During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, jade making became a profession, and jade articles became etiquette utensils and decorative accessories. Jade is always regarded as a treasure. In ancient China, jade was regarded as a symbol of good things and gentlemanly manners. There are many kinds of jade carvings, mainly large works such as figures, utensils, birds and animals, flowers, and small works such as pins, rings, seals and ornaments. China's jade carving works enjoy a high reputation in the world.
Jade carving is a unique skill in China, with a long history of development and distinctive characteristics of the times. Jade carvings have different shapes and characteristics in different dynasties.
(1) Neolithic Age
During the simple jade carving period, Yangshao culture in Dahe village of Zhengzhou was 5,000 years ago, and two turquoise fish-shaped ornaments were unearthed. Crafts such as pine pendants, turquoise cicadas and frogs unearthed in xinyi city; Ornaments such as mirabilite, turquoise and agate were unearthed in Yin Ruins in Anyang, Henan. In Zhengzhou, there is a kind of carved string bone ring, which is the oldest and most perfect ring. There are many jade carvings, such as yufu, jade shovel and jade knife, mainly making tools; Jade wall, jade emperor, jade Jue and jade bead are simple in shape and mainly made of jade.
(2) Shang, Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period-Jade Craft Period
There have been jade walls to worship heaven, jade cong to worship land, jade GUI handed down from ancient times, and Yu Pei knighthood. Yu Pei is the most popular. It is a kind of decorative jade that you can wear with you, and it is also a gift. There are many kinds unearthed from Hemudu site of Liangzhu culture in the late Neolithic period. Jade Bird Pei, Man Shou Pei and Man Luo Pei appeared in Shang Dynasty. Jade yellow is a kind of bow jade. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it had beautiful shapes, such as Bai Yulong in the Spring and Autumn Period and the First Yellow in the Warring States Period.
(3) Han and Tang Dynasties-the period when jade carving prevailed.
Dushan jade, Henan Province was first mined in the Western Han Dynasty, and the land cultural relics confirmed that Qiao Yanyu in Liaoning belongs to the main jade material for decoration. Jin Yuyi in the Western Han Dynasty was made up of 2,000 pieces of xiuyan jade, and the "Han Yuma" unearthed in Xianyang in the Han Dynasty is also a treasure. Today, the circular Jade Dragon of Han Dynasty unearthed in wuchang city, Anhui Province is connected end to end, curled like a ring, with diameter x thickness =5x0.5cm, and jade walls of different sizes, among which the largest one is the sapphire wall with diameter x thickness =23 x0. 5 c m, beautifully carved. The tooth wall is milky white, with diameter x thickness = 9xo.5c m, which is smart and lovely. Buddhism prevailed in the Tang Dynasty, and jade articles were mostly used to decorate Buddha statues. In the Tang Dynasty's "You Xue Qiong Lin", the agate plate is very famous. 19In 70, more than 0/000 pieces of precious cultural relics of the Tang Dynasty were unearthed in hejia village, Shaanxi Province, among which the Nau cup in the livestock farm is a rare treasure (now in Shaanxi History Museum), with a reddish color, a height of 0.5 cm and a length of 15.6 cm, which makes people at home and abroad fascinated.
(4) Song and Yuan Dynasties-the period of rapid development of jade carving.
Jade carving technology has reached a qualitative leap, and there is a "jade court" in the court, which has been polished and embossed. Kublai Khan, the founding father of the Yuan Dynasty, hosted a banquet in founding ceremony for his ministers to serve wine. This is a huge jade carving. Carved in Nanyang dushan jade for five years, it weighs 1750kg and can store more than 3 0 tons of wine. In addition to large-scale jade carvings, there are many small and medium-sized jade carvings, such as the blue stone jade tiger deer eagle in the Yuan Dynasty. Shoushan stone in Fujian was used as a carving stone 1500 years ago. It was mined on a large scale in the Southern Song Dynasty, and its value doubled in the Yuan Dynasty. It belongs to the main material of jade carving.
(5) Ming and Qing Dynasties-the heyday of jade carving
In the late Ming and Song Dynasties, "Heavenly Creations" recorded that although Beijing has good jade, it skillfully pushes the Soviet Union. Lu Zigang, the most famous jade carving artist in Suzhou in the Ming Dynasty, developed the craft of "knife carving" and "serial meeting" and created various jade carving products in relief of yin and yang, which was appreciated by the court and imitated by many people. It is a treasure that collectors dream of. Jade carving technology reached its peak in Qing dynasty, and the court had a jade department to supervise jade materials, and there were many royal jade articles in the court. The most representative masterpiece, Yu Shan Zi, is one of the largest jade pieces in the world and the king of ancient jade carving in China. It is 2.24 meters high, Pa·cm in diameter and weighs 8 tons. There are countless small pieces of jade that are widely circulated among the people, such as jade pendants in the Ming Dynasty and diamond-encrusted jade tubes in the Qing Dynasty.
(6) Modern times-the heyday of jade carving
Modern jade carving is a masterpiece of history and culture. In the Treasure Hall, there are not only the "four national treasures" of China jade carvings-Daiyue Wonder, Fangqun Range Rover, fragrance gathering place and cosmic happiness, but also various excellent jade articles, including those of Pan Bingheng, a famous jade master (19 12- 1970). Pan Lao's representative works include Coral Daiyu Playing Parrot, Pretty Woman Embedding Agate, Coral Six-armed Buddha Locking Dragon and so on. Pan Lao's works are not only listed as national treasures, but also collected by the Louvre in Paris, the Philadelphia Museum in the United States and the Nagoya Museum in Japan, attracting worldwide attention. Jade carving "geek" Wang Shusen's jade carving (19 19- 1989) has three unique features: first, it is a fine work of art, integrating materials, workmanship and art; The second is to make good use of pretty colors; Third, broad thinking and exquisite craftsmanship.
Author: Liu Gaga