1-234-101 - The Museum of East Asian Art/Heritage Images

Circular jade pitch pipe, Western Han dynasty, China, 122 BC. A small white jade pitch pipe (luguan) with slight light brown suffusions. There is a faint inscription around one end in clerical or small seal script reading 'yuanshou yuan nian liu Yue bing wu shuo ri zao zhonglu' which translates as 'the 1st day of lunar month 6th month cyclical, 1st year of reign (or regnal period) Yuanshou, this zhonglu made'. The date here is equivalent to 122 BC. Zhonglu is a musical note believed to be the central note on the Chinese scale. The use of jade for pitch pipes was banned by imperial decree in 9 AD, so it seems probably that the date on this piece is accurate. The tupe of script used and its very worn appearance are also indicative that this piece is from the Western Han dynasty, a period when music was particularly popular with conjuring and appeasing spirits.