What is China Porcelain Jade Culture?

Jade culture jade is an important material and cultural heritage of China. Since the emergence of jade culture in Hemudu period, the material and cultural factors embodied in jade have been constantly evolving, and various cultural factors embodied in jade have been inherited and developed to varying degrees in the evolution. The author will analyze the material and cultural factors embodied in jade articles from the following aspects. In the Neolithic Age, jade was once the representative of production tools. Such as Liangzhu culture in Neolithic Age and Yu Fu, jade chisel and other tools unearthed from Dawenkou cultural site. This kind of tools were mostly used in production and life at the earliest time, so it can be speculated that jade was more used as a production tool in this period. Of course, it is not excluded that jade is also used as a weapon at this time. Jade unearthed from Liangzhu cultural site is considered as a symbol of military strength. In addition, Yu Fu and Yu Chi can also be used as combat weapons to some extent. However, jade in this period is a kind of jade culture, because there are few jade articles like Yu Fu mentioned above, and more jade articles are jade articles that reflect the connection between man and nature, universal worship and religious consciousness. Primitive ancestors could not understand and predict unpredictable events in nature and disasters on earth, so they turned to the gods for help. As a kind of "beauty of stone", jade is used to communicate with gods. The ancients described it this way: "Witches can serve gods with jade." It can be seen that jade is actually an artifact to communicate between God and heaven. In addition, some animal jade carvings, such as dragons and birds, are the reflection of ancestor worship and totem worship in the production and life of human society. For example, in Hongshan Culture, jade articles such as Jade Pig Dragon and C-shaped Dragon can be seen, which is probably the totem worship of primitive ancestors. During the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, jade culture developed further, and jade was more of a ritual jade culture. Among the unearthed jade articles, the number of jade weapons in Xia Dynasty is more than before. In other words, with the emergence of the country, jade has been endowed with a political factor or political culture. After the Zhou Dynasty, the ruling class produced a large number of jade ritual vessels and ornaments to maintain the ritual system. Zhou Li, Yi Li, Li Ji and other pre-Qin documents recorded the names, shapes, specifications and uses of jade articles that embodied hierarchical functions in the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to Zhou Li, "Jade was used as a gift from six Swiss countries. Wang Zhi Guigui, Gongzhi Guigui, Hou Zhixingui, Zhi Bo Gonggui, Zizhi Gubi, Gongzhi Pubi. " It is clearly stipulated that different grades of jade articles are different. Jade embodies the culture of ritual jade because one of its most important functions is offering sacrifices. There is such a record in the Book of Rites, Spring Officials and Big Zhou Bo: "Jade is the six vessels, respecting the four sides of heaven and earth. Li Jue and Cang Bi, Li Jue and Huang Yan, Dong Li and Qing Gui, Li Nan and Zhang Chi, Li Xi and White Tiger, Bailey and Huang Xuan. " Six vessels made of jade are sacrificed to all directions, thus giving jade the connotation of ritual system. In addition, jade is also used as the seal of the emperor. Cui, known to all women and children, was cast as a national seal after being presented. At one time, the State of Qin wanted to exchange fifteen cities for the jade that became the national seal after the State of Qin unified the six countries, but it was a pity that it failed. Most of the emperor's seals are made of jade. This further enriches the connotation of jade etiquette. In addition, jade was also used as a funerary object. At that time, people thought that jade had aura. "If jade is in the nine orifices, the dead will not die." Jade clothes, jade plugs and jade inclusions are all buried jade, which is also the embodiment of ritual jade. Deyu culture came into being during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and jade was endowed with the beautiful moral integrity that people hoped for. Since the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, with the change of social system, the view that "a gentleman is better than jade" has appeared in social concepts, and jade, as a symbol of moral integrity, has been paid more and more attention. The Book of Rites records that jade has eleven virtues, namely, benevolence, knowledge, righteousness, courtesy, joy, loyalty, faith, heaven, earth, virtue and Taoism, which personifies jade. This view represents the Confucian understanding and view of jade, emphasizing that the value of jade lies not in its external beauty, but in its connotation, which is closely related to people's spiritual world. People endow jade with the connotation of virtue and personification, making jade the embodiment of a gentleman. There is a saying in The Book of Songs: Speaking of a gentleman, he is as gentle as jade. Because jade is endowed with such rich moral connotation, a gentleman must wear it. It has become a temporary fashion that a gentleman wears jade and never leaves his body. A gentleman is more beautiful than jade, and Yu Pei has become a symbol of virtue. From primitive ancestors to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, we can see such a phenomenon: anyone who can wear and own jade articles comes from the upper class of society at that time, that is to say, the possession and use of primitive jade articles is the privilege of the upper class of society. However, in the Han Dynasty, jade appeared a trend of secularization. By the Han Dynasty, jade was more widely used in social etiquette and daily life, and a large number of jade articles appeared for viewing. There are flowers, birds and figures painted on jade articles in the Tang Dynasty. In addition, the number of jade cups and bowls with practical value has gradually increased, and jade belt ornaments indicating official ranks have also appeared. All these show that the function of jade is becoming more and more secular. Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties were the period of jade popularization. With the development of the times and social progress, jade has entered the homes of ordinary people. Jade is a very popular ornament. The custom of carrying jade ornaments began in the Neolithic Age. At present, the earliest known jade ornaments are Huang, Guan, Zhu and pendants unearthed from Hemudu site in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province from 7000 to 6800 years ago. From its unearthed parts, we can know that Huang, Guan, Zhu and pendant are all ornaments. In Shang Dynasty, jade ornaments were also very common, and there were a large number of hair ornaments, headdresses, neck ornaments and waist ornaments in women's tombs in Yin Ruins. During the Warring States period, a group of jades appeared, which was composed of different types of jades in series. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, wearing jade articles became a common fashion. After the Han Dynasty, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the types and forms of decorative jade became richer and more exquisite, and the decorative function of jade gradually became its main social function. Moreover, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the collection of ancient jade was very popular, because the number of ancient jade was not considerable. Nowadays, jade has become a very important ornament in people's lives. Jade has been developing and evolving, from production tools to weapons, utensils, ritual vessels and decorations for ordinary people, and it has always been something people like. At the same time, jade has naturally been endowed with many beautiful meanings and become synonymous with beautiful things. It can be said that jade has been associated with beauty since it appeared. Modifiers that take jade as beauty abound in ancient literature, such as: comparing people's personality to "jade is pure and pure", describing people's beauty as "jade capacity" and "jade appearance", praising men's manners as "well proportioned", praising women's temperament as "slim and graceful", praising gods as "jade emperor" and "jade emperor". People even use jade to praise the beauty of music and poetry, such as Du Mu's famous poem "Twenty-four Bridges on a moonlit night, where can jade people teach flute playing?" Since the Han Dynasty, naming jade or the characters beside it has gradually become a fashion, and jade has become the embodiment of all beautiful things. To sum up, we can see that the jade culture in China has a long history, and the material and cultural factors embodied in jade articles are also developing with the changes of the times. Jade has been offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods from the earliest, as a ceremonial appliance, burying corpses and serving a few powerful people. With the progress of the times, jade not only continues to participate in sacrificial ceremonies and ceremonial activities, but also provides more people (including princes and nobles, rich literati) with the effect of real material and spiritual life. Jade culture has also evolved from the initial jade culture to the jade culture of courtesy and virtue, and finally became synonymous with beautiful things, which all reflect rich material and cultural factors. -"China Collection"