Fei Xiaotong once said: "Jade articles should be part of the stone tools, but it is a beautiful stone." Before the appearance of jade, there must be a long-term process of jade differentiation and jade identification. Studies in the archaeological circles in recent years have shown that the origin of Chinese jade articles is likely to be traced back to the late Paleolithic period and may be closely related to fishing and hunting culture.
Meishi is jade is China's outstanding cultural characteristics
Mei Shi is jade. As early as 2001, the famous sociologist Fei Xiaotong clearly pointed out the relationship between Yuhe Stone. At the academic seminar of "Chinese ancient jade and traditional culture", Fei Xiaotong believed that with the frequent contact and collision of Eastern and Western cultures, all ethnic groups should awaken "cultural consciousness" and examine their unique and outstanding parts. "In the ubiquitous and unique Chinese culture, I thought of ancient Chinese jade. Jade has occupied a very important position in the history of China. This phenomenon is not seen in the West, or rarely seen. â€
Fei Xiaotong said: "The jade should be part of the stone, but it is a beautiful stone. These beautiful stones - the jade, after the development of ordinary stoneware into jade, these artifacts are no longer ordinary tools, it is Injecting a higher level of values ​​and ideology."
It can be seen that before the emergence of jade, there must be a long-term process of jade differentiation and jade identification. So, when did this differentiation begin?
Yang Boda, the former deputy director of the Palace Museum, has shown that in recent years, the archaeological community has been very effective in exploring the origin of jade in China, and has provided very enlightening insights, such as: "The origin of Chinese jade is likely to be traced back to the late Paleolithic period. "Jade, the initial emergence and early development may have a closer relationship with the fishing and hunting culture." "The investigation of the origin of Chinese jade is necessary to search from the Paleolithic culture in the northern part of the Old World."
“The stone maker is an excellent geologistâ€
The Paleolithic Age (about 3 million years ago - about 10,000 years ago) is the most difficult and long-term period of human progress. The stone tools of this era are mostly made. In the process, people gradually put forward the nature of stone. The request. At that time, the craftsmen had a fairly high level of understanding of lithology. "The discriminating stoneware makers will selectively collect from a large number of stones according to their intentions and stone functions to meet their own needs... Stoneware makers are stunned An excellent geologist who knows how to pick the right ingredients for a particular need."
At the end of the Paleolithic period, the grinding technology of stone products was produced. Grinding also provides the necessary technical preparation for the production of jade.
This is the budding period of jade artifacts. In the late Paleolithic period, some fine stone tools began to separate from the practical stone tools. Those beautiful stones - later known as jade, are gradually recognized and distinguished by primitive people because of their unique texture and color. According to the classification scheme proposed by Yu Shuwen, director of the Institute of Ancient Humanities of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, among the more than 100 kinds of rocks contained in the three types of rocks, magma, sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks, jasper, serpentine, quartzite and other three rocks later In the jade production, it shines.
A hunting horse who lived in the ruins of the county of Shanxi Province, 28,000 years ago, used a small stone knife made of crystal. The cavemen of 18,000 years ago, in the ruins they lived in, unearthed a variety of colorful decorations, including perforated animal teeth, sea tongs shells, drilled stone balls, small beads Wait. The above situation shows that the custom of wearing decorations at that time has been formed. It is because of this custom that the birth of ancient Chinese jade was born.
Therefore, the origin of jade can be traced back to the late Paleolithic period two or three thousand years ago. The archaeologist Qu Shi once said: "The budding period we are talking about here is not to say that jade objects have appeared or used, but because of the needs of human primitive beauty, the pursuit of what they consider to be beautiful in their daily lives. For example: In the aspect of stone making, not only the hard stone is used, but also the color of the stone is used as much as possible. The processing is divided by practicality, and it is small and exquisite. On the other hand, the use of animal teeth, The bone tube and the shellfish are made into a variety of small accessories that can be worn to show wisdom and attract the opposite sex. The above two aspects are the two characteristics and types of the origin and development of ancient Chinese jade.
The invention of the bow and arrow fish dart is closely related to the birth of jade
Moreover, Guo Dashun, honorary director of the Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, believes that the original appearance of this jade, known as the "beautiful stone", may have a closer relationship with the fishing and hunting culture.
This can not be separated from the continuous discovery of the Hongshan culture jade in Northeast China, the discovery of the first Hongshan culture and its jade, and the discovery of jade and remains related to the Hongshan culture in the Neolithic Age in Northeast China.
