Liangzhu culture (ca. 2,500 BCE)
Jiangsu Province
Courtesy China Pictorial Service, Beijing

This is an excavation photo, published in 1900, of an unearthed burial site of the Liangzhu culture in Jiangsu province in the central-eastern part of China, near present-day Shanghai. This burial site was unusual for the arrangement and number of bi and cong jades, which can be seen here as they were found surrounding the remains of the body.

The tomb contained the remains of a young adult male about 20 years old, 4 pottery vessels, 14 stone and jade implements, 49 jade ornaments, 24 bi discs, 33 jade cong tubes, and 3 jade axes or yue. The largest bi discs were placed on the chest of the dead person; the rest were placed above the head, beneath the feet and under the body. The largest of the cong tubes consisted of up to 15 segments or levels, each level being marked on the jade by two parallel bands.