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Lot 154
A SMALL DAOIST SUTRA-INSCRIBED CELADON JADE TUBE Song Dynasty or later, dated by inscription to the fifth year of Xuanhe, corresponding to 1123
17 March 2025, 09:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$25,600 inc. premium
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A SMALL DAOIST SUTRA-INSCRIBED CELADON JADE TUBE
Song Dynasty or later, dated by inscription to the fifth year of Xuanhe, corresponding to 1123
The octagonal faceted sides finely incised with outlined characters stating a section of the Daoist sutra, followed by a fourteen-character attribution, a circular galleried collar on each end, the center perforated vertically for stringing, the pale celadon stone of even texture softly polished, natural vein lines and inclusions.
2 7/16in (6.2cm) long (fitted box).
The octagonal faceted sides finely incised with outlined characters stating a section of the Daoist sutra, followed by a fourteen-character attribution, a circular galleried collar on each end, the center perforated vertically for stringing, the pale celadon stone of even texture softly polished, natural vein lines and inclusions.
2 7/16in (6.2cm) long (fitted box).
Footnotes
宋或更晚 宣和五年款 青玉刻靈飛經文勒子
The inscription carved in outlined characters is from a section of the Daoist classic popular in the Tang dynasty, Lingfei jing, the Sutra of Transcendent Flight, and may be read as:
青上帝君 厥諱雲拘 錦帔青裘 遊回虛無 上晏常陽 洛景九隅 下降我室 授我玉符 通靈致真 五帝齊軀 三靈翼景 太玄扶輿 乘龍駕雲 何慮何憂 逍遙太極 與天同休
followed by a line of 14 smaller characters attributing the date of imperial commission and may be read as: 皇宋宣和五年脩內司玉作所奉造 which may be translated as: [On the] Imperial Song Xuanhe 5th year, the Xiuneisi jade workshop made [this] by commission.
The texts for Sutra of Transcendent Flight can be traced back to the early Six Dynasties, but its origin remains unknown. The sutra details a woman's practice of worship and the cultivation of one's spiritual life, hence reaching immortality. It is therefore not surprising that the earliest surviving sutra fragments were commissioned in 738 by Princess Yuzhen, a daughter of the Tang Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-756), now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met sutra is attributed to the Tang dynasty calligrapher Zhong Shaojing (active 713-741), and the provenance goes back to the Ming literati Dong Qichang (1555-1636). The sutra calligraphy exemplifies the high Tang court style and artistic achievement, and some scholars have speculated that the writings were collected in the Song court before passing to the hands of Dong Qichang.
Jade tubes of this type carved in the outlined style mentioning Xiuneisi and Xuanhe dates have sparked scholarly debates over the past decades. In addition to the unconfirmed existence of jade workshop under Xiuneisi, the Imperial Department of Constructions, the choice of the Buddhist Heart Sutra is a highly unusual order by the Daoist Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1126). Noted by James C.Y. Watt in a lengthy discussion of this group, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, The Asia Society, New York, 1980, pp. 145-150, one hypotheses is that "these pieces were carved during the time of the late Chin-Southern Sung or Yüan periods when the (perhaps undeserved) reputation of the Hsiu-nei-ssu was high and the era of Hsüan-ho was seen in the popular imagination as an age of elegance and refinement, ... was not without attraction to the romantically minded." Jade carvings from this group incised with the Heart Sutra, in the collections of the British Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Cleveland Museum of Art and more, have subsequentially been re-attributed to 12th century or later.
The present lot, however, has the most probability of a Xuanhe attribution. The content of Sutra of Transcendent Flight and the fine, disciplined calligraphy indicate the seriousness of religious practice for a Daoist imperial court; and although an unproven theory, the written calligraphy commissioned by the Tang Princess Yuzhen may have been in Emperor Huizong's collection. The quality of this jade is excellent; and the choice of stone, the polish, and workmanship are consistent with other known Song dynasty jade carvings.
Compare the white jade tube of this type carved with the Heart Sutra, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 27 November 2018, lot 157; and another inscribed with Poem in five-characters by Tao Yuanming of Jin, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3244.