Fu Hao
The earliest excavated Chinese thumb ring came from the Shang dynasty tomb of Fu Hao (who died circa 1200 BCE). The ring was a slanted cylinder where the front, which contained a groove for holding the bow string, was higher than the back. An excavation of the Marquis of Jin's tomb in Quwo County, Shanxi revealed a Western Zhou jade thumb ring, which had a lipped design but featured taotie decorations similar to the Shang dynasty Fu Hao ring. From the Warring States period through the Han dynasty (475 BCE–220 CE), excavated rings typically had a lipped design with a distinctive spur on the side (there exist several theories about the spur's function). Rings from the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) were round cylinders or D-shaped cylinders.