1 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:07,960 Speaker 1: Hey, are you welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:10,719 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: it is Saturday. Time to go into the vault for 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 1: a classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind. I 5 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,439 Speaker 1: think this is one that you and Christian did back 6 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:22,480 Speaker 1: in right, Yeah, this one is about jade immortality, basically 7 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:27,640 Speaker 1: about the the use of jade and beliefs about jade 8 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: from from Chinese history, particularly how it factors into the 9 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: jade armor that was used in some of these burial practices. 10 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:38,159 Speaker 1: I believe we touched on this a little bit in 11 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:40,919 Speaker 1: uh a later episode that you and I did, oh, 12 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: the one about the tomb of Chin Chi Huang. Yeah, 13 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: we at least touched on it as as part of 14 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: the history of of Chinese funeral traditions. Well, we hope 15 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: you enjoyed this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind. 16 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 17 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:08,320 Speaker 1: Works dot Com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. 18 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and my name is Christian Sager. 19 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: We have kind of like a unofficial series of episodes 20 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: that we've been doing over the course of the last 21 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 1: two years that are related to various Asian cultures and death, 22 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,960 Speaker 1: and this is another one of those. So we've talked 23 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: about ghost burial before, we've talked about Chinese immortality. Uh. 24 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,560 Speaker 1: And then this is also slightly connected to the episode 25 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: that we did on or maybe it was two episodes 26 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: on mummification. Yeah, I feel like we've done two, maybe more. 27 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: I know that we've talked about exploring more and more 28 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: of the mummification cultures throughout the world. I know what 29 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: it is. We we discussed Japanese custom in an episode. Yeah. Oh, 30 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: and then there's also the monks. They have the self 31 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: mummifying monks. Yes, those guys. That's the other one. So 32 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: this is a long those lines. Today we're gonna be 33 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: talking about jade burial suits. And once I got done 34 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: researching this, my first thought was this would be a 35 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: far cooler way to make a new Mummy franchise. They've 36 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: been showing the trailers constantly for that New Mummy movie 37 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: with Tom Cruise that's coming out this summer, and it 38 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: looks awful, and I think that this would be a 39 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 1: cool mummy like this mummy in this giant suit of 40 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: jade armor coming at you. That would be so much fun. Yeah, 41 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: because you look at the images of this, and there 42 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: should be an image of one of these suits of 43 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:36,519 Speaker 1: jade burial armor on the landing page for this episode. 44 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: It's stuffitable your mind dot com. It's uh, it looks 45 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: kind of like the villain in that first Thor movie, 46 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: you know, that big suit of animate armor that he 47 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,720 Speaker 1: fought destroyer. Yeah, it looks kind of like the Destroyer. 48 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: It's it's beautiful, and indeed, I could see an Eastern 49 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: Mummy franchise really having some fun with this. Yeah. That 50 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 1: being said, I did not see the Eastern Mummy entrigue 51 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,359 Speaker 1: like like the third or fourth Mummy film that came out. 52 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: Oh did they do something like that or did Oh? 53 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: I didn't know. I don't know what I having not 54 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: seen it, I can't speak for the mummy design. However, 55 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: I know there's a scene where yet he's attacks, so 56 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: I do kind of want to watch it for that, Huh. 57 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 1: I had no idea that even existed. This is like 58 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: from the nineteen nineties Mummy franchise with a Scorpion King 59 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,359 Speaker 1: and all that. Yeah, this one was post Scorpion King 60 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: and that's about all I know about. Okay, Well, maybe 61 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: we'll talk about that one on trailer Talk when we 62 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: do a Facebook live about these episodes this week. So 63 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,839 Speaker 1: in this episode, we're going we're going to be exploring 64 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: a practice that that is tied directly to the Western 65 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: Han dynasty, and we're gonna, I know a lot of 66 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: you out there are not going to have a real 67 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: firm handle on dynastic Chinese history. Don't worry. We're going 68 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: to root all that where it needs to be placed 69 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: in the in the timeline shortly. But these suits are 70 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: you know, we can call them jade suits, we can 71 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: call them jade armor. In the in manned in they're 72 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: sometimes referred to as you shaw, which are jade caskets, 73 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: or sometimes u y which are jade garments. And it 74 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 1: is essentially a stone garment if you think about that, 75 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: because because jade is a stone, and that's probably a 76 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,479 Speaker 1: great place to start. Really, let's just discuss what jade 77 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: is before we pile on it's supernatural connotations and then 78 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 1: get into Chinese history. Alright, So jade is essentially an 79 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: ornamental green rock. Everyone has probably seen something that he's 80 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: either made of jade or is supposed to be made 81 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: of jade. But then what does that even mean, Yeah, 82 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 1: I'm thinking of like in the local mall that we 83 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: have here, there's like a couple like places where you 84 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: can buy sort of like Chinese themed aesthetic decorations for 85 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 1: the home, and usually there's like a piece of jade 86 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 1: in it somewhere, or it might be made of some 87 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: kind of fake jade. There's those um I forget what 88 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 1: they're called, but they have they're like red uh ribbons 89 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: or um threads and they've got a piece of jade 90 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: woven into them. Oh yeah. You often see little little 91 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: rings of jade, sometimes sometimes worn by by children in 92 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: China still or incorporated into some sort of direct decoration 93 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: or or personal adornment. And uh. The interesting thing here though, 94 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: is that whatever you're calling jade jade is the name 95 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: given to two distinct minerals uh neph right and jaded, 96 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: and in their purest form, either of these is white 97 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: uh in. In Chinese, it's referred to as mutton fat jade. 98 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: And you also have minerals such as iron and chromium 99 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,039 Speaker 1: that give jade it's mini hughes. So there's not just 100 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: one color of jade. It's not like a crayola. This 101 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 1: is jade. Pulled it up to your stone and see 102 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: if it matches between white and like very green, yeah, 103 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: very in darker greens. Yeah. So let's talk about these 104 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: two varieties real quick. Uh. The nef right is sometimes 105 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: referred to as true jade. It's very strong, it has 106 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: a more vivid green coloration. And this is the stuff 107 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: that the Chinese worked with during the Han dynasty, which 108 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: is what we're gonna be talking about today, because jadeit 109 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: wasn't introduced to China until the late sixteen hundreds via Burma. 