Jade has a long history in our country. As early as nearly 10,000 years ago in the late Paleolithic Age, the ancestors of the Chinese people discovered and began to use jade. It is generally believed that people in ancient times discovered jade when making and using stone tools. Because it is harder than ordinary stone, it is used to process other stone products. At the same time, it has a different color and luster, crystal clear, lovable, so slowly people use it to make decorations. And because the quantity of jade is not much and the processing is difficult, only a few leading figures in the ethnic group, such as patriarchs and priests, are qualified to wear and use it, which makes it gradually evolve into ritual, sacrificial or totem. It is in this long and slow process of evolution that jade is transformed from a stone with special properties into a symbol of power, status, wealth and theocracy.
For example, in the late Neolithic Age, about 7,000 to 4,000 years ago, those who held the sacrificial power used precious jade to make "sacrificial vessels" to worship the gods and ancestors. They believed that heaven and earth were round, so they made round bi and Fang Cong to worship God and earth only. They believed that the life of the clan's distant ancestors was derived from God through divine objects, so they carved the appearance of the imaginary ancestors of gods on the jade, and even carved symbols with deep meaning to worship them. It is hoped that through the unique texture, shape, pattern and symbol of jade, the magic of induction can be generated, and the gods can communicate with the ancestors, absorb their wisdom, and obtain blessings.
In the ancient society, the level of personal status depends on the closeness of the relationship between man and God's ancestors. The "ritual" of serving God establishes the communication channel between man and God, and also maintains the harmonious relationship between people. "Rui" is a symbol of status of the jade. The system of "sacrificial ware" and "Rui ware" originated in the late Neolithic Age, and the Xia, Shang and Zhou generations continued to develop with different political systems and social structures. In the ceremony of the temple and the meeting of the dynasty, it exerts its metaphysical function to maintain the ritual system, so it is generally called "ritual ware".
Seven to eight thousand years ago, in the middle and late Neolithic Age, the Xinglongwa site in Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia, the Zhahai site in Fuxin, Liaoning, the Xinle site in Shenyang and the Hemudu Site in Zhejiang, the earliest authentic jade artifacts in China were unearthed. The cultural, religious and political attributes of jade were gradually improved in the Xia, Shang and Zhou generations.
In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, humanism rose, Confucianism inherited some cultural elements from the original religion, moralized, life oriented, and advocated the concept of "gentleman than virtue in jade". As a result, the wind of jade is flourishing, and the exquisite carving is difficult to find its right.
Han house worship jade, the living wear jade, eat jade; The dead are wrapped in jade and filled with jade. Even in the silk paintings, tomb bricks, are decorated with jade images. The idea that a round round helps the soul to reach heaven is in full swing.
From the Six Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, the jade carving art in the middle Earth declined. Although Li Tang flourishing times, still adhering to the tradition, held the ceremony of Zen ceremony, but the book of ceremony God is difficult to use true jade, and the second jade instead. Handed down jade, only see the belt? Comb, pin, wear, etc. Some are also made by craftsmen in the Western Regions.
With the coming of Song and Ming dynasties, jade carving art flourished again. Besides the use of jade in imperial ceremonies, scholars also studied and imitated ancient jade due to the examination of Shang and Zhou ritual systems. At this time, the intellectuals and officials who combined knowledge paid attention to the quality of life. The furnishings of the jade study room, in addition to being appreciated and played with, have practical functions. Natural flowers and birds, figures, mountains and rivers, etc., have also become decorative themes, presenting a soft and elegant literati taste. Since the jade material taken is mostly jade seed in the river, jade work is often applied for the material. The finished product is often the map will be intentional, meaning will be peaceful.
Confucius said that jade has eleven virtues such as benevolence, wisdom, righteousness and propriety, and the words of "The gentleman does not go to jade without reason" in the Book of Rites are to emphasize that people with social status and status should learn from jade, warning them that there is no special reason to jade. The Chinese nation worship jade, respect jade, love jade sentiment, the Ming and Qing dynasties than the Han and Tang Dynasties have been worse, jade elegant and holy, conquered generation after generation of Chinese people. And respect jade, love jade, wear jade, appreciate jade, play jade, hide jade, is the true portrayal of the current society to play jade lovers.
From the old three generations through the Qin and Han dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties, jade has always been the exclusive decorative supplies of the emperor's nobility. In the Song Dynasty, the economy was developed and the commerce was prosperous. Due to the progress of handicraft technology, the processing of jade became more convenient and fast, and the wind of playing jade and appreciating jade was flourishing. At this time, there are a large number of exquisite production, delicate processing, wonderful idea of jade ornaments, jade pieces.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the production and appreciation of jade reached its peak, and the varieties were more colorful, from small jade hairpins and jade buttons to large jade screens, jade mountains and jade boats. The royal family also commonly used jade to make Japanese utensils such as jade bowls, jade cups, jade POTS and so on. Generally speaking, the quality of jade is white jade (especially the sheep fat white jade produced in Xinjiang), topaz is followed by green jade, and miscellaneous jade (such as southern jade, Henan jade) is under.
In the early Qing Dynasty, jade was introduced into the Central Plains, and its breathtaking green immediately won the hearts of the Chinese people. Jade ornaments made of jadeite are popular and become the fashion that people chase after. However, in the eyes of traditional Chinese people, jade jewelry made of jadeite is far less than ancient jade.
According to mineralogical classification, jade can be divided into two kinds, one is the hornblende group in the bond silicate, including tremolite and actinite, also known as nephrite. There is also a single chain silicate basic monoclinic pyroxene, also known as jadeite (such as jade). Most of the traditional ancient jade in China is nephrite, including Xinjiang jade, Xiuyan jade, etc. Jadeite officially entered China and became popular only after Wu Sangui pursued the Yongli Emperor of Southern Ming Dynasty in the early Qing Dynasty and controlled the jade rich mining areas in Yunnan and northern Myanmar.
Most of the ancient jade we see in early prehistoric times are jade tools such as jade knives, jade axes and jade needles. Then there appeared jade ritual (sacrificial), such as the jade cong and three-pronged vessels of Liangzhu culture, and some pictograms of jade such as the jade dragon and jade pig of Hongshan culture, which should be made as totems of ethnic groups. The jade of this period was not entirely made of jade in the modern sense, it could be jade or just a prettier stone, such as tremolite primitive ore, which is associated with metamorphic marble ore. From the late Neolithic Age to the Bronze Age, jade tools were no longer seen in the mainstream cultural areas of China. Instead, there were a large number of jade burial objects and jade accessories, such as jade dragon, jade wind and jade crane unearthed from the tomb of Fu Hao in the Shang Dynasty. Nephrite was widely used for making objects at this time.
In the eyes of ordinary people, jade is a stone, but in the eyes of the Chinese people, jade is different, it has gone beyond the scope of simple taxonomy and become the spiritual sustenance of the Chinese ethnic group. To this day, if we pick up a piece of jade, we only comment on its color, its texture, its making. But when we see an ancient jade, in the appreciation of its shape, its color, its material, but the heart of the oil will rise but will be a strong sense of national pride, the reason is because the ancient jade contains the precipitation of the Chinese five thousand years of civilization and the national spirit of the Chinese descendants.