The chemical composition of agate is SiO 2；; It can contain Fe Al Ti Mn V and other elements, showing various colors, concentric circles and regular strips, and can also be divided into silk-wrapped agate, striped agate, moss agate, carnelian, onyx and so on. Among them, red agate is the top grade of all colors of agate, so there is a saying in Gegu Yaolun that "agate is poor and has no red life".

It is said that agate is called "agate" because its original stone shape is similar to that of horse brain. There are records of agate deeds in both the Old Testament and Buddhist classics.

Agate is a colloidal mineral and belongs to chalcedony in mineralogy. Agate has been welcomed by people since ancient times, and one of the ancient "seven treasures" is agate. Agate has been decorated by people since ancient times because of its beautiful stripes. Among the unearthed jade articles, agate ball strings are more common, mostly necklaces.

Agate is generally translucent to opaque, with a hardness of 6.5 to 7 degrees, a specific gravity of 2.55 to 2.9 1 and a refractive index of 1.535 to 1.539. Agate has a long history and is one of the earliest gem materials used by human beings. Agate can be formed in all strata of geological history, whether igneous or sedimentary. So there are many agates. Agate is widely distributed in China, almost all provinces, mainly in Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Hubei and other regions. It is also rich in Europe, North America and Southeast Asia in the world, and the most famous producing areas in the world are India and Brazil.

Agate is mainly produced in cracks and caves of volcanic rocks and also in sedimentary rocks. It is a colloidal condensate of silicon dioxide. Like crystal and jasper, agate is also a timely mineral, and its chemical composition is also silica. Its hardness exceeds that of crystal. Agate itself has the characteristics of hardness, compactness, delicacy, various shapes, high smoothness, gorgeous color and rich colors. It is the first-class material for carving handicrafts. The combination of advanced technology and perfect art by craftsmen endows it with unique ideas, rich themes, ingenious design and exquisite carving skills. Make its artistic effect extraordinary.

There is a mantra in the jewelry industry-agate is poor without red. This shows how important the red color of agate is

In fact, agate is rich in color and variety, but red is the main color in agate. Because there are few natural red agates and the color layer is not deep, the red color in agate is mostly burnt red agate. Its red colors are Zhen Hong, purplish red, crimson, brownish red, sauce red and yellow red. In addition, red agate is called brocade agate, and red and white agate is called brocade agate or safflower agate. For jade carving products, the size of the block is larger, and for jewelry inlaid with gems, the aesthetic feeling of color is better.

Agate is a large variety of jade carving, which is widely used, mainly in red, cleverly lined with other colors and textures, making agate stand out. Other colors are also useful and the effect is remarkable. Skillful jade carving masters can use extraordinary skills to turn ordinary agate into precious artistic treasures.

The mineralogy of agate is called chalcedony The ancients called red agate red jade, or "Qiongyu". Agate has a variety of jade colors, so it is called ruby.

In the east, it is one of the seven treasures. Agate can be divided into chalcedony and agate. The original stone with uncomplicated color is called chalcedony, and the original stone with straight and parallel stripes is called striped agate (cut agate). According to the color of the original stone, it is also called twisted agate and crimson agate. Recently, dyed black agate is generally called agate.

The legend of agate

Legend has it that Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, is sleeping in the shade of a tree. Her son eros secretly cut off her shining nails and flew into the sky with them in his hand. Eros, who flew into the air, accidentally dropped her nails, and the nails that fell to the ground turned into stones, that is, agates. Therefore, some people think that owning agate can strengthen love and adjust the feelings between themselves and their lovers. In Japanese mythology, there is a crescent-shaped green agate, which is one of the three great artifacts in Japan and is dedicated to the gods.

Identification knowledge of agate

Because agate is more and more loved by people in the society, the demand is increasing, and it is difficult to avoid the phenomenon of mixed fish and dragons. In order to avoid being deceived and buy satisfactory agate works, consumers need to master certain agate identification knowledge. Agate stone has natural color and is dyed after post-processing. Natural colors are mainly red, amber and white. Among them red is the best. The blue-purple agate jewelry sold in the market is not true, but dyed after processing, and will fade after several years of use. The dyed agate is mostly natural variegated, which is not easy to be directly processed into jewelry. How to identify true and false agate ornaments? Can be carried out from the following aspects.

1) color: the real agate is bright and bright, and the fake agate is poor in color, and the contrast between them is obvious. Natural red agate has distinct colors and obvious stripes. If you look closely, you can see tiny red dots densely arranged on the red belt. Most fake agate hookahs made of stone are petal-shaped patterns at the bottom, forming a "chrysanthemum bottom"; The dyed blue agate is bright and even, giving people a false feeling.

2) Texture: Fake agate is mostly imitated by stone, which is softer than real agate. Jade can mark fake agate, but real agate can't. There are few defects on the surface of real agate, and there are more inferior ones.

3) Process quality: the production process of high-quality agate is strict and advanced, so the surface brightness is good, the inlay is firm and geometric, and there are no scratches and cracks.