110 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: So when we're talking about these pieces of jade armor, 111 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: they're made using nef right, not jadeite. Now. Jadeite, on 112 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: the other hand, is more fragile, and it has a 113 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: brilliant gleaming surface when polished. Now jade is usually found 114 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: inside pebbles or boulders, where like the rough stony exterior 115 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: doesn't really give a clue as to what's in there. 116 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,479 Speaker 1: Jade itself, it can't be chipped or flaked, so it 117 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: has to be worn down using a rough paste and 118 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: a combination of rotary discs, grinders, and tools. And during 119 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: the Han dynasty this was probably made. This paste was 120 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: made with water grease, and sand and then iron tools 121 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:05,360 Speaker 1: had been developed specifically for the art and craft of 122 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,360 Speaker 1: working with jade to develop and work it further into 123 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: various forms. Um So, I think this is a good 124 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 1: point for me to just bring up, Like I think 125 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: here in the West, Jade is sort of this very 126 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: like stereotypical attached idea to uh like the orient right, 127 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: It's very bound up in orientalism. Yeah. Like, do you 128 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: remember that video game came out gosh, must have been 129 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: ten fifteen years ago now, Jade Empire. I played the 130 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 1: hell out of that game. Oh was this that was 131 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: just a term based RPG. Yeah, it was made by 132 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: the same people who made the Knights of the Old 133 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: Republic games and the Dragon Age games. Very similar setup 134 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: except for this was in It had a really cool setting. 135 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: But it was like a steampunk mythological China um and 136 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: you know, as such used very like kind of stereotypical 137 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: pieces from that mythology. But still, I mean, I have 138 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: to admit, as much as I love exploring uh Asian history, 139 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: I also love fantasy inspired by Asian So yeah, uh 140 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 1: so I should I should check it out a little bit. 141 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: I don't know. It's one of those where the graphics 142 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: don't really hold up. I mean, I haven't played it 143 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: in so long. I think it was I played it 144 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: on the original Xbox. But it was fun. You got 145 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,680 Speaker 1: like this various group of characters. You would have I 146 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: think like three characters at a time that would go 147 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 1: on these like sort of dungeon crawl missions and like 148 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: one would be a spell It was very D and 149 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: D but it was like we've talked about this on 150 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: the show before, the sort of like racist Oriental Adventures 151 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:39,959 Speaker 1: D and D where they would like, you know, you'd 152 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:41,719 Speaker 1: have a spell caster, you'd have a warrior, and you'd 153 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: have like a ninja or something like that, and they 154 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: would like go there. It was really just like a 155 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: fighter rogue and a magic user um and yeah, they'd 156 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 1: have these various missions. They'd fight monsters from Chinese mythology. Yeah, 157 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,240 Speaker 1: it was fun aesthetically. So there was probably a little 158 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: jade in there, and oh yeah, yeah, I think that 159 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: the jade was a big theme in it. Yeah, well, 160 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:07,839 Speaker 1: jade is is a big theme in uh in Chinese traditions, 161 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: So we should probably discuss what it's supernatural powers were 162 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,960 Speaker 1: thought to be. We've we've given a brief overview of 163 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,960 Speaker 1: its physical properties. Certainly you can go in deeper if 164 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 1: you want to. We're not really a minerals podcast, but 165 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: there's a lot of great information out there about jade 166 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: if that's your thing. As as far as supernatural qualities go, yeah, 167 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: jade was believed to have protective and preservative qualities, warding 168 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: off both decay and evil spirits. I've also read that 169 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:43,119 Speaker 1: some believe jade darkens as the where gets richer, likenses 170 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:45,720 Speaker 1: ticket poorer. So it's kind of like a mood ring 171 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:49,839 Speaker 1: for your you know, your your financial status. That's great. 172 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: Instead of having like an app on your phone that 173 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: tells you how your bank accounts doing, you just have 174 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 1: like a little piece of jade, like like on one 175 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 1: of those red wristbands. Yeah, you meet somebody, you want 176 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,440 Speaker 1: to know where they stand, you just take a peek 177 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 1: of their jade. Now. It's also worth pointing out that 178 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,359 Speaker 1: in terms of just how important jade is in Chinese 179 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 1: tradition and mythology, you have u d the Jade Emperor, 180 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: and he stands as the supreme god in the Chinese 181 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: mythological pantheon. And if you if you actually think back 182 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:23,319 Speaker 1: to the episode on the Chinese zodiac that stuff to 183 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 1: blow your mind did a while back. Uh, there's this 184 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: whole parable of the swimming zodiac animals in a race, 185 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:33,560 Speaker 1: and they're racing for U D. Have you seen any 186 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:37,559 Speaker 1: of those who movies about Dr D. I haven't. I'm 187 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: familiar with him by name, but I haven't watched their 188 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,439 Speaker 1: fun You should check him out now. It's also important 189 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:47,320 Speaker 1: to note that Dallas alchemists as well put put an 190 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:51,080 Speaker 1: emphasis on jade as part of an immortality elixir that 191 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:55,440 Speaker 1: also contained gold, silver, arsenic, and other ores, and it 192 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:59,720 Speaker 1: was said to provide resistance to aging and decay. In fact, 193 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 1: in the three twenty book Po Po which means the 194 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 1: Master Embracing Simplicity, author Gee Hong wrote that gold and 195 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:14,720 Speaker 1: jade inserted into the nine orifices prevented corpses from decaying. Okay, 196 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,440 Speaker 1: so this comes up a lot today when we're talking 197 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: about this jade burial armor. And I wanna establish something here. 198 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: So I read this and I went, I had to 199 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,440 Speaker 1: count my orifices, and I was like, I kept coming 200 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:30,440 Speaker 1: up short. I only counted seven, and then I realized 201 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: they were counting the eyes. Yes, And it might sound 202 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 1: kind of grotesque. To think of eye plugs, but they're 203 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 1: not like corks the ice, more like their little shields. 