science

Jade burial suit

Jade burial suit is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Jade burial suit rather than just read about it. In short: A jade burial suit (Chinese: 玉衣; pinyin: yù yī; lit. 'jade clothing') is a ceremonial suit made of pieces of jade in which royal members of China's Han dynasty were buried. Construction Of the jade suits that have been found, the pieces of jade are mostly square or rectangular in shape, though triangular, trapezoid and rhomboid plaques have also been found.

Key takeaways

Jade burial suit belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Jade burial suit to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Jade burial suit from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A jade burial suit (Chinese: 玉衣; pinyin: yù yī; lit. 'jade clothing') is a ceremonial suit made of pieces of jade in which royal members of China's Han dynasty were buried.

Construction

Of the jade suits that have been found, the pieces of jade are mostly square or rectangular in shape, though triangular, trapezoid and rhomboid plaques have also been found. Plaques are often joined by means of wire, threaded through small holes drilled near the corners of each piece. The composition of the wire varies, and several suits have been found joined with either gold or silver. Other suits, such as that of King Zhao Mo, were joined using silk thread, or silk ribbon that overlapped the edges of the plaques. In some instances, additional pieces of jade have been found beneath the head covering, including shaped plaques to cover the eyes, and plugs to fit the ears and nose. According to the Book of Later Han, the type of wire used was dependent on the status of the person buried. The jade burial suits of emperors used gold thread; princes, princesses, dukes, and marquises, silver thread; sons or daughters of those given silver thread, copper thread; and lesser aristocrats, silk thread, with all others being forbidden to be buried in jade burial suits. Examination of the known suits, such as the two found in Mancheng, has revealed that these rules were not always followed. Considering the vast size of the country, and the relatively slow means of disseminating information, it is not surprising that the materials and techniques used in a jade burial suit occasionally differed from the official guidelines. A jade burial suit was extremely expensive to create, and only wealthy aristocrats could afford to be buried in them. Additionally, the process of manufacturing a suit was labor-intensive and is estimated to have required several years to complete a single suit. Despite their beauty and cultural significance, Jade Burial Suits were not without their practical challenges. Because they were made entirely of jade, they were heavy and difficult to move, and required a great deal of strength and manpower to transport. In addition, the suits were often too small to fit the actual body of the deceased, and were instead placed on a wooden effigy or mannequin that was placed in the tomb alongside the jade burial suit.

History

Cultural history

For many years, many archaeologists were unaware of the existence of jade burial suits. Texts referenced jade boxes or coverings related to a corpse, but it was not understood that the texts were describing full-body, fitted suits or shrouds, made of jade plaques. The discovery in 1968 of two complete jade suits in the tombs of Liu Sheng and Dou Wan in Mancheng, Hebei, finally proved their existence. It is now believed that jade burial suits were actually relatively common among the wealthiest aristocrats of the Han dynasty, but that over the years most have been lost due to the activities of grave robbers. Emperor Wen of Wei banned the production of jade suits in 223 CE to reduce tomb looting.

Site history Tombs from the Spring and Autumn period, belonging to the dukes of the Jin state in Quwo, were discovered in which the body was covered with small jade pieces once interwoven with silk. The jade suits of Liu Sheng and Dou Wan consisted of 2,498 plates of solid jade connected with two and a half pounds of gold wires.

Since the first jade burial suits discovery, there have been multiple additional findings. In 1973, a jade burial suit belonging to Prince Huai of the Western Han dynasty was discovered in Dingxian, Hebei. It consisted of 1,203 pieces of jade and 2,580 grams of gold thread. In 1983, a jade suit was found in the tomb of Zhao Mo, the second king of Southern Yue, in Guangzhou. The red silk thread used to bind the 2,291 jade plates represented Zhao Mo's immersion into local culture. It is exhibited in the local Nanyue King Museum. In 1991, a jade burial suit was excavated from a group of monumental tombs of the King of Chu, Liu Wu, in Xuzhou. This magnificent, life-sized jade and gold burial suit survived very much intact, thereby possessing a high value for artistic appreciation.

Gallery

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jade burial suit

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jade burial suit claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Jade burial suit before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Jade burial suit ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Jade burial suit

In research: Jade burial suit appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Jade burial suit in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Jade burial suit is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Archaeological artifacts of China, Archaeology of death, Chinese art, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jade burial suit outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Jade burial suit in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Jade burial suit means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Jade burial suit in simple terms?

A jade burial suit (Chinese: 玉衣; pinyin: yù yī; lit. 'jade clothing') is a ceremonial suit made of pieces of jade in which royal members of China's Han dynasty were buried. Construction Of the jade suits that have been found, the pieces of jade are mostly square or rectangular in shape, though tria…

Why does Jade burial suit matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Jade burial suit?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Jade burial suit.