More than 100 priceless relics were displayed at the exhibition “The Making of Zhongguo – Origins, Developments and Achievements of Chinese Civilization” at China’s Palace Museum. Among the treasured objects, two stand out as representative of their kind – jade cong , a tube-like vessel with a square outer section around a circular inner part.

One is the Liangzhu jade cong from the Zhejiang Provincial Museum collection. It was displayed at the center of the hall. The other one, owned by the Palace Museum, also originates from Liangzhu culture. To illustrate their importance, they were displayed together with the He Zun, the oldest ancient bronze vessel bearing the characters for China.

Today we discuss how the jade wares from one of China’s earliest civilizations were discovered and used in rites for heaven and earth worship.