204 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 1: It's kind of like when cucumbers on the eye. Yeah, 205 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: the one I was going for was how they would 206 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 1: put coins on people's eyes that they could pay the 207 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: ferryman for the river Sharon. But yeah, this is obviously 208 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:56,560 Speaker 1: different mythology, but it's the same principle. It's like little 209 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:00,040 Speaker 1: jade shields that went over your eyes. So apparently I 210 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: don't know if I'm wrong or right, but I never 211 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 1: thought of my eyes as being orifice. Is well, it's 212 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: it's where the light comes in, right, true, something's going 213 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: in there now. It's interesting I mentioned children wearing jade 214 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: bengals earlier and you you still see this used in China. 215 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: And this is the idea here is that this protects 216 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: the child from harm, including soul separating fright by a demon. 217 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: And uh, I actually ran across the cool source for this. 218 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:29,080 Speaker 1: So if we if we ever want to do an 219 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:32,840 Speaker 1: episode on Chinese exorcism, uh, playing off our past episodes 220 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:35,560 Speaker 1: on exorcism, this would be a good one to seek out. 221 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,400 Speaker 1: I think that's hard, yes from me, but audience, let 222 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:42,960 Speaker 1: us know if you're interested in Chinese exorcism. Now in 223 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 1: terms of other associations, some traditional Chinese medicine approaches call 224 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:50,720 Speaker 1: for the use of jade massaging tools to help I 225 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,120 Speaker 1: was reading about using it on wrinkles on the face. 226 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: And they are also ingredients with jade in the name 227 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: in Chinese traditional medicine. They're not shy jade, such as 228 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:05,680 Speaker 1: a jade windscreen powder that's just a dried root of 229 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 1: of a particular plant, but it has nothing to do 230 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: with the mineral itself. So even though like we're well 231 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: past this sort of you know, myth that jade has 232 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: this ability to stave off the k it's still used 233 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:22,400 Speaker 1: in a lot of those sort of I guess homeopathic methodologies. 234 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:26,200 Speaker 1: Like I was reading about the one of the ones, uh, 235 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 1: the ancient Chinese jade stone being used, like I think 236 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,040 Speaker 1: they would like wrap it around your neck and it 237 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 1: was supposed to help you with T M J H. Yeah, 238 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,080 Speaker 1: I mean it's I mean ultimately comes down to the 239 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: idea that here is this very beautiful, cool looking stone 240 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,120 Speaker 1: that came out of the ground. Surely it's worth keeping 241 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 1: around for something, right. Yeah, it reminds me of hematite. 242 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: There's there's similar stuff surrounding hematite. Yeah, but just I 243 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: think in different cultures, and you know a lot of 244 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,080 Speaker 1: this bleeds into into other cultures outside of China. I know, 245 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:57,559 Speaker 1: if you if you happen to visit a Korean sauna, 246 00:13:57,640 --> 00:13:59,600 Speaker 1: and we have one of these in the Atlanta Era 247 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: and j June um and and I love going there. 248 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 1: They have these various saunas that sauna rooms that have 249 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 1: different minerals there, and they have one that has jade 250 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 1: in it. And the idea here is that quote jade 251 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:17,160 Speaker 1: increases metabolism, improve circulation, and relieves arthritis pain. All right, now, 252 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 1: this is giving me an idea for a business, and 253 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: I'm not very entrepreneurial, so maybe somebody out there can 254 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 1: start this. So you combine the jade sauna idea with 255 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:32,440 Speaker 1: the floatation sensory deprivation tank, and you build a sensory 256 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:36,359 Speaker 1: deprivation tank out of jade, and then you climb inside 257 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: that and you float in salinated water for an hour. 258 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: That would be amazing because that's what that's something that's 259 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: kind of lacking with with float tank scenarios is they 260 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: are very they're very secular. Yeah, they could use a 261 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: little um mystical spicing. Yeah, yeah, that would be fun. 262 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: I'd do it. Yeah, plug plug our orifices with us, 263 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: give me nine pieces of jade. All right, Well, before 264 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: we get those nine pieces of jade, why don't we 265 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: take a quick break, and when we get back, we're 266 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,000 Speaker 1: gonna give you a little bit of a rundown on 267 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 1: the Western Han dynasty. Alright, we're back. So I realized 268 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: Chinese dynastics secession can be confusing for folks. Uh and 269 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:24,520 Speaker 1: and certainly especially if you're just going from zero trying 270 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 1: to go to from zero to fifty on it. It's 271 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 1: it's a lot to take. I will admit. I mean, 272 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: as some listeners know, I spent time in China as 273 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: a kid. I learned Mandarin growing up, and I lived 274 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: in Singapore during high school, and Chinese history is completely 275 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: lost on me. It's really tough for me to keep 276 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: track of it. Yeah, I I'm constantly referring back to 277 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 1: the chart with the with the dynasty's. Now. I know 278 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: there's a little song I've heard people sing this where 279 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: it's Fred Fred Jacka, except it's it's the different dynasties. 280 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 1: I have not heard that, Okay, I when I say 281 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:00,280 Speaker 1: I've heard it, I've I've seen a video with two 282 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 1: old white Chinese scholars singing it to each other as 283 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 1: an example of something you learn in school when you're 284 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: learning about Chinese sisters. All right, so it's like a 285 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 1: new modic device. Yeah, okay, so we're not gonna throw 286 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 1: it all at you. Basically, we're gonna go from the 287 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 1: beginning up until the Han dynasty just and throughout the years, 288 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: so you can place it in the general time frame. 