What are the origins of jade culture? What is jade culture

The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (770 BC - 221 BC) was an era in Chinese history in which the princes were divided and the seven heroes were hegemonic. Under these specific historical conditions, a situation has emerged in which a hundred schools of thought contend and a hundred flowers bloom. The scope of controversy is not limited to political systems, philosophical thoughts, ethics and morality, but also involves cultural and artistic aspects.

At this time, due to the widespread use of iron and steel tools, the improvement of jade treatment tools, especially stone tools, was promoted, the speed of rotation was accelerated, and emery powder with greater hardness than jade was also used. Progressive tools and effective sanding have promoted the rapid development of jade cutting technology, so that China's jade production has been perfected and entered a new stage of rapid development.

The Huang Kingdom, the Yu Kingdom, the Zhongshan Kingdom and the Zeng Kingdom were not great powers in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but the joint burial tomb of the Meng couple of the monarch of the Huang State in Shangguangang in Guangshan, Henan, the cemetery of the nobles of the Kingdom of Qiu in Shangcunling, Sanmenxia, Henan, the tomb of the king of Zhongshan in Pingshan, Hebei, and the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Suizhou, Hubei, have unearthed a large number of exquisite jade. It is not difficult to imagine the scale of the tombs of other major countries with jade.

At this time, due to the widespread use of iron and steel tools, the improvement of jade treatment tools, especially stone tools, was promoted, the speed of rotation was accelerated, and emery powder with greater hardness than jade was also used. Progressive tools and effective sanding have promoted the rapid development of jade cutting technology, so that China's jade production has been perfected and entered a new stage of rapid development.

The Huang Kingdom, the Yu Kingdom, the Zhongshan Kingdom and the Zeng Kingdom were not great powers in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but the joint burial tomb of the Meng couple of the monarch of the Huang State in Shangguangang in Guangshan, Henan, the cemetery of the nobles of the Kingdom of Qiu in Shangcunling, Sanmenxia, Henan, the tomb of the king of Zhongshan in Pingshan, Hebei, and the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Suizhou, Hubei, have unearthed a large number of exquisite jade. It is not difficult to imagine the scale of the tombs of other major countries with jade.

In this first period in the history of Chinese jade culture, the vassal states competed to grind jade, and the upper class wore jade into a fashion, and the story of "He's Bi" and "Returning to Zhao" that was popular and recited through the ages took place at this time. This is a trend of using jade since the late primitive society through the Xia, Shang and Zhou periods. It is impossible for the hundred schools of thought to avoid this, but they can only demonstrate and explain it in order to expound their own thoughts.

Among the views of Zhuzi on jade, there are three most representative schools: Mozi took whether it is conducive to solving people's food and clothing as the criterion for measuring value, and believed that gold and jade treasures were "expensive and laborious, not profitable", and were the extravagant activities of a few rulers, so he held a comprehensive negative attitude towards jade. Han Fei is the master of Legalist thought, and he uses utilitarian criteria to determine the trade-offs of jade, he said:

Fuwa ware is also cheap, does not leak, and can hold wine. Although there is a jade of gold, it is most expensive, and there is no time, leakage, and water cannot be contained, then who is the grout? He also believes that the quality of jade lies in its quality, not in the form in which it is processed.

The above two companies' understanding of jade is slightly paranoid and is not enough to teach. Only Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, took the golden mean, emphasized the expression of jade to the content of rituals, did not lightly deny the quality and text of jade, attached importance to the harmony of quality and literature, and opened a precedent for Confucianism to discuss jade, which had the most far-reaching impact on the formation of jade in China.

The emergence of the Chinese state and the emergence of the jade culture state is a very complex social phenomenon that depends on many factors. However, through the study of jade, it is clear that jade has played a very important role in the process of the emergence of the Chinese state, and has played a great role in promoting it. It is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

Jade contributed to the emergence of civilized societies and thus laid the foundation for the emergence of states: historical knowledge tells us that before states were formed, civilized societies were first created. Civilized society contains many phenomena and contents, such as the origin and application of writing, the formation of a class of laborers who specialize in the management of people, the emergence of craftsmen and workshops in handicrafts, the emergence of religion and wizards, and the creation and application of a large number of arts and crafts, decorative paintings and other works of art.

