Jadeite Cabbage
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The Jadeite Cabbage () or Jadeite Cabbage with Insects is a piece of
jadeite Jadeite is a pyroxene mineral with composition sodium, Naaluminium, Alsilicon, Si2oxygen, O6. It is hard (Mohs hardness of about 6.5 to 7.0), very tough, and dense, with a specific gravity of about 3.4. It is found in a wide range of colors, bu ...
carved into the shape of a
Chinese cabbage Chinese cabbage (''Brassica rapa'', subspecies ''pekinensis'' and ''chinensis'') can refer to two cultivar groups of leaf vegetables often used in Chinese cuisine: the Pekinensis Group (napa cabbage) and the Chinensis Group (bok choy). These ...
head, and with a
locust Locusts (derived from the Vulgar Latin ''locusta'', meaning grasshopper) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstanc ...
and
katydid Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America), or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, t ...
camouflaged in the leaves. It is part of the collection of the
National Palace Museum The National Palace Museum (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kwet-li̍p kù-kiung pok-vu̍t-yèn), is a museum in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). It has a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts and artworks, many of which wer ...
in
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
.Jadeite Cabbage with Insects
at the National Palace Museum website. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
Despite its popularity with museum-goers and frequent misrepresentation as a national treasure, it is only designated as a significant antiquity, having less rarity and value than required for categorization as a national treasure under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act.
/ref> For example, the Jadeite Cabbage has been called the "most famous masterpiece" of the entire National Palace Museum, and along with the Meat-shaped Stone and the Mao Gong Ding, is today called one of the Three Treasures of the National Palace Museum, a redesignation from several less accessible, infrequently-displayed works. It has also been chosen by the public as the most important item in the museum's entire collection.


Description

The Jadeite Cabbage is a small sculpture. Measuring only and is thick, it is "hardly larger than a human hand".Leslie Hook
"The Jade Cabbage"
''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''. 27 July 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
The ruffled semi-translucent appearance of the leaves is due to the combination of various natural colors of the
jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...
to recreate the color variations of a real cabbage. The figure was carved from a single piece of half-white, half-green jadeite which contained numerous imperfections such as cracks and discolored blotches. These flaws were incorporated into the sculpture and became the veins in the cabbage's stalks and leaves.Sam Ju
"The Crystallization of the Jadeite Cabbage."
Translated by David Smith. ''
Taiwan Panorama Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
''. October 2009. p. 83. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
The sculpture has been considered an allegory of female virtue with the white stalk symbolizing purity, the leaves denoting fertility and abundance and locust and
katydid Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America), or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, t ...
representing children. However, further studies have proven that this interpretation is incorrect with regard to the katydid. There is a poem about an insect "zhongsi" in the Book of Poetry. This insect has been used metaphorically as an auspicious symbol for having many children and grandchildren in Chinese culture. Based on the interpretations of this poem and entomological analyses, this "zhongsi" is very likely a migratory locust. The locust on the Jadeite Cabbage is too small to be positively identified as a migratory locust. However, this "katydid" is definitely a Chinese bush cricket (''Gampsocleis gratiosa'') which is not the "zhongsi" of the Book of Poetry. In fact, the Chinese bush cricket is a singing insect artificially raised and used during the Qing Dynasty to entertain guests at the palace banquet. Consequently, this insect cannot be used as a fertility symbol.


History

The sculptor of the Jadeite Cabbage is unknown. It was first displayed in the
Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...
's Yonghe Palace, the residence of the
Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
's
Guangxu Emperor The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, wi ...
's Consort Jin, who probably received it as part of her dowry for her wedding to Guangxu in 1889. Following the fall of the Qing Empire in the Chinese Revolution of 1911, the sculpture became part of the collection of the
Palace Museum The Palace Museum () is a huge national museum complex housed in the Forbidden City at the core of Beijing, China. With , the museum inherited the imperial royal palaces from the Ming and Qing dynasties of China and opened to the public in 192 ...
in the Forbidden City. Along with a core of that collection, the piece survived the
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
(
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
) and the
Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
and was eventually relocated to Taiwan's National Palace Museum.


References

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External links


Jadeite Cabbage with Insects
at the National Palace Museum website *Leslie Hook
"The Jade Cabbage"
''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''. 27 July 2007. Chinese sculpture National Palace Museum Qing dynasty art 19th-century sculptures Jade Individual hardstone carvings