289 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 1: And uh, the Han dynasty is essentially the fourth or 290 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: fifth dynasty or the second Imperial Dynasty. It ultimately depends 291 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: on what you count as a dynasty. Uh. And and 292 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: this has to do with sort of a legendary mythic time. 293 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 1: So let's start from the beginning. First, up, you have 294 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: the Shod dynasty. This is to six b C. And 295 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:50,680 Speaker 1: it's largely mythological, with some very early Bronze Age evidence. 296 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 1: So yeah, this is the time of gods and heroes 297 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: and so. And this is why some don't actually count 298 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 1: this in terms of historical dynasties. But then comes the 299 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:05,200 Speaker 1: Shan dynasty, and this was long considered apocryphal, but his 300 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:09,440 Speaker 1: historians now correlated with oracle Bone writings. This period takes 301 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:14,359 Speaker 1: us up to roughly even twenty three b C. And 302 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 1: the Joe dynasty. Now this is the first millennium BC, 303 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:20,920 Speaker 1: and this is a time of conflict in China. And 304 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: there are two periods here that are a particular note, 305 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:26,400 Speaker 1: and that's the Spring and Autumn from seven eighty one 306 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: b C and the Warring States period four through to 307 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:33,880 Speaker 1: b C. Okay, So what I'm seeing here so far 308 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: is it seems like these dynasties lasts you know, roughly 309 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: around five years. Yeah, yeah, so so far. Now, at 310 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 1: the end of the Warring States period, the Chin Dynasty begins, 311 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: and this is when the Chin Kingdom conquered other central 312 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 1: Chinese states and became the first truly imperial dynasty under 313 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,879 Speaker 1: Chin cha Hung, the first Emperor of China. And it 314 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:02,639 Speaker 1: was during this rule that the Northern Border Wall was implemented, 315 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,359 Speaker 1: what we now call the Great Wall, and in the 316 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:10,400 Speaker 1: first of many peasant uprisings to to echo through Chinese history, 317 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 1: Lubang rose up and conquered China to found finally the 318 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 1: Han dynasty and two oh six b c E. And 319 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: this was only you know, fifteen years later, Okay. So 320 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:22,720 Speaker 1: this this is where we're zoning in on in terms 321 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 1: of this jade burial armor being created, right, But there's 322 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 1: obviously many dynasties afterwards. So yeah, the Han dynasty is 323 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,159 Speaker 1: is big money early on like this is uh, this 324 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: is again a time of things coming together, of unity. 325 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: Certainly there's still lots of lingering problems as with any 326 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 1: imperial scenario, but but it's it's a time where, uh, 327 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:46,920 Speaker 1: where there's a there's enough there are enough riches out there, 328 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:50,919 Speaker 1: there's enough specialization that you can have something like a 329 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:55,160 Speaker 1: fancy funeral tradition take place. Now, overall, the Han dynasty 330 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: run ran from two o two or two oh six 331 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: b C until two one CE, so you were talking 332 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,439 Speaker 1: about a pretty long stretch here, uh, and that at 333 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:08,960 Speaker 1: the end of this in to C that's when everything 334 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: splits into the three kingdoms. But we divided the Han 335 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:16,440 Speaker 1: dynasty up into the first the former or Western Han dynasty, 336 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: and the and also the later or Eastern Han dynasty. 337 00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: And that's because in the midst of this uh, this 338 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 1: long you know, four century stretch, you have a rebellion 339 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: take place, and so and basically what happens is Han 340 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 1: dynasty official Wang Mang sees his power and UH and 341 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: and this is referred to as the Shin dynasty nine 342 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:44,120 Speaker 1: through D. He does a pretty poor job. And then 343 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,000 Speaker 1: the hans A reclaimed power in twenty a d after 344 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 1: besieging the Imperial Palace. He dies in the process. So 345 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:53,719 Speaker 1: in other words, you have to four hundred years of 346 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:56,879 Speaker 1: of Han rule. But there's this one little period where 347 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: a usurper, like a twenty period or actually less than 348 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,679 Speaker 1: twenty years of this one guy ruling and they just 349 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,960 Speaker 1: getting taken down. So again, this is an influential four 350 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: centuries in Chinese history saw the institution of Confucian norms, 351 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:15,880 Speaker 1: the roots of the imperial examination system, UH, the an 352 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: age of great economic, technological, cultural, and social progress. Hans 353 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:23,640 Speaker 1: still refers to the main Chinese ethnic group. And this 354 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: is again also the period that gives us these these 355 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: amazing jade burial suits. Okay, so we've teased enough. What's 356 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,679 Speaker 1: a jade burial suit? Because I think when I first 357 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 1: heard about this, my thought was that it was like 358 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 1: Iron Man, and it was, but iron Man made of jade, 359 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:44,119 Speaker 1: and that's not correct. There's thousands of little pieces and 360 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,360 Speaker 1: these things. Yeah, it's between two thousand and four thousand 361 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: of these little jade pieces, all of its sewn together, 362 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: and it's sewn together depending on your station, it might 363 00:20:54,359 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: be gold, silver, or silk. So really the suit described 364 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: option is probably better. This is a a suit made 365 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: for a corpse, and it's a suit made of maybe 366 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: you know, mostly stone, and maybe gold and silver or 367 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 1: silk as well. I can't imagine that a living person 368 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: could wear one of these and and move. It would 369 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: be incredibly heavy. Yeah, only a supernatural um, you know, 370 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:24,159 Speaker 1: undead being in Hollywood movie could do it. Now, we 371 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: referred back to our episode on ghost burial earlier, and 372 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: and I do want to touch on on that real 373 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 1: quick because one of a couple of the ideas we 374 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 1: discussed in there are central to understanding why this much 375 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:39,359 Speaker 1: care was was taken, uh, you know for a dead individual. 