Jade censer

Jade censer appeared in Tang dynasty, and was quite popular in Ming and Qing dynasty. This jade censer embodied royal richness and elegance. The animal on the top is called Suanni. As we know, dragon has nine sons, and Suanni is one of them. Suanni likes smoke and prefer quiet environment. So it is quite popular to have Suanni on censer.  

The cover and the cage are the main parts of this collection. On the cover we can see four elements were carved on the concrete part: lotus, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, and they stand for four seasons; other parts of the cover were curved lines. Curved lines were very popular in Tang dynasty. Even nowadays, it is still commonly used for art design. The craft for these 10 rings is very difficult. They are not individual rings combined with the censer, actually they are a part of the jade, the crafts man need to cut and dig and takes long time to make it a ring shape.

There is dragon on each side, and we call this part er. In ancient times, er indicate the social status of its owner. Dragon is the symbol of emperor; therefore, this art work belongs to royal. Dragon ear is one of the most difficult craft for censer. Two big rings on each side to keep the balance of whole art work. Meanwhile, rings on this art work are a special design that can enlarge the art work visually, so it saves jade material.

Ancient Chinese liked symmetry, and symmetry has been considered as a standard for beauty. For this art work, we can see that every part is symmetric horizontally. Symmetry also stands for self-discipline. For gentleman, everything has a limit and he should act under certain principle. This censer is just like a gentleman, it stands there steady, and its shape and lines are stick to symmetric principle. So this censer is not only a practical vessel, it also has a function as displaying. It reminds everyone the importance of self-discipline. There are ten rings in total; ten in China stand for perfect. The round bottle part in the middle symbolize happy ending.