Marshall Chang and his Jades: A Study of Social Relations as Materialized in Jade Usage of the Shang Dynasty

This research aims to achieve a better understanding of the role of jade in Late Shang society, a Bronze Age civilization dating to the late second millennium BC.  Jade has held great cultural significance in China for at least 8,000 years.  With its distinct material qualities such as toughness, the use of jade embodies unique information about the people and society which it was part of.  The artefact jades considered in this research were excavated from tomb M54, one of only two un-looted royal tombs found at Anyang, the royal capital of the late Shang Dynasty. The principal occupant is identified to be “Marshall Chang”, the name inscribed on nearly two-thirds of more than 200 bronze vessels and weapons found in the tomb.  Among thousands of burial goods are more than 220 jade artifacts, mostly ceremonial objects and ornaments.  Methods of study include designing a system of classification for visible traits, taking infrared spectroscopy measurements to analyze mineralogical composition, and making dental mould impressions for the study of drilling techniques and use-wear using scanning electron microscopy.  This study discusses the material qualities exhibited by jade artefacts through scientific analysis to address questions of how the material properties of jades were perceived, symbolised, and functioned in social relations.