Thank you for downloading this episode of A History of the World in 100 Objects from BBC Radio 4.
The first four programs of this week were about the European Enlightenment's project of mapping and understanding new lands.
Today's object is from China, at a time when it was pursuing its own enlightenment under the Qianlong Emperor,
who, like his European contemporaries, devoted considerable attention to exploring the world beyond his own borders.
In 1756, for instance, he sent out a multicultural task force: two Jesuit priests,
a Chinese astronomer, and two Tibetan lamas to map the territories that he'd annexed in Asia.
The knowledge they gained spread across the world, and with it, the Qianlong Emperor's reputation.
The object in this program is another product of the Emperor's intellectual curiosity, this time about the Chinese past.
It's a jade ring called a Bi, spelled B-I.
This jade Bi, already over 3,000 years old when the Emperor decided to study it,
is a fine plain disc with a hole in the center, of a type often found in ancient Chinese tombs.
The Emperor took the unadorned Bi and then had his own words inscribed on it.
And in doing so, he transformed the ancient Bi into a narrative of the 18th-century Chinese Enlightenment.
It's an exploratory document.
It reminds us that documents can be made of jade or bronze, just as much as on paper, of course.
The piece is represented this deep link between the ancient past and now.
It's very cultural but also political.
A History of the World in 100 Objects.
Jade Bi from China.
Inscribed in the 18th century.