yupei

Yupei ({{Lang-zh|s=玉佩|p=Yùpèi}}) is composed of the Chinese character yu ({{Lang-zh|c=玉}}) which literally means 'jade' and pei ({{Lang-zh|c=佩}}) which means 'pendant'.

While the term 'jade' typically refer to nephrite and jadeite in scholarly literature, the character yu ({{Lang-zh|c=玉}}) in China can also be applied to other forms of precious stones and materials, such as agate, serpentine, soapstone, marble,{{Cite journal |last=So |first=Jenny F. |date=2019 |title=Connecting friend and foe: Western Zhou personal regalia in jade and colored stones |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2352226717300284 |journal=Archaeological Research in Asia |language=en |volume=19 |pages=100108 |doi=10.1016/j.ara.2018.05.001|s2cid=194805495 }} tremolite, and hornblende{{Cite book |last=Sullivan |first=Michael |title=The arts of China |date=1999 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-21876-0 |edition=4th ed., expanded and rev |location=Berkeley, Calif. |oclc=40200406}}{{Rp|page=31}} The True jade ({{Lang-zh|c=真玉|p=Zhēnyù}}) in China is actually the nephrite, which have been used and prized for millennia in China.{{Rp|page=31}} It is only since the 18th century that jadeite (from Burma) was discovered by Chinese carvers and started to be used in China.{{Rp|page=31}}{{Cite book |last=Perkins |first=Dorothy |title=Encyclopedia of China : History and Culture. |date=2013 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=978-1-135-93562-7 |location=Hoboken |oclc=869091722}}{{Rp|page=237}} Jadeite became popular in jewellery making due to its bright green colour.{{Rp|page=31}}

Yupei could be stringed together to make an ensemble of jade pendants (which would hold at the belt and could also be composed of chains of bi (璧; jade discs or jade rings).{{Rp|pages=18–20}} Jade in the form of huang were also popular in the making of yupei and had a rigid and specific rules attached to its use.{{Rp|pages=57–58}} Some jade pendants also combined jades in the shape of dragons, phoenixes,{{Rp|pages=5–6}} anthropomorphic figures, human-dragons, and animals (birds, badgers{{Cite book |last=Zhang |first=Minghua |title=Chinese jade : power and delicacy in a majestic art |date=2004 |publisher=Long River Press |isbn=1-59265-011-2 |edition=1st |location=San Francisco |oclc=54691912}}{{Rp|pages=19|page=}}),{{Rp|pages=18–19}}{{Rp|pages=58–69}}{{Cite book |title=Chinese sculpture |date=2006 |publisher=Yale University Press |author=Angela Falco Howard |author2=Song Li |author3=Hung Wu |author4=Hong Yang |isbn=0-300-10065-5 |location=New Haven |pages=49 |oclc=51631315}} and/or could be carved in the shapes of diverse objects (such as gourds{{Rp|pages=19|page=}}) or with Chinese characters (e.g. double happiness{{Rp|pages=19|page=}}). Jades in the form of bi and cong (jade tubes{{Cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |title=Science in traditional China : a comparative perspective |date=1981 |publisher=Chinese University Press |isbn=962-201-212-4 |location=Hong Kong |oclc=8264796}}{{Rp|pages=|page=94}}) appeared as early as the Liangzhu Neolithic culture (c. 3000 BC) in Zhenjiang and Jiangsu provinces.{{Rp|pages=|page=94}}

File:Western_Zhou_Jade_Pei_Pendants_from_Ying_State.jpg, Western Zhou]]

Ensemble of jade pendants and/or jade strings which were combined with other precious materials (such as silver or gold accessories) were called jinbu; jinbu were a type of {{transliteration|zh|yaopei}} (waist accessories) which were typically worn by women to press down their clothing. Jinbu appeared thousands of years ago and were initially only worn by nobles, but with time, it was gradually adopted by all women regardless of their social ranks. The jinbu also used to be an indicator of elegance and etiquette in ancient times: if the behavior of its wearer is discourteous (i.e. walking too fast), the jinbu would sound loud and thus, the jinbu would remind the wearer to mind his manners and elegance; on the other hand, if its wearer behave appropriately, the jinbu would sound melodic and pleasant. This is also explained in the chapter《玉藻 Yu Zao》in the Liji:

