A gold reticulated 'boys' leaf-shaped pendant (Peizhui), Song dynasty

As a key component of the Song dynasty bridal tradition, sanjin (Three Golds), peizhui refers to a specific type of pendant, often made in gold or silver, attached to the lower edge of a woman’s xiapei (ceremonial stole). Functioning as both a garment weight and a marker of ritual propriety, most surviving examples of peizhui adopt a leaf-shaped form constructed from two joined precious metal sheets and are decorated in openwork with various auspicious motifs. Compare a gold pendant of a very similar form, decorated with phoenix amid flowers, excavated in 1980 from a Song dynasty tomb south of the Mufu Mountain in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, now preserved in the Nanjing Museum, published in 'Nanjing mufushan songmu qingli jianbao [Brief excavation report of the Song tomb in Najing Mufu Mountain]', Wenwu, no. 3, Beijing, 1982, col. pl. 3, fig. 1.