376 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:45,880 Speaker 1: So we we discussed the importance of siao the filial 377 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 1: pity and Chinese tradition is rooted in Dallas to philosophy 378 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 1: Confucian family values, and it concerns the undying nature of 379 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:56,560 Speaker 1: the human soul. You know, the dead live on in 380 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 1: the afterlife. Uh. And then they're also tied to this 381 00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:03,720 Speaker 1: Chinese no of of of structural completeness, right, that you 382 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 1: have this this basic unity of the family and if everything, 383 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,560 Speaker 1: if anything, is out of out of place there, it's 384 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 1: going to cause disharmony in your life and potentially in 385 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 1: the afterlife. Yeah, we went into far greater detail on 386 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 1: this in the Ghost Burial episode, but I wanted to 387 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: reference a USA Today article that was specifically about the 388 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: jade burial suits and how it referred to this to 389 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:30,200 Speaker 1: for Western readers. So it claims that tombs in general 390 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,920 Speaker 1: were thought to be portals between the living and the dead. 391 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:35,879 Speaker 1: And basically the concept was, and this is similar to 392 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,800 Speaker 1: what we went over in Ghost Burial, the soul was divided. 393 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:40,640 Speaker 1: There's one part of the soul that goes to heaven, 394 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:42,479 Speaker 1: the other part stays in the body, and the one 395 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: that's in the body had to be appeased or else 396 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: it would turn evil, while the one that goes to 397 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:51,000 Speaker 1: heaven acted on behalf of the loved ones by offering 398 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: them either protection or good fortune. And this is why 399 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:57,200 Speaker 1: the living tried to ensure that the deceased were well 400 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:01,840 Speaker 1: provided for in death. So you get very similar death 401 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:06,199 Speaker 1: rituals to the Egyptians in that like people are buried 402 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,639 Speaker 1: with their things, with things that they think will keep 403 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: them comfortable. Yeah, there's this this this mix though with 404 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,639 Speaker 1: the the ancestor of veneration that it's not only is 405 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,639 Speaker 1: this somebody that deserved a proper burial and deserves to 406 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:23,240 Speaker 1: be you know, buried and with the things that they loved. 407 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: This is also someone who can speak on your behalf 408 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:28,560 Speaker 1: in the afterlife, Like, this is an important contact to have. 409 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:30,440 Speaker 1: So you want them to be happy, You want to 410 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:32,879 Speaker 1: do right by them. So the very first one of 411 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 1: these suits, which is part of that, was documented in 412 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:42,440 Speaker 1: literature around a d three twenty. But that's documented in literature. 413 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,440 Speaker 1: We didn't find them until far afterward. Yeah, it wasn't 414 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 1: until nineteen fifty eight that the suit hypothesis here that 415 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: that these little jade pieces we were we were finding 416 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: were part of the jade suit. You know, it was 417 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:57,680 Speaker 1: just a theory at the time. And uh, it wasn't 418 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:02,880 Speaker 1: until we actually found a really undisturbed tomb nine in nine, 419 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:06,760 Speaker 1: two tombs and heavy and this is where we found 420 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:10,400 Speaker 1: tombs undisturbed by looters or mining efforts, and it resulted 421 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: in two complete, recovered and restored suits of jade armor. 422 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 1: And this is quite a story. And if you've you know, well, 423 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:19,639 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about this, but museums here in 424 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,159 Speaker 1: the United States have had these suits one or the 425 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 1: other brought around on tour basically, right, And so it's 426 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:30,879 Speaker 1: possible that you've actually seen one of these sort of 427 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: restructured and put on display in a museum here in 428 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:38,120 Speaker 1: the West. But uh, that's weird to me. I'll talk 429 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: about it more later after we get through it, but 430 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: I think it's a little it's it seems slightly offensive 431 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: to me, especially given the nature of why it was 432 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: built in the first place. Now you mentioned restored, and 433 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:49,479 Speaker 1: that's key because if you see one of these new 434 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 1: museum on display, it is almost assuredly been restored because 435 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:58,720 Speaker 1: despite the ideas tied up with jade, jade doesn't or 436 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:00,840 Speaker 1: at least the jade suit is it was executed, does 437 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,119 Speaker 1: not actually preserve the body. So the body ends up 438 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:07,720 Speaker 1: rotting away, there's nothing left but bone. The suit collapses, 439 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 1: and then sometimes the casket collapses as well on top 440 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:12,399 Speaker 1: of it, so everything has to be put back together. 441 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,440 Speaker 1: Now you actually have seen one, right, Uh, yeah, I 442 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,399 Speaker 1: think I've seen a couple, but the one that I 443 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 1: got to see in China is the one that impressed 444 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 1: me the most. It was at the Museum of the 445 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: Western Han Dynasty, Mausoleum of the Nanyu King and Guang Show. 446 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 1: So I was there with my wife, my my my 447 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,959 Speaker 1: newly acquired son. He was not impressed at all as 448 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,480 Speaker 1: I strolled him around in the stroke how old was he? 449 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:41,399 Speaker 1: Though he was like two or three, he was like 450 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:43,800 Speaker 1: he was one and a half. He was not having 451 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,680 Speaker 1: any of it. But but the tomb was. It was 452 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: really impressive for me anyway. Uh. It was a hidden 453 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,720 Speaker 1: twenty meters sixty five point six ft underground and the 454 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 1: king himself was covered with with a with a silk 455 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:03,160 Speaker 1: and two thousand two pieces of jade to compose his suit. 456 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: And the whole tomb really had the feel of just 457 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:08,159 Speaker 1: a cosmic vessel, and that this was the suit of 458 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: a of a necronot, you know. Uh yeah, but very 459 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: much in keeping with with the feeling that I get 460 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:18,800 Speaker 1: from from any kind of Egyptian artifacts. Now a number 461 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: of other such jade suits accompanied by hordes of silks, 462 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 1: lacquer ware, figurines, and bronzes. You'll find these displayed in 463 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: many Chinese museums. H they turn up as you pointed out, 464 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:34,800 Speaker 1: in an international Collections and Traveling Exhibits and three count 465 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 1: from the Institute of Archaeology and Beijing claimed ten thousand 466 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:42,240 Speaker 1: Han tombs had been discovered, and this resulted in twenty 467 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:46,800 Speaker 1: tombs with twenty three jade suit remain. All right, we're 468 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:48,760 Speaker 1: gonna take a quick break and then when we come back, 469 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: we'll jump right back into it. All right, we're back. 470 00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:58,200 Speaker 1: So one of the things that I was reading was 471 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:00,480 Speaker 1: that at the time that these were being made, and 472 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,959 Speaker 1: this goes along with our episode on Egyptian mummification. I mean, 473 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 1: this was a process. It wasn't just like they had 474 