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Yellow jade wine utensil with mankind and strange animal figure caved at both sides.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, Tibet has been formally part of the territory of China. By keeping abreast with developments in the hinterland, Tibet has maintained close relations with other provinces in China and kept up to date. Mutual interactions were frequent i.e. Tibetans presented tributes to the central government and vice versa, the central governments bestowed largess on Tibetans. The largess included Buddhist statues, porcelains, silks, satins, and fabulous jade ornaments. In book entitled "Memoir of Qing Taizhong", it was recorded that Emperor Shunzhi had once given the Fifth Dalai Lama an agate cup, two crystal cups, six jade cups, and one jade kettle.

The Tibetan Museum, as the biggest institution aiming to collect and preserve Tibetan cultural relics, has collected almost a thousand jade articles that were donated by central governments to Tibet throughout its history. Expressing the typical ethnic Han culture; refreshing and brilliant, this jade artwork was welcomed by Tibetans. It has integrated with local Tibetan culture and as such, simply expresses the complete harmonious relationship amongst all nationalities in China.

Jade Articles from Yuan Dynasty

In the Yuan Dynasty, due to the influence of ethnic Han, people were familiar with the concept that "gold could be priced, but jade is priceless". Jade culture was very popular and admired by people of all classes. Workshops to produce and mill jade articles for the court grew to an unprecedented size and handcraft industries run by governments developed rapidly. Jade articles produced during that period became most important and most exquisite objects for government gifts.

Agate incense burning.

Jade article production, on the whole, inherited an advanced technique and fine aesthetic qualities passed down by generations. While featuring superb designs, wide variety in shape, appearance and styles, jade culture continued to develop throughout both Tang and Shong Dynasties. This could be observed through jade ornaments, domestic utensils, and decorative articles which had actually become the mainstreams of jade culture since Tang and Shong Dynasties. Gradually, categories of jade articles tended to grow more secular and populist over time. The themes of jade objects with carved line patterns were mainly of auspicious signs and good luck charms. Artisans adopted a carving style that was mellow and full but bold and unconstrained. During this period, jade carving technique had undergone a new development through adopting a technique of outshoot engraving and producing a deep hollow carving such as for jade snuff bottles. This was called the "Qiaose" technique.

The Yuan Dynasty lasted from 1271 to 1368. When Tibet was just incorporated into the territory of China in the Yuan Dynasty, the political relationship between the central government and local Tibetan government stood out as more significant than economic and cultural relations. Thus, the number of collected jade articles preserved in the Tibetan Museum is not substantial, and the categories are quite limited. Therefor, yearly exhibited articles in this museum are really limited. There are only six or seven articles available to exemplify the exquisite and fine official jade objects from the Yuan court, including the cyan jade seal for the state preceptor, cyan-white flat jade pot with lotus patterns on the handles and with a double dragon's motif, and a cyan-white jade cup with follower patterns shaped as a melon. Most of those articles are etiquette ornaments showing profoundly political intentions.The cyan-white flat jade pot with lotus patterns on its handles and with double dragon's motif looks light and stocky; the shape is simple yet elegant and stylish with exquisite carving and unique motifs. It is a rare object from this period of history and a good example of Yuan culture. The cyan jade seal for the state preceptor is large and square in shape. The seal looks simple and unsophisticated despite adopting an extensive carving technique, but with sobriety. It is a classical object and an important one held by officers of the Yuan Dynasty.

Three-legged double-dragon oven with cover engraved with agate,Qing Dynasty

Sourcing from historical records, in 1256, King Mogo conferred the title of the first grand state tutor of Gagyu Sect on Karmapa. In 1260, Kublai conferred Phagpa as the state preceptor and bestowed a jade seal on him. Thereafter, bestowal of honorific titles to Tibetan eminent monks by Yuan governments increased. Those titles included the State Preceptor, the State Tutor for Worship and the Imperial Advisor (thus verifying the historical fact of the sovereignty of China over Tibet in the Yuan Dynasty). In the Tibetan Museum, several official jade seals from governments of Yuan are exhibited, including the seal bestowed to Phagpa as State Preceptor, the seal of Grand State Tutor, and the seal of Sangyepald as Imperial Advisor. These official jade seals are invaluable treasures for studying the Tibetan social and political situation during the Yuan Dynasty.

