WHAT IS THE DAGGER AX ?

DAGGER AX: A bronze Chinese weapon in use from the Shang dynasty (c. 1500 bc) to the Han dynasty (206 bc to ad 220). The earliest forms

were broad and mounted at right angles to a wooden shaft through which the tang projected. Later forms had a slender blade which extended down the shaft at right angles to the main point to prevent it snapping. [ko]

WHAT IS THE CONG ?

CONG: A tubular, jade object, circular on the inside and enclosed in a rectangular body, made in various sizes and used for ritual purposes in ancient China. Cong were described in ancient Chinese texts as symbols of rank and were used as ritual objects primarily in the Shang (18th to 12th century bc) and Zhou/Chou (1111–255 bc) dynasties. They have been found in graves, arranged with bidisks around the corpses of the elite. The cong is thought to have symbolized Earth or possibly to have been an astronomical                                                                                         instrument. [ts’ung]

WHAT IS THE BRONZE MIRROR ?

BRONZE MIRROR: Any of the smooth-faced bronze disks of eastern Asia in the late 2nd millennium bc. These cast-decorated items became important to the Han dynasty elite in China. In Korea and Japan they were used for rituals or ceremonies.

WHAT IS THE BI DISK ?

BI DISK: A flat jade disk with a small hole in the center, made in ancient China for ceremonial purposes, possibly symbolizing heaven. Bi disks have also been described in ancient Chinese texts as a symbol of rank. Jade disks and disklike axes have been found in 4th and 3rd millennium bc graves at east-coast Neolithic sites such as Beiyinyangying. Polished stone disk segments are known still earlier at Banpo. [bi]