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:09,920 Speaker 1: Jade's suits ready to go right. Um. These suits would 475 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,840 Speaker 1: have taken the most skilled of jade smith's over ten 476 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 1: years to make. So they were either building them before 477 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:22,680 Speaker 1: the person died, or the person died, they were probably 478 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,160 Speaker 1: embalmed in some way, and then the suit was built 479 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:31,160 Speaker 1: around them ten years after they had passed away. Now, 480 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,359 Speaker 1: as should be obvious from that ten thousand tombs, twenty 481 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:38,240 Speaker 1: three Jade's suit remains a figure there. These were not 482 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:43,240 Speaker 1: for everybody. These were specifically for members of the Han aristocracy, 483 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:45,760 Speaker 1: because ultimately, who else is going to afford a low 484 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:50,640 Speaker 1: luxury burial item like this, UH, the the work John 485 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 1: Show or the Book of the Later Han. The Chinese 486 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 1: court document from this time explained that your your rank 487 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:02,080 Speaker 1: determined what sort of jade's suit you were well suited for. Uh. 488 00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:06,679 Speaker 1: Emperors had gold threaded jade suits, vassal king's high ranking 489 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:10,240 Speaker 1: imperial concubines and princesses had jade suits with silver thread, 490 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:14,639 Speaker 1: and dowager concupines and sisters of the emperor lesser aristocrats 491 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 1: had suits with copper thread. I wouldn't be offended to 492 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:20,880 Speaker 1: wear a copper one, No I would. I would. I'd 493 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: be happy with with with copper or if anybody needs 494 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:29,760 Speaker 1: a dowager concubine call me now. Sometimes there were added decorations. 495 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,119 Speaker 1: Emperor Woo's suit was decorated with imagery of the flood 496 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,480 Speaker 1: dragon and other sacred creatures, and this is referred to 497 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:37,960 Speaker 1: as the flood Dragon jade suit. But a lot of 498 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 1: them are going to be, you know, featureless polished jade. Yeah. 499 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:44,120 Speaker 1: One thing to remember here too, is like we're thrown 500 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 1: down in terms of gold and silver and copper, is 501 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,640 Speaker 1: that jade was more valuable in China than gold or 502 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,440 Speaker 1: silver was in the West and jade crafting. As we 503 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:56,040 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, it achieved its height during the reign of 504 00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:59,560 Speaker 1: Emperor Chien long Uh, and that was from seventeen thirty 505 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:04,440 Speaker 1: six to seventeen CE. He actually made all jade in 506 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,520 Speaker 1: the country his private property, and the idea was that 507 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,840 Speaker 1: if anybody tried to trade jade, it was punishable by 508 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,000 Speaker 1: death because he he owned it all, regardless of whether 509 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 1: or not it was actually in his possession. Now this 510 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 1: ties in nicely with the next point, and that's that 511 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,240 Speaker 1: evidence supports the theory that this was a There was 512 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: probably a centralized place or a couple of places for 513 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 1: manufacturing these suits. Um artisans would work on what was 514 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 1: again essentially a luxury item, So you can't just go 515 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,640 Speaker 1: anywhere and get a jade suit and um. And while 516 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:38,360 Speaker 1: these still couldn't today, yeah, I mean unless unless you 517 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 1: know a guy UM. It's also worth noting that while 518 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:45,600 Speaker 1: these items were for specific members of Han aristocracy, there 519 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:49,600 Speaker 1: were violations, including an account and this was shared in 520 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:51,840 Speaker 1: a in a paper that will will sign on the 521 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 1: landing page by Jeffrey Cow and Yang Joe Shing. And 522 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,640 Speaker 1: this was the tale of a eunuch named Joo Jong 523 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: who secretly buried his father in a jade suit, but 524 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: then he was found out and so the casket was 525 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:07,200 Speaker 1: opened up uh and um and busted out, and his 526 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:10,880 Speaker 1: entire family was imprisoned for the for the for the crime. 527 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:13,239 Speaker 1: Think about that, I mean, like, given how difficult these 528 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,920 Speaker 1: things are to make, Like somehow you secretly had one 529 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:19,120 Speaker 1: of those, made you bury your dad in it, and 530 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 1: then you're found out and caught and just like utterly 531 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:26,360 Speaker 1: punished for it. That's that's that's story, Yeah, I mean, 532 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 1: and it shows how how how important all of this 533 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: was to the culture at the time. You know, this 534 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 1: was this was not just you couldn't just be frivolous 535 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,000 Speaker 1: and get a jade suit. No, the jade suit was 536 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:41,160 Speaker 1: for particular members of society, and to violate uh those 537 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 1: those societal divisions was was a dire matter. Now, we 538 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:48,200 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier how in the in the late nineteen fifties 539 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: you had this hypothesis these little jade pieces everyone was 540 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:55,440 Speaker 1: finding were we're bits of a jade suit, but that 541 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: it wasn't until ninety eight when they found those two 542 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:01,960 Speaker 1: tombs and heavy this is when we actually had evidence, 543 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 1: we actually had too complete recovered and ultimately restored suits 544 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: of jade armor and uh in particular, they were lushing 545 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 1: printaging of the Kingdom of jeong Shan. So this was 546 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:18,040 Speaker 1: the son of the Western Han Emperor Jing and his 547 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:22,400 Speaker 1: consort dal Juan. Now, while their bodies were undisturbed, the 548 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: corpses had collapsed, the casket had collapsed, but everything was 549 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 1: still in place. He had gold thread, she had silk. 550 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:34,920 Speaker 1: His suit contained two thousand four jade pieces, hers contained 551 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,800 Speaker 1: at two thousand, one hundred sixty And in both suits 552 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: the only the outer surfaces were polished and the inner 553 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:44,760 Speaker 1: surfaces were scarred by circular cutting tools and straight edge tools, 554 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:46,920 Speaker 1: the very tools that you referred to earlier for the 555 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: shaping of jade. Yeah. And while the jade you know, 556 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:53,400 Speaker 1: didn't protect their bodies from decomposition as was thought, the 557 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 1: porous rock that was actually in this this I guess 558 00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: cave is the best way to describe it, did have 559 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 1: absorbed a capabilities. When they were found in nineteen archaeologists 560 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:08,760 Speaker 1: had to work through get this two brick walls and 561 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:11,720 Speaker 1: a thick plate of molten iron that had been poured 562 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:14,880 Speaker 1: between them. And this is obviously because of how bad 563 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 1: the grave robbing thing had become and and partially why 564 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:22,719 Speaker 1: this one was hadn't been robbed yet, you know. Uh, 565 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,800 Speaker 1: so they had to work their way through this. Lu 566 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: Sheng's body had those jade plugs that we talked about earlier. 