Jade Articles from the Ming Dynasty

From the perspective of size and quantity of jade production, there was a dramatic development in the Ming Dynasty when compared with Yuan. Jade products are divided into four categories: etiquette ornaments, adornments, daily utensils, and archaize jade objects (i.e. in archaic style). The jade articles of early Ming had already incorporated the style of extensive, bold and unconstrained carving from the Yuan Dynasty, but much more exquisitely. During the middle and decline period of the Ming Dynasty, jade articles were designed to be very simple, without much attention to detail. They were unpolished, simple and clear. Nevertheless, several small unique ones were decorated in some detail and looked elegant and beautiful.

The Tibetan Museum has collected a large number of jade articles from Ming. It is greater than the collection from Yuan. From the perspective of quality and style in all collections, it is actually a breakthrough; nephrite, agate objects, and triple matched cups, are all included to fulfill this big collection and are also exhibited in the halls of the museum. In the Ming Dynasty, the style of jade products tended to greater variety, and in particular, it was popular to imitate the bronze civilization of Shang and Zhou Dynasties; the trend to archaize showed up in design. For instance, the archaic shapes of Gui (a round mouthed food vessel with a two or four loop handle), Zhi (a container for holding wine) and Ding (tripod caldron) reappeared and the pattern of Pan Chi (a hornless dragon in ancient folklore) was used repeatedly. People in the Ming Dynasty also inscribed words as line patterns to decorate the laces of jade products. They believed that Chinese letters with partial tones could refer to auspicious signs. For example, the word "Bianfu (means "bat" in English)" has the same partial tone as the Chinese letter "Fu", referred to as a symbol of good fortune, and the word "Lu (means "deer" in English)" has the same partial tone as the Chinese word "Lu", symbolizing happiness. On one hand, people were used to engraving the words and symbols as the motifs on the lances of the jade articles, such as the words of "Fu", "Shou (refers to long lives), "Xi (refers to happiness)", and the symbol of a revolving cross. On the other hand, the emerging of the ancient washing jade utensils not only manifested the conservative trend of thought in Han culture, but also embodied an existing atmosphere of pursuing elegance and focusing on cultural cultivation amongst the higher classes, liberators and poets in the Ming Dynasty.

The Tibetan Museum exhibits up to 38 jade articles from Ming, including royal seals, kettles, bowls, trays, cups, washing utensils, and some archaize jade articles, such as Gui, Ding, and Zhi. The exhibited articles also include a cyan-white jade kettle holder with dragon motif, a cyan-white jade wine container with dragon and phoenix patterns, and a Jasper cup with lotus mouth and a hornless dragon hoop. All of these are extremely beautiful works of art with elegant designs. No matter what the jade materials, shapes, engraved decorations, and carving techniques are, they all represent the articles held by officers in the Ming Dynasty. The white jade seal of the Prefect Buddha and black seal of the Great Vehicle Prince of Dharma were important testimony that Emperor Yongle, in the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, conferred titles on Karmapo, the fifth Dalai Lama and head of Karmakagyu Sect in Tibet, and Kuntraspa, the Sakya Sect. These two seals are part of the most substantial jade collections in the Tibetan Museum.

Rectangular vessel engraved with animal facial expression

Jade Articles from Qing Dynasty

Jade culture in the Qing Dynasty went through a most prosperous period. The shapes and styles were all refreshing and were fondled admiringly. There were numerous categories of jade articles; there was a big breakthrough in terms of materials, shapes, decorations and techniques transcending those of past generations. In Emperor Qianlong's period, jade carving techniques had reached the peak of perfection. However, in the final years of the Qing Dynasty, it declined and top grade pieces became rare.

