Jade articles specially made and enjoyed by the royal family in the Western Zhou Dynasty entered the second peak period since the Shang Dynasty, made new achievements and produced a large number of exquisite masterpieces. Among them, in recent years, the excavation of tombs in various places has attracted people's attention. Important jades have been unearthed in Baoji Cemetery in Shaanxi, Xincun Cemetery in Xunxian County, Yingxian Cemetery in Pingdingshan, Guo Cemetery in Sanmenxia, Zhao Jinhou Cemetery in Quwo North, Shaanxi, and Yan Cemetery in Huangtupo, Fangshan, Beijing. In addition, there are sporadic discoveries from Shandong and other places. The above cemeteries, sites and some of them were unearthed in the early years, and the time and age of the excavation are unknown. Judging from the jade handed down from ancient times, the jade in the Western Zhou Dynasty has some basic information: the jade used is slightly more exquisite than that in the previous period, mostly Kunlun jade in Xinjiang and a small amount of jade in Liaoning. The production of jade articles in the Western Zhou Dynasty is basically similar to that in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, except that the hardest Kunlun jade materials are widely used, the tools used are advanced and the jade cutting skills are greatly improved.
Second, the varieties and changes of jade articles in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The biggest change of jade in the Western Zhou Dynasty is the variety of jade. The practical or impractical jade articles that prevailed from the Neolithic Age to the Shang Dynasty have gradually disappeared by this time; In the jade ritual vessels made by imitating actual combat weapons, at least in the Central Plains, jade knives and jade qi are not seen. Fishing songs and Yuqi have entered a period of decline, which is manifested in the fact that not only the number is small, but also the shape of utensils is developing towards miniaturization. Most of them have been reduced from tens of centimeters in the past to about 10 cm, and their uses have become symbolic, mainly for collecting treasures and goods; Jade Cong is a kind of ritual vessel. A large number of jade Cong were found in the seat of the Western Zhou Dynasty royal family, especially in Joo Won?, Shaanxi. Jade has tended to be miniaturized, and jade yellow and jade pots (that is, realistic jade and tiger vessels) have suddenly increased. Jade Gui first appeared in the Jade Group, but Jade Zhang has not seen the real thing. In this issue of Yu Pei, a major change is to break through the habit of focusing only on a single person in the past and develop into a group with certain specifications. Its form is composed of several jade yellow and many tube beads of different colors, hanging from the chest to the legs and feet, giving people a dazzling and magnificent freshness. In addition, the first inlaid ornaments based on animal faces and jade veneers (also known as jade masks) specially designed for the dead are also impressive.
At this time, in addition to a few plastic upright lifelike human objects, there are still many human-dragon recombiners, squatting on the ground, with several dragons all over them, or wearing them as organs or accessories, and looking sideways or individuals from the right. Its system is peculiar and full of the times. Although there are a considerable number of realistic animal-shaped jade articles, there are fewer varieties than those in Shang Dynasty, that is, from dozens to dozens in Shang Dynasty, including cattle, sheep, pigs, rabbits, birds, tigers, deer, turtles, cicadas, silkworms, fish and mantis. Non-realistic birds and beasts, the phoenix that began to appear in the Neolithic period, reappeared after being interrupted by Xia and Shang Dynasties, and suddenly increased. In this issue of Phoenix-shaped works, there is a wooden club-shaped crown on the top of the head, which stands upright or bends forward, with a hooked mouth, wide eyes and a tail sticking up from the back to the top of the head. The shape of the dragon has also undergone great development and changes. In addition to some bottle-shaped horns and bipedal dragons between Yin and Shang dynasties, there are two or more new apetalous dragons with long tongues crossing each other. The sudden increase of these birds and beasts and the more abnormal mystery show that people at that time changed from worshipping nature and realistic animals in the early days to worshiping gods.