Hong Kong Palace Museum |

Ge-dagger

Wide and triangular in shape, this jade ge-dagger has rectangular engravings on both sides in the ridged areas. There is a round hole between the lower main part of the blade and the tang. The overall design is smooth and the object is finely crafted. This piece shares similarities with the bronze weapons from Erlitou or early Shang cultures, while most other jade ge-daggers at Sanxingdui possess a strong local style characterised by a flat blade, a slim triangular shape without a ridge, and incised diamond patterns. These characteristics are basically found only at Sanxingdui and Jinsha sites.

The largest category of jade “weapons” unearthed at Sanxingdui, these daggers with intact edges show no signs of use, indicating that they were not practical tools. Similar to the bronze and jade weapons discovered in the tomb of Fu Hao at Yinxu in Central China, they were likely used for ceremonial purposes.