{{Blockquote|text=When (the king or ruler) was walking quickly (to the court of audience), he did so to the music of the Cai Qi; when walking more quickly (back to the reception-hall), they played the Si Xia. When turning round, he made a complete circle; when turning in another direction, he did so at a right angle. When advancing, he inclined forward a little; he held himself up straight; and in all these movements, the pieces of jade emitted their tinklings. So also the man of rank, when in his carriage, heard the harmonious sounds of its bells; and, when walking, those of his pendant jade-stones; and in this way evil and depraved thoughts found no entrance into his mind.|title=Liji 《玉藻 - Yu Zao》|source=37|author=Translated by James Legge}}

In the pre-Qin period, unearthed jade pendants were found to be carved in human and anthropomorphic figures and/or combination of human and animals design (e.g. human faces,{{Rp|pages=7, 49}} eagle sizing the head of a man{{Rp|pages=50–52}}), dragons (e.g. pierced-dragon shape{{Rp|pages=6}}), phoenix (e.g. pierced-phoenix shape{{Rp|pages=5}}), animals (such as birds) and carved in shape of bi,{{Rp|pages=18–19}} and semi-disc shape (half-bi) jade pendants.{{Rp|pages=30}} Huang and half-bi were sometimes used as component of an ensemble of jade pendant.{{Rp|pages=|page=94}} Jade pendants could also be found in strings of jade ornaments (e.g. in the forms of small jade tubes, called cong{{Rp|pages=|page=94}}).{{Rp|pages=|page=8}} Strings of jade could also be combined with other forms of jade pendants.{{Rp|pages=37–38}} Jade pendants worn as necklace appeared as early as the Liangzhu culture.{{Rp|pages=|page=39}}

File:Pendant MET 2008.190.264 F.jpg|Chinese Jade pendant in the form of a bi, 2000–1500 B.C.

File:Shang Jade Pendants 1.jpg|Yupei in the shape of huang, Shang dynasty,

File:Shang Jade Pendant of Fish.jpg|Fish-shaped yupei, Shang dynasty.

File:Shang Jade Pendant of Bird.jpg|Bird-shaped yupei, Shang dynasty.

File:Painted_Figures_from_Warring_States_Tomb_Showing_Wearing_of_Jade_Pendants.jpg Tomb showing wearing of ensemble of yupei, also called jinbu.]]

In the Western Zhou, people started to associate moral connotations to the use of jade, such as morality.{{Rp|pages=56–63|page=}} This eventually led to the formation of Chinese jade belief system of how "a gentleman compares virtues to a gem", a concept which was later fully elaborated by Confucius,{{Rp|pages=56–63|page=}} who would then compare the qualities of a jade to the 5 virtues (kindness, wisdom, integrity, courage, and purity) of a gentleman (junzi) in the Book of Rites (Liji).{{Cite book |title=Rethinking social capital and entrepreneurship in Greater China : is guanxi still important? |date=2016 |editor=Jennhwan Wang |editor2=Ray-May Hsung |isbn=978-1-317-40639-6 |location=Abingdon, Oxon |publisher=Routledge |oclc=949274796}}{{Rp|pages=|page=195}}

White jade, Hotan jade in particular, was well-liked in the Western Zhou; however, strict regulations on the use of jades, based on their qualities and colours, were established.{{Rp|pages=56–57|page=}} While rulers of the Western Zhou would use expensive jades (like white Hotan jade), people of lower status could only use common jades.{{Rp|pages=56–57|page=}} Ensemble of yupei (jinbu) were a distinctive form of ritual jade ware in the Western Zhou dynasty, and jades in huang shape were dominant types of yupei found in the ensemble.{{Rp|pages=|page=58}} The jade pendant ensemble consisted of various parts which had to be connected together based on certain rules.{{Rp|pages=|page=58}}

In the Zhou dynasty, ensemble of yupei would often hang down at the waist belt of its wearer.{{Rp|pages=|page=20}} Ensemble of yupei which were made entirely of jade may have only used by rulers of kingdoms (possibly dukes, marquises, their wives and aristocrats of similar titles) as the ritual system which is stipulated in the Liji indicates that pure jade could not be used by the ministers of kings.{{Rp|pages=|page=58}} According to the chapter《玉藻 Yu Zao》:

