Antique Nine Stripe Chung Dzi with Bloodspots, 44.7×11.6mm, pitch-black ground (At-110223-9SBS)

We never retouch our photos. What you see is exactly what you will receive.

The bloodspots on this bead appear in two different places, and they are not the same thing.

Look at the macro photographs — Images 7 and 8 — and you will see fine dark micro-dots scattered across the pale stripe surfaces. They are not dust. They are not surface debris. They are sub-surface cinnabar inclusions, mercuric sulfide (硃砂, zhūshā), suspended inside the pale agate of the stripe bands themselves, visible through the stone because the agate in those zones is translucent enough to reveal what lies beneath. Then look at Image 6: the entire left end cap of this bead reads as a warm reddish-brown, saturated and localised, where a concentration of cinnabar within the agate has coloured the tip zone from within. Two mechanisms. Two locations. One bead.

The ground of this bead is pitch-black — confirmed from white-background photographs across all four lateral faces. Nine bright white to very pale blue-grey stripe bands run across this black field, evenly spaced from tip to tip with the central stripes marginally wider than those approaching the ends, a characteristic of how the agate's natural banding was positioned during the etching process. The contrast between the pitch-black dark zones and the pale stripe bands is as strong as this motif can produce. In strong light, the stripe surfaces catch a subtle blue-grey cast — the agate's own translucency reading through the white etched surface.

The body form is an elongated fusiform, tapering acutely at both ends to small rounded tips. At 44.7mm length, this is the longest Chung dzi currently in the collection that carries a pitch-black ground. Both drill holes are small and centrally placed, consistent with antique hand-drill technique. The right tip drill hole (Image 5) appears slightly tighter; the left tip (Image 6) slightly more worn and open — the differential wear between the two ends is visible and consistent with centuries of stringing and use.

The surface carries a high-gloss polish across both dark and light bands. Close examination at the mid-body ridge (Images 2 and 3) reveals fine surface micro-abrasion scoring — lines running along the upper curve of the bead consistent with long-term contact wear, not mechanical damage. A fine vertical surface score line is also visible across two dark bands in Image 8 and is fully disclosed here. No chips at either tip. No medicine digs.

This bead holds more stripes than any other Chung dzi in the collection. The seven-stripe ancient beads — Ac-081020-7SChung (SeS-1), Ac-041320-7SChung (SeS-2), and Ac-080620-7SChung (SeS-3) — all carry seven bands and none carry bloodspots. The antique At-061920-7SChung (Seven Stripe Chung Dzi) has seven stripes on a warm honey-brown semi-translucent ground — a completely different material reading. This bead adds two more stripes, a pitch-black ground, and cinnabar in two distinct forms, making it singular in the collection.

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The Nine Stripe Motif — 瓊珠九線紋

Nine is among the most auspicious numbers in Tibetan and Chinese cosmological tradition: the highest single digit, the number that encompasses all others, associated with completion, longevity, and the fullness of heaven. A nine-stripe Chung dzi (瓊珠九線紋) is understood to carry the energy of all nine: nine layers of protection, nine expressions of continuous fortune, nine unbroken circuits around the bead's body. In Tibetan folk practice, nine-stripe beads are associated with the accumulation of merit across lifetimes, the protection of the wearer through all nine stages of a completed cycle. The presence of cinnabar bloodspots — 硃砂, mercuric sulfide, which ranges in colour from vermilion to rust-orange to deep reddish-brown — is understood in traditional Tibetan and Himalayan collecting communities as a further authentication marker, evidence that the bead has absorbed the energy of its environment over centuries of use and proximity to sacred practice.

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Motif: Nine stripe (九線紋); nine acid-etched horizontal bands; bright white to very pale blue-grey stripes on pitch-black ground; central stripes marginally wider than tip stripes
Length: 44.7mm
Diameter: 11.6mm
Form: Elongated fusiform; acute taper to both tips; small rounded end caps; high-gloss surface
Material: Natural agate; pitch-black ground; bright white to pale blue-grey etched stripe bands
Age Estimate: 300–500 years
Condition: Surface micro-abrasion scoring on mid-body ridge (age-consistent wear); fine vertical surface score line across two dark bands (Image 8, disclosed); no chips; no medicine digs
Bloodspots: Yes — two distinct forms: (1) warm reddish-brown cinnabar saturation localised at left end cap (Image 6); (2) fine dark cinnabar micro-dots distributed sub-surface within pale stripe bands (Images 7 and 8)
Product ID: At-110223-9SBS
Collection: Antique Chung Dzi | Antique Dzi Beads

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You may also like:

• Ancient Single Stripe Chung Dzi with Bloodspots — Ac-061426-1SChungBS — Pitch-black stripe, mosaic calcification, cinnabar end cap, 1,500–2,000 yrs
• Ancient Seven Stripe Chung Dzi SeS-1 — Ac-081020-7SChung — Seven stripes, pitch-black ground, 1,000–1,500 yrs
• Antique Seven Stripe Chung Dzi — At-061920-7SChung — Seven stripes, warm honey-brown ground, 200–300 yrs
• Ancient Five Stripe Cho Dzi — Ac-061426-5SChung — Pale translucent ground, colour-inverted, mirror gloss, 700–1,000 yrs

From the blog:

• What Is a Chung Dzi? Understanding Striped Agate Beads
• Cinnabar Bloodspots in Dzi Beads: What They Are and Why They Matter

Nine stripes, two bloodspot signatures, one pitch-black stone.

We never retouch our photos. What you see is exactly what you will receive.

📷 We never retouch our photos. Every bead is photographed exactly as it is. What you see is what you receive.

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