National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

he deduces that they were designed for votive or processional occasions. In
China this object of irregular form becomes a weapon by moving the opening
towards the edge, and by forming two triangular corners (Pl. I, No. 1). This
piece from the Sonnenschein collection is certainly very old. It was whetted so
thin that it can never have been put to practical use, but, just as in Europe, was
for ceremonial purposes alone. The circular opening which was bored by a
centre-bit is funnel shaped, a characteristic of very early periods.

The ordinary axe may be considered as the next typological step (8). Its
form is that of a trapezium with rounded corners, and the opening has become
smaller in diameter.

A neolithic stone axe coming from the east of Lake Baikal (Pl. I, No. 2) per-
fectly corresponds with this description. Now arises the question whether one
should here speak of Chinese influence, or whether there are analogous forms
having as fundamental principle one that was the same for all northwestern
antiquity, or finally whether this weapon was developed under the influence
of Siberia which in its turn transmitted forms coming from the west.

Another possibility of connection in prehistoric times between the west and
countries in northern Asia deserves to be considered. Pelliot quotes the opinion
of H.T. Chang, who believes that the Chinese imported jade from Central
Asia already considered at an early date a most precious material (9). Among
the places he enumerates where this semi-precious stone may be found, he men-
tions the country surrounding Lake Baikal, where in fact there are archaic jade
weapons. A magnificent piece comes from the neighbourhood of Irkutsk
(Pl. I, No. 3), the edges are slightly thinned, the blade very much so. The neo-
lithic axes from Honan are similar in appearance (10). The Cologne Museum
of Far-Eastern Art possesses a "coup de poing" (Pl. I, No. 4) that shows
progress compared to pieces found by Andersson. In this case the mass is
more vigourously wrought so that the convex side is framed by a rim. However,
this piece is still very far from the final form of the Chou period, which rarely
lacks a transversal hole (11). We may compare the Chinese coup de poing,
probably neolithic, with a small specimen of flattened cylindrical shape that was
found to the east of Lake Baikal (Pl. I, No. 5). Because of its round form
it corresponds to a type called "Huan-Kuei" (12).

The development of the axe and of the coup de poing has scarcely been
studied. A statement that forerunners of Chinese jade weapons may be found
in eastern Siberia should not necessarily lead to the hypothesis that one region
was dependant on the other. As in the stone age it is possible that we are face
to face with an evolution developing on the largest of bases, the basis of all
prehistoric mankind.