{{Blockquote|text=All wore the jade-stone pendant at the girdle, excepting during the mourning rites. (At the end of the middle string) in it was the tooth-like piece, colliding with the others. A man of rank was never without this pendant, excepting for some sufficient reason; he regarded the pieces of jade as emblematic of the virtues (which he should cultivate). The son of Heaven had his pendant composed of beads of white jade, hung on dark-coloured strings; a duke or marquis, his of jade-beads of hill-azure, on vermilion strings; a Great officer, his of beads of aqua-marine, on black strings; an heir-son, his of beads of Yu jade, on variegated strings; an ordinary officer, his of beads of jade-like quartz, on orange-coloured strings. Confucius wore at his pendant balls of ivory, five inches (round), on gray strings.|title=Liji 《玉藻 - Yu Zao》|source=39|author=Translated by James Legge}}

Moreover, according to the Confucian jade-related belief system which also stems from the Liji: in ancient China, yupei ensemble (which symbolizes virtue) must always been worn by gentlemen except when they are mourning.{{Rp|pages=|page=64}}{{Cite book |last=Confucius |title=The Analects of Confucius = Lun yu |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-506157-8 |editor-last=Huang |editor-first=Chichung |location=New York |oclc=34933215}}{{Rp|pages=|page=111}} Wearing yupei ensemble also served to: (1) remind its wearer to walk in an orderly manner which would eventually make gentlemen develop an elegant and regular walking pattern over the years despite being constrained by the jade pendants, and (2) remind the gentlemen to behave according to the decorum which is based on the sound of the jade tinkles when they walk.{{Rp|pages=|page=64}}

File:British Museum Chinese jade Western Zhou dynasty Stag pendants 11022019 1529.jpg|Jade pendants in the form of stags, Western Zhou.

File:Warring States Jade Dragon Pendants.jpg|Chinese dragon-shaped yupei, Warring States period

File:Late Western Zhou Jade Humanoid Pendant.jpg|Human-shaped yupei, Late Western Zhou

File:Western Zhou Jade Pendant (9830144454).jpg|Yupei ensemble, Western Zhou.

File:Western Zhou Jade Pendant with Huang.jpg|Yupei ensemble with Huang, Western Zhou

File:Western Zhou Jade Huang from Pendant.jpg|Jade Huang from a yupei ensemble, Western Zhou.

File:Western Zhou Jade Pendant (10099934815).jpg|Yupei ensemble composed of bi (disc), huang and cong (jade tubes), Western Zhou

File:Late Spring & Autumn Jade Ornaments.jpg|Jade Ornaments composed of bi and huang jade, and dragon-shaped jade, Late Spring & Autumn period

It is confirmed based on paintings and stone engravings that ensemble of jade pendants were suspended from the belt of women in the Tang dynasty.{{Cite web |title=Assemblage of pendants early 8th century |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/39805 |access-date=2022-03-12 |website=www.metmuseum.org}}

File:组玉佩SPIA.jpg|Ensemble of Yupei (玉佩), Tang dynasty.

In Qing, it was popular for women to wear green, translucent jade jewelries; pendants which were carved in the shape of a curving dragon was popular.{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Carol |title=Tropical gemstones |date=1998 |publisher=Periplus Editions |isbn=978-1-4629-1664-1 |location=Singapore |pages=58 |oclc=904404624}}

File:Qing Jade Pendant (10126846995).jpg

File:Qing Jade Pendant 02.jpg|Jade pendant, Qing dynasty

File:Pendant Plaque with the Scholars Lin Bu and Mi Fei LACMA M.2001.179.7 (1 of 2).jpg|Jade plaque pendant

File:Qing Jade Pendants.jpg

File:清 翡翠雲龍紋佩-Pendant with dragon MET 184068.jpg|Yupei carved with dragons, Qing dynasty, 20th century.

File:清中期 玉團壽紋佩-Pendant MET 32935.jpg|Yupei, Qing dynasty, 18th–19th century

File:Ming Jade Pendant.jpg|Ming Jade pendant

File:I-Ch'ing (Ba Gua & Yin-Yang symbol) Chinese jade pendant amulet, Oude Pekela (2018) 06.jpg|Yupei with bagua and yin and yang symbol, 2018

• Yajin - Chinese accessories which hungs on clothing lapels at the chest area
• Shibazi - An 18-beads bracelet, which can be hang on Chinese clothing lapels at the chest area
• Yaopei
• Norigae - A Korean clothing accessory

• Hanfu
• List of hanfu
• List of hanfu accessories
• Chaozhu (Court necklace)

Category:Chinese traditional clothing

Category:Jade

Category:Hardstone carving

Category:Chinese art