceremonial bi 璧 disc. Slightly behind it is an elongated tablet, the so-called gui 圭 sceptre with the pointed end defining the top. On one side of the disc is carved in relief the so-called `eight trigrams’, bagua 八卦 in Chinese (literally `eight symbols’) which was used in Daoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each line either `broken’ or `unbroken,’ respectively representing yin or yang. Due to their tripartite structure, they are often referred to as `trigrams in English. The philosophy of Daoism originated in China as early as the 6th century B.C. The Chinese philosophy of yin and yang, yinyang 陰陽 in Chinese describes how opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary (rather than opposing), interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Many tangible dualities (such as light and dark, fire and water, expanding and contracting) are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality symbolized by yin and yang. Everything has both yin and yang aspects, (for instance shadow cannot exist without light). Thus Yin and Yang are parts of a Oneness that is also equated with the Dao 道, the Way. The lower part of the gui sceptre is carved in relief with a mountain peak, possibly representing the isles of the immortals, rising above waves. On the other side of disc are carved in relief are the so-called `grains’ pattern with overall raised bosses.