See Taxila. [pi]. jade disc with circular central perforation. In Chinese texts of the Eastern Zhou period the word is used in this sense, but can also refer more generally to any precious jade. Jade discs and disc-like axes have come from 4th- and 3rd-millennium bc graves at east-coast Neolithic sites such as Beiyinyang-ying (seeaZso Liangzhu). Polished stone disc segments are known still earlier at Banpo. The traditional interpretation of bi discs as ‘symbols of heaven’ is a late invention unsupported by archaeology or early texts.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied