◇ Heritage No. :
◇ Collection Name:Jade with Kui and Dragon Pattern
◇ Historical date:West Han dynasty
◇ Collection Size:Diameter: 22.5 cm.
◇ Collection Source:Excavated from the Tomb of the King of Chu in 1994
Made from light green jade, the jade is divided into internal and external areas with concentric circle patterns, where the inner area is vortex pattern and the outer area is the Kui and dragon pattern. The structure of dragon pattern is peculiar, depicting 4 groups of dragon’s head with carved forehead and the bridge of nose, but the mouth not obvious. Two lower sides of the nose have two wide thick lines with two tentacles extending to both sides, and twined with the thin and long ribbon-shape dragon body. This kind of jade is also carved with Pu grain in the inner area, with a wide and shallow horizontal line or diagonal line to divide the surface into hexagons arranged like honeycomb. “Origin of Chinese Character”, the first Chinese Dictionary, explains "Pu" for "rush grass, which can be also for the mat". Later, people call this kind of relatively shallow and orderly arranged grain Pu grain. In Han dynasty, the emperor, in order to respect the elderly and hire the gifted person, will wrap the wheel with grass to prevent vibration of the vehicle and put up the Pu grain jade to carry it into the capital. This kind of jade with Kui and dragon pattern is more popular in West Han dynasty for funerals. The tomb of the king of Nanyue in Guangzhou and the tomb of Douwan in Mancheng all unearthed jade that are similar to the shape, structure and decoration of this jade. According to the size and texture of the jade, it is speculated that it should be the king of Chu.