gems, jade, China, Chinese jade carving, Chinese lapidary arts, archaic jades, nephrite, Fischer-Other

Pelliot gives a substantial and generally appreciative critical review of Berthold Laufer’s Jade: A Study in Chinese Archaeology and Religion, while correcting and supplementing numerous points from Chinese textual and archaeological sources. He discusses the terminology and history of Chinese jade, ancient jade objects and their ritual functions, and the reliability of later Chinese antiquarian works as evidence for early forms. Of particular importance is his discussion of the Gu Yu Tu Pu (古玉圖譜), the enormous illustrated catalogue of ancient jades compiled for the emperor in 1176: Pelliot accepts Laufer’s demonstration that its illustrations do not correspond with authentic Zhou and Han jades and concludes that by the Song period direct knowledge of the ancient jade objects described in the classics had largely been lost. The review is valuable both as an assessment of Laufer’s pioneering work and as an independent contribution by one of the leading sinologists of the period to the philological and historical study of Chinese jade.