4) Grade: water bile agate is the most precious variety of agate, which is characterized by closed cavity and water.

5) Transparency: The transparency of real agate is not as good as that of synthetic agate, which is a little messy. Some can see natural waterlines or "clouds", while synthetic agate has good transparency and is as transparent as a glass ball.

6) Weight: Real agate jewelry is heavier than synthetic agate jewelry.

7) Temperature: Real agate is warm in winter and cool in summer, while artificial agate changes with the external temperature, which becomes hot in hot days and cool in cold days. How to choose agate ornaments? First of all, choose according to your favorite color. Red agate jewelry is the most expensive. If you choose an agate necklace, you should pay attention to the consistency of each bead color, no noise, the bead size should be appropriate and the smoothness should be good. Then, lift the necklace to see if it is vertical and if each bead is hung on a line. If the necklace is bent, it means that some beads are biased and the processing technology is rough.

Classification of agate

Agate can be classified according to the following conditions

(A) by color

1. Red agate

Red agate, ancient red jade. Among the red agates, there are East Red Agate and West Red Agate. The former refers to the red agate formed by natural iron-containing agate after heating treatment, also known as "burning red agate", including bright red and orange red. An East Red Agate, named after it came from Japan in its early years. The latter refers to natural red agate, including dark red agate and bright red agate. Agate unearthed in ancient China belongs to West Red Agate, which comes from the West, hence the name.

2. Blue agate

Refers to blue or blue-and-white agate. This is a kind of agate with very beautiful color, and the large size is a good material for jade carving. People of high quality are dark blue. The second color is light. Blue and white flowers are also beautiful. When they have pinstripe structure, they belong to the variety of silk-wrapped agate. At present, most of the blue agate products produced in China market are artificially dyed, with uniform color and easy to distinguish from natural ones.

3.purple agate

Purple agate. Most of them are single purple, and the quality is as bright as amethyst. The second kind of person is not bright enough, commonly known as "boring". Purple agate is rare in nature, and it is also dyed.

4. Green agate

Green agate is not found in nature. At present, almost all green agates in the Chinese jewelry market are artificially colored, and some are like jadeite, but experienced people can easily distinguish them from jadeite. Green agate is "thin" in color and green and crisp in texture; Emerald color "vigorous", texture emerald, tough.

5.black agate

Black agate. Black agate is rare in nature. At present, the black agate in China's jewelry market is artificially colored, and the color is thick black, which is easy to mix with other jet stones. Its hardness is greater than obsidian.

6.white agate

White tone or five-color agate. Among them, a kind of so-called white agate produced in northeast Liaoning actually belongs to white chalcedony, which is mostly used to make beads, and then artificially colored as blue, green and black. This kind of white agate is also a large piece of raw material for jade, and it is dyed well in the local area for use. However, nature also produces some white agates, which are generally unpopular because of their incorrect colors, especially those that are gray-white, but they can also be used to make some cheap and low-grade tourism products or souvenirs.

7. Other colors of agate

Agate of other colors can be named according to different colors.

(B) according to the texture structure

1. Silk-wrapped agate: Agate with fine stripe structure, also known as "onyx". It is an agate, and various colors are intertwined in the form of ribbons. Because the alternating ribbons are as thin as oil silk, they are called silk-wrapped agate. Some red and white, some blue and white, some black and white, or as wide as a belt, or as thin as silk, very beautiful. In ancient times, it was called cutting agate. Silk-wrapped agate is also a variety often used in jade carving. Sometimes the fine lines can be as thin as silk, and the color changes a lot, which can be further divided into the following varieties of silk-wrapped agate: onyx, red onyx, red and white onyx, black and white onyx, brown and white onyx, and brown and black onyx.

2. banded agate: agate with wide stripes. Monochrome is the aforementioned red agate and blue agate. However, colorless banded agate is not necessarily artificially colored. At present, in the jewelry industry in China, banded agate is generally not used for artificial coloring, and the raw materials without banded agate are actually used for this kind of dyeing.

(three) according to the texture or other characteristics

1. transparent agate: agate as transparent as water. Among all varieties of agate, the higher the transparency, the better the quality. Agate as transparent as water is rare, and translucent agate is usually the best.

2. Opaque agate: The light that cannot penetrate agate is called opaque agate.

3. Translucent agate: agate between 1 and 2. This variety is the most common in agate.

4. Anchored agate: In silk-wrapped agate or ribbon agate, if there is an angular structure similar to "city wall", it is called anchored agate.

5. Moss agate: When agate is mixed with chlorite minerals, it sometimes forms a moss-like or dendritic pattern, which is called moss agate.

6. Cloud agate: Agate with blurred texture.

7. Agate: This is an agate with iron oxide crystals in its strips. It is named agate because the minerals it contains shine in the sun.

