It is said that jadeites in jade fish (1) and China have a history of seven or eight thousand years. In the long river of ancient culture, fish is one of the most common images in many jade articles. The history of fish can be said to be earlier than the history of our existence. In ancient times, fish was closely related to the daily life of ancestors, especially before the invention of agriculture, fish was one of the foods on which people lived. Today, fish is still a delicious food for people. At the same time, because of the homonym of "fish" and "abundance", later generations often use jade fish as an ornament, which means wealth is more than enough. Fish-shaped ornaments During the prehistoric Hongshan Culture period, fish-shaped ornaments made of turquoise were unearthed in Hutougou cemetery in Fuxin, Liaoning. Fish-shaped ornaments are all sheet-shaped, with a head, a tail and fins, which are natural in shape and aim at drilling the head alone. During Liangzhu culture period, jade fish carved with concave bifurcated caudal fin was unearthed from Weishan cemetery in Yuhang, Zhejiang Province, which was lifelike. In the Neolithic Age, in addition to the fish patterns on painted pottery, there were also these successful works on jade carvings, which were exquisite and simple. Although the number is small, the fish-shaped peis unearthed in two different areas in the north and south are the earliest examples of the jade fish era. Animal-shaped jade carvings flourished in Shang Dynasty, and 75 pieces of jade fish were unearthed in Muhao Tomb alone. Merchants endowed animal jade carvings with the spirit of life and the beauty of gods. The main features of jade fish in Shang Dynasty are simple manufacture and flat sheet shape. Due to the reorganization of old materials or broken materials, the fish body is straight or curved, with different sizes. Most fish have big round eyes. On the fish, the dorsal fin and ventral fin are represented by short, straight and equidistant concave lines. Few fish have scales. The fish scale is a small arc perpendicular to the line horizontally and vertically, and the fish tail is a male fork tail that divides to both sides. The kiss is left out from top to bottom, and looks like a nail cap. One end is made into a meat cleaver, and the other is made into a spoon, both of which are very practical. The Western Zhou Dynasty was the peak of the development of slavery in China. The quantity and carving technology of jade articles are no less than that of Shang Dynasty, but there is no big breakthrough in species and types. From the analysis of the physical objects unearthed from various cemeteries in the Western Zhou Dynasty, it is found that jade fish-shaped ornaments, as the most common type of animal-shaped jade carvings, are widely found in funerals all over the Western Zhou Dynasty, with a large number of unearthed objects and different shapes. One is a flaky sculpture with strong realism and vivid image. The fish is flat or straight or curved, with a round mouth, a large fin on the back and two small fins under the abdomen. Both sides have the same pattern, with a forked tail and a perforated mouth, and several back holes. Another kind of round carving was unearthed in the tomb of Yahou. Jade fish was cut into two pieces from the middle, which was unprecedented in the Shang Dynasty. Jade fish in the Western Zhou Dynasty had both ornaments and jade buried with him, which were placed on the coffin lid as hanging objects. Among them, the jade fish is longer than that of Shang Dynasty, and some fish are arched. In a word, jade fish in the Western Zhou Dynasty inherited some characteristics of the Shang Dynasty to a certain extent, but it also had its own unique style, some rough and some exquisite and complicated. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, great changes took place in the ancient social structure of China. Jade in this period inherited the basic system of Shang and Zhou jade, and kept the jade ritual vessels and jade ornaments of the previous period, and jade for funeral became the main body. After the Northern Zhou Dynasty was destroyed by Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty was established. The time span of Sui Dynasty was short, and jade articles were underdeveloped. Therefore, both handed down from ancient times and unearthed objects in jade fish are rare. Tang Gaozu Li Yuan established and perfected the Tang Dynasty. Nearly 300 years of rule was the heyday of China's feudal society. The political situation was stable, the economy was unprecedentedly prosperous, and Tang Wenhua was brilliant. Jade articles found in the Tang Dynasty are small in quantity and scattered, but of excellent quality. 