Jade carving is the process by which the surface of jade stone is embellished through abrasion. The earliest known carved jades were made in China during the New Stone Age, or Neolithic period. Neolithic jades were usually fashioned as blades, although it is unclear whether they served a utilitarian or ceremonial function.
Excavations conducted at sites settled during the Shang dynasty have yielded a number of carved jades in a variety of forms. Certain shapes predominate, such as the round disk (pi), the ax (kuei), and a cylindrical tube (tsung). These objects probably served a ritual function, either as symbols of rank or as grave furnishings. The most beautiful examples of Shang jade carving, however, are small sculptures and plaques. The discovery, in 1975, of an undisturbed tomb from the Anyang era of the Shang dynasty has yielded the richest group of jade carvings to date. The excavation revealed plaques depicting dragons and various birds, along with near-miniature sculptures of human figures, mythical creatures, and recognisable animals, including an elephant.
The achievements of the Shang jade carvers were adopted and ultimately surpassed by artists of the Chou dynasty. Surface decoration became increasingly sophisticated, with open- work featuring birds and dragons, as well as tiny, individually carved curls. The development of the iron drill is probably responsible for the technical advancements seen in the carvings of this period. Elaborate jade carving continued in popularity during the Han dynasty; in addition, a most notable jade artefact was the so-called funerary suit. Various excavations have yielded corpses encased in a jade form made of thousands of rectangular pieces of jade, sewn together with gold thread, and fitted to the body. Other small jades, previously objects for burial, were now fashioned for the uses of the living. Toilet boxes, drinking vessels, and delightful adornments for the scholar's desk have been preserved from the Han period.
The dating of jade carvings from after the Han dynasty through the Ch'ing dynasty has been highly problematic, as the archaeological evidence is often incomplete. Throughout this period, however, small decorative forms of jade, often depicting animals, flowers, or children, continued in popularity. T'ang and Sung carvers favoured small figures. Drinking and desk vessels, and jadejewellery as well, were widely produced in the Yuan and Ming epochs. During the Ch'ing period, particularly in the 18th century, large jade carvings attained great favour with the emperors and royal officials. Forms were often taken from ancient bronze vessels, reflecting the continuing interest in early art. Landscapes, often paralleling those found on carved bamboo or in paintings, were carefully transcribed onto the surface of enormous jade slabs. Much of this intricacy is still found in Chinese jade work today; traditional design motifs and carving styles also have been retained. China's continuous interest in jade carving was never found in other Asian nations.
The Indians practised a degree of jade work, most notably the Islamic Mughals, who favoured ceremonial weapons with highly decorative jade blades. The most important centre of jade carving outside the Orient was pre-Columbian Mexico and Central America under the Olmec, Aztec, and Mayan rulers. Splendid ceremonial objects-axes, knives, masks, and large animal figures-were produced; the objects are sophisticated in style and highly advanced in technique. Research Jade Carving
The Bugan are a people of south-eastern Yunnan Province, China, where they are found in some seven villages living alone and with the Han Chinese. Research Bugan
The Han are the majority ethnic group in China, numbering about 990 million. The Hans speak a wide variety of dialects of the same monosyllabic language, a member of the Sino-Tibetan family. Their religion combines Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and ancestor worship. The Han was a Chinese dynasty founded by the general Liu Bang, who overthrew the Qin dynasty. Its power was strengthened by the emperor Wu Di, who conquered a vast empire. Paper was invented by the Han Chinese, who also produced porcelain. The dynasty was overthrown in 8 AD but later restored for a second period, known as the Later Han which ran from 23 to 220. Research Han
Ma Yuan was a Chinese general. He was born in 14 BC at Mou-ling, now in Shensi province, China and died in 49 AD at Hunan. He helped to establish the Eastern Han dynasty after the usurpation of power by the minister WangMang ended the Western Han dynasty in 25 AD. Research Ma Yuan
Victor Marie Hugo was a French poet and novelist. He was born in 1802 at Besancon and died in 1885. His father having entered the service of Joseph Bonaparte, king of Italy, and afterwards of Spain, Victor's earlier years were partly spent in those countries, but in 1812 he went with his mother to Paris. At the age of twelve he was already writing verses, and in 1823 his first novel, Han d'lslande, appeared, followed in 1825 by Bug Jargal.