567 00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:31,280 Speaker 1: He had him in his nose, ears, and mouth, and 568 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:34,480 Speaker 1: then the little jade shields for his eyes. They also 569 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:39,000 Speaker 1: each had guilt bronze headrests that were inlaid with jade, 570 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: and they held jade crescents in their hand. Now, the 571 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:44,800 Speaker 1: coffin that was found on the floor that was made 572 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 1: of four thousand pieces of jade, and it had just 573 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:49,920 Speaker 1: completely fallen apart into a pile on the Tumbe floor. 574 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:53,080 Speaker 1: There were also lots of sculptures, as we mentioned earlier. 575 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:56,320 Speaker 1: They they they've placed lots of little items around too 576 00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: that were also made of jade, including those of a bixie, 577 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:04,080 Speaker 1: which was a mythological powerful winged beast that averted evil. 578 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 1: And I included a picture in here. It's kind of 579 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:08,400 Speaker 1: it's kind of like a dragon. It's like a cross 580 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 1: between like a dragon and a dog with it's got wings. Yeah, 581 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:16,000 Speaker 1: I keep wanting to do like a full exploration as 582 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: if such a thing were possible. Of of Chinese dragons 583 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 1: because there's so many different varieties and there are a 584 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:24,280 Speaker 1: lot of things where you look at them and you think, oh, 585 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:26,320 Speaker 1: well that's a dragon or that's kind of a dragon turtle. 586 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,880 Speaker 1: But they all have very particular identities and symbol and 587 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:33,360 Speaker 1: symbolic power like you would and it would depend where 588 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:35,680 Speaker 1: you would want to engrave one or include a statue 589 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:39,600 Speaker 1: of one. You would protect certain certain structures. You know. 590 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 1: I think I pronounced that opinion wrong too, because I 591 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:43,960 Speaker 1: just went with Bixie because it looks like it rhymes 592 00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:46,280 Speaker 1: with pixie. But I think it's supposed to be be 593 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,640 Speaker 1: she Okay, So I look at it looks like a 594 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:53,320 Speaker 1: Bixie when I can imagine his name m Pixie. I Hey, 595 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 1: there's the Pokemon of their time. I mean, this thing 596 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:58,720 Speaker 1: looks pretty cool. It's it's kind of like a fat 597 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:04,280 Speaker 1: chested wagon dog. Indeed, now, obviously, when we when we 598 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:06,440 Speaker 1: look at the jade burial suits, we're looking at the 599 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:09,960 Speaker 1: convergence of two different customs, burial in armor and the 600 00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:12,760 Speaker 1: sacred use of jade. So there are plenty of examples 601 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:17,200 Speaker 1: of of of just normal decorative armor suits that were 602 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:21,640 Speaker 1: worn by bodies prior to this, and the actually the 603 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:23,800 Speaker 1: prince that we just referred to, I believe he was 604 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:26,960 Speaker 1: buried with a suit of armor, and the suit of 605 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:30,880 Speaker 1: armor was actually of more modern design, but he was 606 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:33,040 Speaker 1: that that was just included with him, and he was 607 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,200 Speaker 1: actually buried, of course, in the jade armor. Now my 608 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:38,800 Speaker 1: understanding is these two in particular that we're referring to, 609 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:42,000 Speaker 1: these are the ones that are touring around the world 610 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:45,960 Speaker 1: and you can see them in various museum locations. Yes, 611 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,200 Speaker 1: I believe so. All right, so you're probably wondering, well, then, 612 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:51,440 Speaker 1: what happens to the jade suit. It's like, this is 613 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:54,439 Speaker 1: a pretty fantastic tradition. Why does it fade away? Why 614 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:58,719 Speaker 1: does something so rich and so ornate just vanish? And 615 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:01,600 Speaker 1: the answer is interesting the answering. The answer has to 616 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:04,200 Speaker 1: do with all of those plundered tombs. Yeah, it's all 617 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:08,320 Speaker 1: about grave robbing. Yeah, and this was fascinating and disturbing 618 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 1: as well when we read what the the the the 619 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:16,080 Speaker 1: the tomb raiders would do with the suits when they 620 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:19,960 Speaker 1: pilfered them. Yeah, there were more than two dozen suits 621 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:24,160 Speaker 1: that have been discovered since. But the reason why there 622 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: aren't more is because in a D two D and 623 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:31,040 Speaker 1: twenty three Emperor when of Way ordered that the production 624 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:34,760 Speaker 1: of them had to be stopped because of so much looting. 625 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:37,080 Speaker 1: And what would happen is these looters would go in 626 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:40,319 Speaker 1: and they would burn the suits solely so they could 627 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:43,120 Speaker 1: retrieve the gold thread that was within. They didn't care 628 00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:45,879 Speaker 1: about the jade. And as you pointed out off air, well, 629 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:47,719 Speaker 1: if you had these little pieces of jade that were 630 00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:49,920 Speaker 1: perfectly cut down to make a suit, you can't go 631 00:35:50,239 --> 00:35:52,480 Speaker 1: sell that on the black market because somebody is going 632 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:56,120 Speaker 1: to know, oh, this must have come from the specific suit, 633 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:59,040 Speaker 1: from the specific prints. But gold you can melt down 634 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:01,440 Speaker 1: and turn in whatever you once, so you can always 635 00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:03,759 Speaker 1: come up with a story about that gold. But those 636 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:07,360 Speaker 1: jade pieces were clearly stolen from an important person's body, 637 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:09,520 Speaker 1: and you might as well just walk around with a 638 00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:14,719 Speaker 1: sign and mandarin that says execute me now. You you 639 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:18,000 Speaker 1: refer back earlier to the poorest nature of the jade. 640 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:21,879 Speaker 1: And there is this this idea that is put out 641 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:26,280 Speaker 1: there that even though jade does not have any magical 642 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:30,200 Speaker 1: body preserving properties, and you know, despite the fact that 643 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:34,680 Speaker 1: no soft tissue has been been found preserved by these 644 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:38,320 Speaker 1: funeral rights, it has been suggested that this the poorest 645 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:42,160 Speaker 1: nature of the stone itself might actually preserve some genetic material, 646 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:45,759 Speaker 1: and that you know, d NA might be found intermixed 647 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,640 Speaker 1: with the jade. A lot of accounts of this notion 648 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:53,480 Speaker 1: refer back to a piece of title Immortal Jade by 649 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:55,920 Speaker 1: Sherry Uh to Lynco and this is published in the 650 00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:59,040 Speaker 1: Canadian Medical Journal. But to my