Under Qing, jade products were enriched with variety in materials such as inorganic crystal, agate, emerald, lotus stone, and also some organic coral. Through the introduction of jade carving techniques from overseas which Chinese people loved, new blood was introduced to jade culture in China. In the Tibetan Museum, various kinds of jade articles are displayed; there are objects made of emerald, agate, white jade, cyan jade, and yellow jade. They look colourful and gorgeous, in particular, those Jadeite objects and Hen jade objects, which came from Hen Du Si Tan (An ancient county situated in the northern part of ancient India) showing their exotic qualities. Emperor Qianlong was happy to write his poetry on these jade articles. Thereafter, Han jade objects were collected by officers in court and hence enormous Han jades passed into China. In the Tibetan Museum, a cyan jade box with flowers and grass patterns is preserved, showing a typical exoticism. Jadeite comes from the north of Burma. It is emerald introduced into China during the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing. Chinese people gradually came to love it. Thus, emerald becomes the most popular material for jade articles in China, named as the state jade or the imperial jade, or the king of jade. In this museum, emerald beads and boxes are displayed. They are colourful, thick and smooth, high-quality jade.

The jade articles of Qing Dynasty take on a various shapes, and are mostly varied in their decorative patterns; they are charming in many ways. From all the collections of the Tibetan Museum, we can observe that jade teacups and wine vessels were popular in Qing; enormous jade objects, such as gu (wine vessel), jue (wine vessel), and archaized jade articles were produced during that period. In addition many jade objects, which were only displayed in homes, and personal utensils were produced during the middle and decline period of Qing, including snuffboxes, Ruyi (S-shaped ornaments for good luck), and rockeries. Moreover, diversified patterns were adopted while designing jade articles, such as one-legged monsters, hornless dragons, phoenix birds, peacocks, unicorns, linzhi (a kind of mushroom), Chinese words for longevity in various kinds of calligraphy, fylfot, and other lucky symbols carved in complex ways, referring to happiness, good fortune, and longevity. All of those shapes and patterns, to some extent, embody cultural interaction and integration between Manchurian and Han, and also show people during that period preferred to enjoy the aesthetics of jade articles. The articles displayed in the museum, such as the magic monsters, yellow jade angular objects, cyan jade with a dragon-horse pattern, and white jade with a pattern of a happy fishing family, Ruyi with the mushroom shape in the pattern of pine tree... all either expressing people's wishes for good fortune and blessings, displaying ancient legends, or expressing the imaginations of the people.

The technique of jade production under Qing reached a high degree of proficiency. It had such a rich technique, decoration on jade articles was exquisite and complex inlaid with gold, silver and gems. The exhibited cyan jade beads with a dragon-phoenix motif are composed of 108 beads in the same size and same color. In particular, it needs to be mentioned that each bead is carved as a round shape with a hollow engraving technique. The design is magical and skillful. What a wonderful piece it is! The head of the Ruyi, depicted with a hundred words for longevity, is designed in the shape of propitious cloud; its handle is engraved with longevity lines, and the tag end is carved a double chubs jumping out of water. The rest of the parts are lightly engraved with one hundred Chinese words for "longevity". They differ in size and fonts, including the font of "Yi", "Zhuan", "Di", "Chao", "Xing", and "Kai". It implies good wishes for longevity of 100 years or more. The carving is very complicated and quite exquisite; the cyan-white jade with a farmland pattern is carved in a round, rilievo technique.The whole body shows an engraved tree, stone, pavilion, and people. It is well polished and looks delicate. It is priceless.

Totally there are 64 pieces of Jade exhibited in the Tibetan Museum. Most are bottles, kettles, angular wine vessels, bowls, washing bowls, Ruyi, belts, boxes, plates, snuff bottles, and so on. During the Qing Dynasty, the central government introduced several measures to administer Tibet; they not only set up the system to search and confirm the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, Panchen Lama, and other eminent monks, but also the system to send ministers to reside in Tibet. All these efforts enabled the Qing courts to fulfill and also enhance complete administrative control over Tibetan affairs. The exhibited jade sheets, seals and other jade objects, which were bestowed by Emperor Qianlong on the eighth Dalai Lama to confirm his honorific title, fully testify to the power by which the central governments in Qing Dynasty held sovereignty over Tibet.