Han dynasty jade burial suit

E234573

ancient Chinese funerary garment archaeological artifact type jade burial suit

The Han dynasty jade burial suit is an ancient Chinese funerary garment made of thousands of jade plaques sewn together, used to encase the bodies of elite nobles in the belief that jade could preserve the corpse and confer immortality.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Han dynasty jade burial suit canonical	1
jade burial suit of Dou Wan	1
jade burial suit of Liu Sheng	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2109468 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Han dynasty jade burial suit
Context triple: [National Museum of China, notableExhibit, Han dynasty jade burial suit]

A. Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng
The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng is a lavish Warring States–period burial site in present-day Hubei, China, famed for its exceptionally well-preserved bronze bells and other ritual artifacts that illuminate ancient Chinese music and court culture.
B. Mawangdui Han Tombs
Mawangdui Han Tombs is an archaeological site near Changsha in Hunan, China, famous for its exceptionally well-preserved Western Han dynasty tombs, artifacts, and the mummified body of Lady Dai.
C. Terracotta Army
The Terracotta Army is a vast collection of life-sized clay soldiers and horses buried with China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, to guard him in the afterlife.
D. Tarim mummies
The Tarim mummies are remarkably well-preserved ancient human remains, many with distinctly Caucasoid features and elaborate textiles, discovered in the arid Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, China, and dating back as far as the early Bronze Age.
E. Chu silk manuscripts
The Chu silk manuscripts are ancient Chinese texts from the Warring States period, written on silk and notable for their early depictions of cosmology, mythology, and divination practices.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Han dynasty jade burial suit
Target entity description: The Han dynasty jade burial suit is an ancient Chinese funerary garment made of thousands of jade plaques sewn together, used to encase the bodies of elite nobles in the belief that jade could preserve the corpse and confer immortality.

A. Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng
The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng is a lavish Warring States–period burial site in present-day Hubei, China, famed for its exceptionally well-preserved bronze bells and other ritual artifacts that illuminate ancient Chinese music and court culture.
B. Mawangdui Han Tombs
Mawangdui Han Tombs is an archaeological site near Changsha in Hunan, China, famous for its exceptionally well-preserved Western Han dynasty tombs, artifacts, and the mummified body of Lady Dai.
C. Terracotta Army
The Terracotta Army is a vast collection of life-sized clay soldiers and horses buried with China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, to guard him in the afterlife.
D. Tarim mummies
The Tarim mummies are remarkably well-preserved ancient human remains, many with distinctly Caucasoid features and elaborate textiles, discovered in the arid Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, China, and dating back as far as the early Bronze Age.
E. Chu silk manuscripts
The Chu silk manuscripts are ancient Chinese texts from the Warring States period, written on silk and notable for their early depictions of cosmology, mythology, and divination practices.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	ancient Chinese funerary garment ⓘ archaeological artifact type ⓘ jade burial suit ⓘ
archaeologicalDiscovery	found in Han dynasty tomb excavations ⓘ
associatedBelief	jade can prevent decay of the body ⓘ jade has preservative powers ⓘ jade is linked to immortality ⓘ
burialContext	aristocratic tombs ⓘ imperial tombs ⓘ
composedOf	thousands of small jade plaques ⓘ
coversBodyPart	arms ⓘ feet ⓘ hands ⓘ head ⓘ legs ⓘ torso ⓘ
culture	Han Chinese culture ⓘ linked to: Han Chinese
eligibility	restricted to members of the Han imperial family and high aristocracy ⓘ
function	funerary garment for burial ⓘ
legalStatusInAntiquity	regulated by Han dynasty sumptuary laws ⓘ
madeOf	copper wire ⓘ gold wire ⓘ jade plaques ⓘ silk thread ⓘ silver wire ⓘ
manufacturingTechnique	jade plaques drilled and sewn together ⓘ plaques joined with metal wire or thread ⓘ
museumCollection	Hebei Provincial Museum ⓘ Nanjing Museum ⓘ National Museum of China ⓘ
notableExample	jade burial suit of Dou Wan ⓘ linked to: Han dynasty jade burial suit jade burial suit of Liu Sheng, Prince of Zhongshan ⓘ
originCountry	China ⓘ
purpose	to confer immortality ⓘ to encase the body of the deceased ⓘ to preserve the corpse ⓘ
rarity	extremely rare surviving artifact type ⓘ
scholarlyField	studied in Chinese archaeology ⓘ studied in art history of ancient China ⓘ
symbolism	purity and incorruptibility associated with jade ⓘ status and wealth of the deceased ⓘ
timeOfUse	approximately 2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE ⓘ
typicalPlaqueShape	rectangular jade plaques ⓘ
usedFor	burial of emperors ⓘ burial of high-ranking nobles ⓘ burial of imperial princes ⓘ
usedInPeriod	Eastern Han dynasty ⓘ linked to: Han dynasty Han dynasty ⓘ Western Han dynasty ⓘ linked to: Han dynasty

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

National Museum of China → notableExhibit → Han dynasty jade burial suit ⓘ

Han dynasty jade burial suit → notableExample → jade burial suit of Dou Wan ⓘ

linked to: Han dynasty jade burial suit

Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan → associatedArtifact → jade burial suit of Liu Sheng ⓘ