Bi disc "Yuan", late Neolithic, Bronze Age, c. 2000-500 BCE, diameter 10.75"; central opening 5". with cinnabar encrustation , fine quality
Different kinds of jade discs with varying widths and ratios
between the width of the
diameter of the central opening and width of the jade band have been
classified in the ancient
Chinese etymological disctionary Er Ya, an 11th
century BCE text. According to this
ancient reference, a disc with a central opening measuring in
width half of the jade
band is called a bi. A disc with
the a central opening measuring twice the jade band
is a yuan and finally a disc with
central opening and jade band of equal width
was deemed a Huan. Presented is this example
of a Yuan.