8. Flash agate: Agate with many black or dark stripes is caused by the interference of agate stripes.

9. Water bile agate: Agate contains a variety of natural liquids. Liquid is usually wrapped in the center of spherical agate, hence its name, because it often looks like an animal's gallbladder. The center of agate has different characteristics, such as solid, careless, hollow without water and hollow with water. The agate with water in the center is called water bile agate, which is a precious variety of agate and a rare treasure in ancient times. Water bile agate should be bold, and the higher the transparency, the better.

China has divided agate varieties very finely since ancient times. In addition to the above varieties, there are Jinjiang agate with a bottom flower, zygote agate with a white line at the bottom flower, two-year-old agate, light splash agate, purple mottled sauce agate, bamboo agate with bamboo leaves and earthworm powder flower. But these varieties and names are rarely used now, and they are more common in history books.

Produce cultural relics

8. One of the producing areas of agate-Agate Capital China Fuxin Agate Net Agate is a gem, a kind of chalcedony, and a banded chalcedony. The agate formed by nature is colorful: some color levels, such as tree trunk rings, are extremely natural; Some colors are like splash-ink landscape paintings; Some ribbons are like a beautifully composed flower-and-bird painting, which is pleasing to the eye and cannot be put down.

Agate unearthed in Fuxin area was as early as the late Neolithic period, and agate-related cultural relics were unearthed in all previous dynasties. There are three main uses: first, production tools. Scrapers made of agate have been unearthed in Chahai Site, Hongshan Culture Site and Bronze Age Cultural Site. The second is daily necessities. Agate cups were unearthed from the Liao tomb in Chaoyanggou, Zhangwu County, and black and white agate Go was unearthed from the Liao tomb in Luojianggou, Spider Mountain Township. The third is decorations. Agate tubes and agate beads were unearthed from Liao Tomb in Tizi Temple, Bajiazi Township, and agate belts were unearthed from Liao Tomb in Liban, Laomiao Town.

Agate Cup (1 piece): Unearthed from the Liao Tomb in Chaoyanggou, Zhangwu County. It is complete, with a small scar on the edge of the mouth and a small hole in the abdomen. Polished surface, translucent. It is composed of red and white, with white slightly gloomy and red slightly pale. The abdominal wall has natural texture and delicate texture. Open mouth, round lips, curved belly, round feet. 4.5 cm in diameter, 2.7 cm in base diameter and 3 cm in height.

Red agate tubes (3 pieces): Unearthed from the Liao Tomb in Chaoyanggou, Zhangwu County, they are all complete, cylindrical, with holes in the middle, and are ornaments worn on necklaces. It is 3.6 centimeters long. & ltBR & gt agate beads (1 piece): unearthed from the Liao tomb of Tizimiao in Bajiazi Township, it is dark red, with holes in the middle and characters on the surface, with a diameter of 1. 1 cm.

Agate tube (2 pieces): It was unearthed in Liao Tomb of Ladder Temple in Bajiazi Township, dark red, cylindrical, with a hole in the middle, 3 cm long and 0.7 cm in diameter. The other is 2 cm long and 0.9 cm in diameter.

Gui-shaped faucet (1 piece): It was unearthed in the tomb of Hailiban Liao in the old temple, milky white and crystal clear. Rectangular, with one end shaped like a GUI and the other square, with three gold-plated copper rivets on the top and a copper back plate on the back. 5.9 cm long, 3 cm wide and 0.6 cm thick.

Square belt ornaments (2 pieces): unearthed from the Liao tomb of Hailiban in the old temple, milky white and crystal clear. The fuselage is almost square, with a gold-plated copper rivet embedded in each corner. There is a long hole at the upper end, 2.2 cm long, 2.8 cm long, 3.2 cm wide and 0.5 cm high. The back is inlaid with the same copper back plate, and there are traces of coarse grain on it.

Oval ribbon ornaments (1 piece): unearthed from Hailiban Liao Tomb in the old temple, milky white and crystal clear. The upper part is square, and the rest is nearly oval. A flat hole with a length of 1.6 cm is pierced at the upper end, and three gold-plated copper rivets are embedded. Length 1.9 cm, width 3.2 cm and thickness 0.5 cm. The back is inlaid with the same copper back plate.

Swallowtail-shaped ribbon ornaments (2 pieces): unearthed from the Liao tomb in Hailiban, the old temple, milky white and crystal clear. Same shape, flat hole with upper end length of 1.7 cm, three gold-plated copper rivets. It is 3.3 cm long, 2.8 cm wide and 0.7 cm thick. The back is inlaid with the same copper back plate.

Many agate products unearthed in Fuxin show that ancient Fuxin was rich in agate and was used by ancient ancestors. It is expected that in the archaeological excavation after Fuxin, better agate products can be excavated, which will add new colors to the spread of Fuxin ancient civilization, the construction of Fuxin "Agate Capital", the inheritance of the fine traditions of the Chinese nation and the development of Fuxin modern civilization.

traditional Chinese medicine

Smell: irritating, cold and nontoxic.

Indications: Eliminating pathogenic factors and ironing eyes. The main eye is accompanied by clouds, which is the end and the sun.