Chinese
Bi, ca. 2100 - 1600 BCE, Late Neolithic Period
Not on view
Nephrite conglomerate/bredigite
Dimensions9 1/8 in. (23.2 cm)
Gift of Barry Fitzmorris, 2011.238
The term bi is applied to wide discs with proportionately small central holes. Objects like these have been around since Neolithic times and were often found in graves. The original meaning of the bi has since been lost, but they are thought to represent the afterlife, or eternity. The most impressive discs or bi were made of the finest jades and were placed in prominent positions, often near the stomach and the chest of the deceased. Smaller, more roughly finished disks were aligned with the body, typically above the head and below the feet. The enormous labor involved in carving a hard stone like jade is a striking testimony to the importance of the object and the status of person who the bi was placed upon.