1970 a batch of jades unearthed from hejia village cellar in the southern suburb of Xi, Shaanxi province is the largest one so far, including jade belt hooks, gold-inlaid white jade bracelets, eight-petal flower-shaped jade cups, jade pestle, animal head agate cups, etc. , but jade fish has never appeared. Among the handed down products, there is a jade fish in the Tang Dynasty recorded in the Essence of Ancient Jade, which is particularly precious and similar to the jade fish in the silver plate of Pisces in the Tang Dynasty in Harqin Banner, Inner Mongolia. This jade fish is the only known jade fish carving in the Tang Dynasty. The Song Dynasty was a period of great social and economic prosperity in ancient China, and its jades were characterized by the weakening of mysterious religion, the trend of jades had a strong secular tendency and a strong flavor of life. Jade fish in Song Dynasty can be roughly divided into two types: one is a scaly fish with a long and forward mouth, separated by a negative line between the mouth and the head, with single Yin Huan eye and double-ring eye coexisting, and the gill and fish body are separated by a negative line at the gill edge. The fish body is decorated with plaid, the dorsal fin is serrated, and the fish tail is curved and swaying, which is full of movement. This kind of fish holding lotus flower was very popular in the Song Dynasty, and the lotus leaf turned inward, which was a lucky thing. Another kind of jade belt fish is scaleless fish, which is small and thin, jumps a lot, holds its head high and its tail cocked. Most of its eyes are concave, and a short and thick negative line is hooked on its cheek. Some fish have a thin and long yinxian from cheek to tail, and both fins and tail are cut with yinxian. Archaeological findings of Liao fish and fish are few, mainly including Liao jade fish, Jade Pisces fish, fish and so on. The tomb of Princess Xu of Chen State in Zhelimu League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was unearthed. Through the carving technique, the polishing technique is very exquisite. Yuan Yu lost the exquisite beauty of the Song Dynasty, expressed the vitality of life in a simple and extensive form, and paid attention to the charm of her works rather than the description of details, which is also the special feature of Daiyu from other dynasties. The production level of jade articles in the Ming Dynasty reached a new height, with a large number of jade articles and considerable archaeological excavations and handed down products. The characteristics of jade fish in the Ming Dynasty are: no emphasis on ecological realism, loss of strength, some patterning, diamond-shaped patterns instead of scales on fish, smaller ventral fins and caudal fins than other times, underdeveloped dorsal fins, lack of biting and straightforward description, and relatively dull and lifeless. Jade in Qing Dynasty reached its peak with its beauty of jade quality, exquisite workmanship, wonderful design and wonderful modeling. At this time, jade fish, as an ornament, has a huge amount of jade, which is white and shiny, round in shape, vivid in shape, delicate and complex in mattress, strong in decoration, exquisite in polishing technology and strong in luster. Commonly used as mandarin fish, carp, catfish, with auspicious meaning, but also symmetrical fish, Pisces and other patterns. The theme of carving lotus leaves and fish together is also used as a display at this time, which is different from the previous generation in both modeling and carving. (2) The Western Zhou Dynasty (3) Cleverly carved auspicious fish pendant (4) Yuan Qingbaiyu fish description: length 1 1.2 cm, width 7 cm, thickness 1.8 cm. Blue and white jade, yellow tiger skin, spotted locally. Round carving. The shape of the device is larger. The whole machine carves Pisces, Lotus Leaf and Cao Rui. The mandarin fish holds the tail of the small fish, and the small fish paints it succinctly and skillfully. Siniperca chuatsi's eyes are round and convex, and its gills depict neatly arranged slender yinxian. The fish body is covered with netted scales interwoven with arc-shaped fine yinxian. The dorsal fin is convex with teeth marks on the edge. The ventral fin is shallow and convex. The tail surface depicts a double negative line. This device uses the natural yellow skin color of Yupu to cut two lotus leaves, which is in sharp contrast with white fish, and turns the original spotted defects of Yupu into holes in the lotus leaves, which can be described as ingenuity. (5) Carving white jade and Pisces (6) Description of Song fish: Hetian jade in Xinjiang is 4.8cm long and 1.8cm high. This Song Baiyu fish is 4.8 cm long and 1.8 cm high. This fish is made of Hetian jade, with reddish brown erosion in some areas. This kind of fish is very thin, with a slightly open mouth and different lengths of dorsal fins. The chest, abdomen and fins are simplified by bas-relief line carving, and the tail is jumping and has a strong sense of movement. There is a small perforation in the middle of the dorsal fin for penetration. In ancient times, fish was always regarded as an auspicious thing. From the Shang and Zhou Dynasties to the Qing Dynasty, it was popular in jade fish. The ancients always liked to express their good wishes through homophones to show wealth. (7) Carved white jade fish and mussel pendant (8)1Description of white jade Pisces in the 8th century: Christie's auction house 1999 165438+ Hong Kong auction house 10/0.2, 7.5cm wide.