Among these many phenomena of civilization, jade has a unique and particularly eye-catching position compared with other cultural products. Jade consciousness evolved into national consciousnessSome of the primitive consciousness of jade gradually evolved into national consciousness: like the emergence of any country, China's national history has also experienced the evolution from blood clan organization to regional organization, from clan society to ancient cities.

The process from village society to village society and then to national politics is the general trajectory of the emergence of the state, in which the emergence and formation of national consciousness is the key. As a symbol of clans and tribes, the jade totem represents the consciousness that people already have clans, organizations and regional organizations at that time, and this consciousness must be further developed and expanded, and the use of bronze tools has promoted this development process. When the production of jade and the pursuit of it further developed, people gave jade a richer conceptual form and content, these concepts and contents are no longer unique to a clan or a village, it greatly transcends the boundaries of the clan region, and has become a considerable range of people's common beliefs and common worship, such as jade and jade in the jade age can be widely unearthed in various regions of China, so there is a phenomenon of consciousness at the beginning of the establishment of the country, these phenomena are described in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" and "Shangshu".

Jade is an important part of traditional Chinese culture, and jade culture with jade as the central carrier has not only deeply influenced the thinking of ancient Chinese, but also become an indispensable part of Chinese culture. Jade culture contains the patriotic national integrity of "rather being broken jade"; the fashion of unity and friendship of "turning into jade silk"; the selfless dedication of "moistening with warmth"; "Yu does not hide flaws" of honesty and integrity. Originating in the early Neolithic period and continuing to the present day, the "jade culture" is a distinctive feature of Chinese culture that distinguishes it from other civilizations in the world.

The Chinese regard jade as the crystallization of the essence of heaven and earth, giving jade an unusual religious symbolism. Taken from nature, jade products pondered in the imperial palace were regarded as symbols of hierarchical status and status, and became an important part of the so-called "ritual system" that maintained the social ruling order. At the same time, the special role of jade in funeral also gives jade an incomparably mystical religious significance.

It is a great creation of the Chinese to compare some of the natural characteristics of jade itself to the moral qualities attached to people as the virtues that the so-called "gentleman" should have. Therefore, jade is a vivid materialized embodiment of the oriental spirit and the material foundation of the essence of Chinese cultural tradition. As the "beauty of stone" screened by the ancestors of the Chinese nation from various stones, Chinese jade has the beauty and practical functions of warmth and lustour, meticulous and tenacious.

In this long selection process, the "jade of Kunshan", that is, "Hetian jade", became recognized as "precious jade" and "real jade".

The beautiful name of jade culture is actually the assembly of all things related to jade, such as jade-related stories in history, the development of tools and technology for jade processing, and the evolution of jade appreciation.

Jade is traditional Chinese culture.

An important part of the jade culture, with jade as the central carrier, has not only deeply influenced the thinking of ancient Chinese, but also become an indispensable part of Chinese culture. Jade culture contains the patriotic national integrity of "rather being broken jade"; the fashion of unity and friendship of "turning into jade silk"; the selfless dedication of "moistening with warmth"; The integrity and integrity of "flaws are not hidden".

Originating in the early Neolithic period and continuing to the present day, the "jade culture" is a distinctive feature of Chinese culture that distinguishes it from other civilizations in the world. The Chinese regard jade as the crystallization of the essence of heaven and earth, giving jade an unusual symbolic meaning. Taken from nature, jade products pondered in the imperial palace were regarded as symbols of hierarchical status and status, and became an important part of the so-called "ritual system" that maintained the social ruling order.

For thousands of years, the Chinese nation has formed a national love for jade, and "the love of jade can be said to be one of the characteristics of Chinese culture."