Jade is the most beautiful stone.

Chinese people have a long history of loving jade. Most Chinese characters with jade as a radical are associated with beauty.

Qu Yuan was a jade lover. In his own works, he described his understanding and feelings of jade: “I stroked the long sword and the jade earring”, “white jade is used as a town”, “I have not yet found the plants and trees, how can I compare with the beauty of chéng”… “珵” here is also a kind of beautiful jade. In the literary works of successive dynasties since then, jade culture has occupied a stage and released its light.

Ancient jade is silent but can speak. Jade culture runs through the history of Chinese civilization. It is an indispensable and important part of traditional culture and a symbol that distinguishes Chinese civilization from other civilizations in the world.

The origin of jadeware is synchronized with the differentiation of stone tools. In the Neolithic Age, with the development of stone tool processing technology, our ancestors carefully selected beautiful stones with excellent color, toughness and hardness to make early jadeware. “Using jade to serve gods” became the characteristic of this period.

“Jade is a spiritual object, and using jade to serve gods” is reflected in a large number of jadeware. For example, Hongshan Culture, Lingjiatan Culture, Xiaojiawuji Culture, etc., have unearthed a large number of human-shaped jade and animal-shaped jade. Studies have shown that these statues, whether the theme is people or animals, are mostly mysterious.

During the Xia and Shang dynasties, some tombs unearthed jade with few signs of use. More than 50 jade weapons such as jade Qi, jade axe, jade dagger, and jade spear were unearthed from Fu Hao’s Tomb in Yinxu, Anyang. These weapons were finely polished, thin and brittle, and most of them had no signs of use. Therefore, they were not practical tools, but burial objects that showed the identity of the tomb owner.

During the Western Zhou Dynasty, Duke Zhou made rituals and music, and jade became the carrier of rituals and the symbol of class. A large number of ornaments were unearthed from the tomb of “E Jiang”, the wife of E Hou of E State in the late Western Zhou Dynasty in Nanyang, Henan, such as: phoenix-shaped jade pendants, dragon-shaped jade pendants, silk-shaped jade pendants, arc-shaped jade ornaments, etc. At that time, the number of beads worn and the quality of jade were symbols of the identity and status of the holder.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, jade was used less and less for etiquette, and more was given moral connotations. “A gentleman compares his virtue to jade”, and jade is precious and treasured. Wearing jade became a social fashion. The combination of jade pendants was a popular representative at that time, and its important function was to control one’s steps. At that time, the higher the social status of a person, the more complicated and longer the combination of jade pendants he wore.

In the Han Dynasty, the Silk Road brought high-quality jade materials into the Central Plains. During this period, jade was made of a variety of materials. In addition to crystal, agate, amber, turquoise and other jade in a broad sense, a large part of it also used Xinjiang Hetian jade.

In the Song Dynasty, with the popularity of the ancient thought, a kind of antique jade was produced, which deliberately imitated ancient bronze, jade and lacquerware in shape, decoration and color.

The jade creations of Liao, Jin and Yuan dynasties have distinct national characteristics and a magnificent and bold style. Among them, jade decorated with spring water and autumn mountains are the most distinctive. Spring water jade, the theme is the hunting of swans or wild geese by the Gypsophila gorgon, supplemented by reeds, water plants and lotus. Autumn mountain jade depicts hunting in the mountains in autumn, and its decorations are mainly tigers, bears, deer, rocks, and ganoderma.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the secularization of jade creation was more obvious, and it was emphasized that “the picture must have meaning, and the meaning must be auspicious”. Whether it is animals or plants, they are all given auspicious and beautiful meanings.

In short, from the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Qing Dynasty, jade went from being a spiritual object in the temple to being a human being. Using jade to cultivate the body and mind, cultivate sentiments, and express auspicious and beautiful wishes became the main characteristics of this period.

(The authors are respectively research curators of Hunan Museum and deputy research curators of Changsha Museum, and compiled by our reporter Wang Yunna)