At present, the earliest prehistoric jade articles in China are found in the sites of Xinglongyu, Chahai and Baiyinchanghan, which were in the middle of the Neolithic Age 8000 years ago. Yuan Yongming's research article shows that a typical example is a pair of jade that was unearthed in the tomb No. 117 in the site of No. 176, Xinglongtun Colony Site, Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia. Therefore, we have reason to conclude that jade should have sprouted at the end of the Paleolithic era dating back 8,000 years ago or even 10,000 years ago.
The Xinglongtun site is the earliest and best preserved Neolithic site in Inner Mongolia and the Northeast. At that time, people used fishing and hunting as their main economic activity.
Guo Dashun believes that this intrinsic connection between the origin of jade and the culture of fishing and hunting has been reflected in the initial formation of jade functions and production. From the appearance of jade, there are two aspects that are crucial. First, the jade is finally distinguished from the stone, and the other is the specific processing method for jade. The ancients chose the jade stone whose texture, color and hardness were moderately "warm as jade", giving it a socialized personality function. It is necessary to have a deep understanding of the characteristics of jade. At the same time, in order to make these characteristics of jade fully expressed, the processing of jade uses a very time-consuming and indirect friction method using sand as the medium, and the hardness of the sand used is higher than that of jade. Gradually explored in the long process of practice, and these two aspects are directly related to the development of fine stone tools.
“Because, the identification and selection of high-quality stone materials, familiarity with the structure and performance of stone materials, reached a peak in the process of making and using fine stone tools, which also accumulated necessary experience and technical conditions for understanding and processing jade. From this point of view, it is not unreasonable to trace the origin of jade to the late Paleolithic period. Because the technological revolution in the late Paleolithic period was mainly marked by the appearance of fine stone tools, its consequences such as bows and arrows, fish darts, etc. The invention of the composite tool leads the fishing and hunting to a new stage. This is a leap in the history of mankind before the agricultural revolution, and it should also be a profound historical background of the appearance of jade. For this reason, the Xiaogushan Paleolithic period in Haicheng County, Liaoning Province A jade chopping shovel unearthed from the cave site has attracted extensive attention from jade researchers. It is believed to be the source of Chinese jade culture. Although this is only a jade tool, it is not strictly jade in the strict sense. Category, but this cave site also has a progressive barbed harpoon and bone fish darts. They have revealed an important message, that is
Turquoise, agate, crystal, chalcedony, can be called jade in the eyes of the ancients
Question: The beauty stone is jade. Do you think that the jade articles of ancient China, in terms of materials, generally refer to which types?
Ma Wei: "Mei Shi is jade" is a broad definition of jade in the early days of the ancients. From prehistoric times, the prehistoric period of Hongshan culture, Liangzhu culture, Lingjiatan culture and so on have a large number of times of using stone and jade. This is also the era when the ancients searched for jade and gradually resolved the transition. The Shang Dynasty turquoise, Western Zhou agate, Warring States crystal, coal fine, chalcedony, talc, serpentine, tremolite, etc., can be called jade in the eyes of the ancients.
Q: When did you think the jade differentiation started?
Ma Wei: In a strict sense, in the pre-history eight thousand years of prosperity, the ancients began to use jade, and jade and stone used to sculpt various sacrificial artifacts and living tools. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the jade and stone began to be separated. The aristocrats used jade to be basically Hetian jade, while the agate, chalcedony and crystal were used relatively less. The jade in the miscellaneous stone was basically removed, but it was only in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. When jade entered the folk, the mixed stones and jade began to be used together.
The division of jade I personally thinks should be four times: First, Wu Yu, this is the most important use of prehistoric jade. Second, Shenyu, from Xia Shang Zhou to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, before Qin Shihuang unified China, these jade articles were used by the king, and they were also commonly used by everyone. Third, Wang Yu, from Qin Shihuang to the Tang Dynasty, jade can be called Wang Yu, which has always been exclusively owned by the emperor. Fourth, Minyu, from the Song Dynasty to the present, entered the era of good jade and jade, and jade is no longer unique to the royal family but can be worn by ordinary people. This creates an unprecedented period of prosperity for jade culture. . These four periods have derived different understandings of jade culture.
As far as the high ancient jade trade is concerned, the state has not fully liberalized the auction of ancient jade. Foreign jade is hot. However, I think that as the country advocates the revival of the traditional cultural industry, the corresponding birth of art finance will help to promote the prosperity of the ancient jade trading market in the future.
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