In 1828 a complete edition of his Odes et Ballades appeared. In these productions Victor Hugo's anti-classical tendencies in style and treatment of his subject had been very visible, but the appearance of his dramaCromwell in 1827, with its celebrated preface, gave the watchword to the anti-classical or romantic school. Cromwell was too long for representation, and it was only in 1830 that Hernani, over which the great contest between Classicists and Romantacists took place, was brought on the stage.
Other dramas followed: Marion Delorme (1831), Le Roi s'amuse (1832), Lucrece Borgia (1833), MarieTudor
(1833), Angelo (1835), Ruy Blas (1838), Les Bourgraves (1843). During those years he had also published a novel, Notre Dame de Paris (1830), and several volumes of poetry, Les Feuilles d'Automne (1831), Les Chants du Crepuscule (1835), Les Voix Interieures (1837), Les Rayons et Les Ombres (1840). The poetry of this period has a melody and grace superior perhaps to any that he afterwards wrote, but wants that deep and original sense of life which is characteristic of his later poems. During the same period he also wrote his critical essays on Mirabeau, Voltaire, and a number of articles for the Revue de Paris.
In 1841, after having been twice previously rejected, he was elected a member of the French Academy and shortly afterwards made a tour in the Rhineland, of which he wrote a brilliant and interesting account in Le Rhin, published in 1842. In 1845 he was made a peer of France by Louis Philippe.
The revolution of 1848 threw Victor Hugo into the thick of the political struggle. At first his votes were decidedly Conservative, but afterwards, whether from suspicion of Napoleon's designs or from other reasons, he became one of the chiefs of the democratic party. After the coup d'etat on December the 2nd, 1851, he was one of those who kept up the struggle in the streets against Napoleon to the last. He then fled to Brussels, where he published the first of his bitter satires on the founder of the Second Empire, Napoleon le Petit. In the following year (1853) the second, the famous volume of Les Chatiments, a wonderful mixture of satirical invective, lyrical passion and pathos appeared.
Victor Hugo now went to live in Jersey, was expelled along with the other French exiles in 1855 by the English government, and finally settled in Guernsey. It was in the comparative solitude and quietness of the Channel Islands that he wrote most of the great works of his later years, Les Contemplations (1856), La Legende des Siecles, 1st series (1859), Chansons des Rues et des Bois (1865), and his celebrated series of social novels, Les Miserables (1862), Les Travailleurs de la Mer (1866), and L'Homme qui Rit (1869).
In 1870, after the fall of the Empire, Victor Hugo returned to Paris, where he spent the remaining years of a remarkably vigorous old age in occasional attendances at the senate, and in adding to the already long list of his literary works. Amongst these latest productions may be mentioned Quatro-vingt-treize (1872), L' Art d'etre Grand-pere (1877), L'Histoire d'un Crime (1877), Le Pape (1878), La Pitie Supreme (1879), Religions et Religion (1880), Les Quatre Vents de l'Esprit (1881), La Legende des Siecles (last series 1883), Torquemada (1882). Research Victor Hugo
In Arabian mythology, Al-Uzza (El-'Ozza)also known as Han-Uzzai, was a goddess. The youngest daughter of Allah, she lived in a tree and demanded human sacrifice. Research Al-Uzza
Seoul is the capital of South Korea. It is situated in the west on the Han River, and was the capital of Korea from 1392 to 1910, then the seat of the Japanese administration until 1945, and then became the capital of South Korea in 1948. It is a cultural centre, with four universities. Research Seoul
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