knowledge, there's been no 651 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,640 Speaker 1: actual evidence for this thus far. Okay, but I could 652 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:06,840 Speaker 1: see why it would be an interesting avenue of research, Like, 653 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:11,560 Speaker 1: there's some possibilities for genealogical research, especially you know, you 654 00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:14,759 Speaker 1: mentioned the Han ethnic group earlier. Related to that, that 655 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,040 Speaker 1: could be some interesting stuff if you're looking at DNA samples. Yeah. 656 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:20,400 Speaker 1: I think one of the problems there is that is 657 00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:23,960 Speaker 1: that that we do have Uh tombs and graves from 658 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,440 Speaker 1: the Han dynasty that we're able to study and and 659 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:31,399 Speaker 1: get genetic information from. So it's not like these would 660 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:34,080 Speaker 1: be the one place we would find it. Yeah, and 661 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:36,719 Speaker 1: this so this leads into my I know I mentioned 662 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:40,840 Speaker 1: this earlier, but it's just it seems really weirdly offensive 663 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:43,239 Speaker 1: that these relics are kind of pulled out of where 664 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 1: they were kept, trotted out across the world and displayed 665 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,920 Speaker 1: in museums. I remember the High Museum here in Atlanta 666 00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:53,719 Speaker 1: had the Terracotta warriors a couple of years ago, and 667 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:57,560 Speaker 1: they were very cool. But the so my understanding was 668 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:00,279 Speaker 1: those terracotta warriors were buried with, you know, on one 669 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:02,839 Speaker 1: very much like these jade suits were, and I felt 670 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:05,960 Speaker 1: similar then. I don't know. I suppose if they didn't 671 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,800 Speaker 1: do this, the tombs would eventually be looted by somebody. 672 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:12,520 Speaker 1: But to me, I guess the idea more along the 673 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:14,600 Speaker 1: lines of what you saw when you were in China 674 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:17,239 Speaker 1: is you go to the actual site itself and you 675 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:20,720 Speaker 1: see them that is at least like sort of compromising. 676 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:24,480 Speaker 1: You're allowing them to keep these suits that they uh 677 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:28,839 Speaker 1: that they believed we're going to protect them in the afterlife. Yeah, 678 00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:31,320 Speaker 1: I mean, I guess this gets into a more complicated 679 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:34,279 Speaker 1: issue and and and it's gonna vary, you know, from 680 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:36,399 Speaker 1: culture to culture, and depending how far back in time 681 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:38,839 Speaker 1: you're going, Because I it was instantly makes me think 682 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:41,080 Speaker 1: back to when I was at the Field Museum in Chicago. 683 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:43,000 Speaker 1: Instantly we went up there for C. Two e two 684 00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:45,880 Speaker 1: and Joe and I went over there, and they have 685 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:49,800 Speaker 1: a wonderful Native American section a lot of it devoted 686 00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:54,799 Speaker 1: to Northwest Coast Native people's and uh, you know, they 687 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:58,960 Speaker 1: have masks, they have costumes, details about their various you know, 688 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:03,160 Speaker 1: rich um spiritual traditions. But there's a section that they've 689 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:06,840 Speaker 1: completely um marked off. You can't see into it anymore 690 00:39:07,239 --> 00:39:14,080 Speaker 1: because the display depicts uh, important artifacts from their funeral rights. Okay, yeah, okay, 691 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:16,520 Speaker 1: So somewhere along the line, like maybe that tribe and 692 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:19,719 Speaker 1: its current iteration said we're uncomfortable with us, please don't 693 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:22,400 Speaker 1: do it. Yeah, so it's like a current people saying 694 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:25,480 Speaker 1: this is we find this to be disrespectful. This needs 695 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:28,279 Speaker 1: to be handled in a more appropriate manner. I'd be 696 00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:31,560 Speaker 1: curious if there's if there's anyone in China who feels 697 00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:34,279 Speaker 1: that way about this stuff, or if it's just kind 698 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:39,560 Speaker 1: of like they've moved past that uh veneration for this 699 00:39:39,719 --> 00:39:43,600 Speaker 1: particular dynasty and they're okay with you know, sending them 700 00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:46,279 Speaker 1: around the world and having them looked at because I 701 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,399 Speaker 1: guess in a way it spreads Chinese culture. Yeah, yeah, 702 00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:51,120 Speaker 1: it's curious. Well, if you're a listener out there and 703 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:53,160 Speaker 1: you have any idea, maybe you've lived in China or 704 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:56,800 Speaker 1: your Chinese yourself please let us know. I'd be curious indeed. 705 00:39:56,920 --> 00:40:00,360 Speaker 1: So so there you have it. Hopefully we've provided decent 706 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:07,160 Speaker 1: snapshot of another just really interesting funeral tradition. Uh A 707 00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:10,800 Speaker 1: an artistic tradition, a time period, a little about the 708 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:15,160 Speaker 1: mineral and the possibility of some sort of genetic material 709 00:40:15,239 --> 00:40:19,680 Speaker 1: actually being preserved by this, uh this supernaturally infused a 710 00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:23,560 Speaker 1: funeral rite. Now, I guess some people are probably thinking 711 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:25,200 Speaker 1: that I'm a bit of a hypocrite because I started 712 00:40:25,239 --> 00:40:27,600 Speaker 1: off the episode saying I would love to see a 713 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:32,600 Speaker 1: movie about a jade burial suited mummy, but at the 714 00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:35,680 Speaker 1: same time I kind of am uncomfortable about actually looking 715 00:40:35,719 --> 00:40:38,480 Speaker 1: at the real thing. So, you know, I'd be curious 716 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:41,000 Speaker 1: if you If you've got any information about this that 717 00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:43,880 Speaker 1: we missed, please let us know. You can reach out 718 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:47,640 Speaker 1: to us on social media. We're on Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Instagram. 719 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:50,279 Speaker 1: If you've seen these before and you've got details that 720 00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:51,840 Speaker 1: you want to let us know about, please tell us 721 00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:54,520 Speaker 1: that too, or maybe even some pictures that would be cool. 722 00:40:55,239 --> 00:40:58,719 Speaker 1: Uh do you wear jade? If you wear ja, lets 723 00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:01,840 Speaker 1: share any kind of you know, supernatural ideas that you 724 00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:04,719 Speaker 1: carry around with it, and then you can always visit 725 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:06,960 Speaker 1: our website, which is Stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 726 00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:10,000 Speaker 1: That's right, that's where you'll find uh. All the podcasts, 727 00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:13,680 Speaker 1: including several of these we've mentioned, the Chinese immortality, the 728 00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:18,040 Speaker 1: ghost marriage, the various mummification episodes, the Chinese zodiac, all 729 00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:20,439 Speaker 1: of those are there, and we'll trying to include links 730 00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:23,000 Speaker 1: on the landing page for this episode. And if you 731 00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:25,040 Speaker 1: just want to write us the old fashioned way, whether 732 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:28,080 Speaker 1: it's in English or Mandarin, you can write us at 733 00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:41,360 Speaker 1: blow the Mind at how stuff works dot com for 734 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:43,840 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics. Is it 735 00:41:43,880 --> 00:42:01,040 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com Bla BLA twenty thirty thirty 736 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:05,600 Speaker 1: third Ropars Parses fos By par