Ancient jade appreciation - Han Dynasty jade

In October 206 BC, Qin’s prince and his son led Xi’an Liu Bang’s ancestral feats and confessions to Xi’an in Xi’an. At this point, the first feudal dynasty in China’s history, Qin, declared its demise like a silk flower. In 202 BC, after five years of the Chu-Han War, Liu Bang defeated Xi Yu, the overlord of the Xi Chu tyrant, and then took up the position of God, known as the Han Emperor. This is a rich and vivid history. The establishment of the Western Han dynasty was an important milestone in the history of the development of our nation. If we say that the establishment of slavery countries in Western Zhou Dynasty 900 years ago was the realization of the unity of the Chinese region, but after all, the country’s political unification has not yet been formed, and full control cannot be exercised for the scattered states. It is just a nominal "world total owner." However, after the establishment of the multi-ethnic state of Qin and Han, the situation will be very different. After the establishment of the Western Han dynasty, it relied on the magnificent foundation of the great cause of political reunification to accelerate the increasingly affluent social economy and continuously create a new cultural prosperity. In terms of verticality, it inherited all the political, economic, cultural, and artistic achievements since the summer, business, and the three generations of the Zhou Dynasty until the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States period. In the horizontal aspect, it fully utilized the natural advantages of the country’s vast territory and adopted a series of Major measures, with their broad minds, are inclusive and diversified, as well as collating and summarizing the pre-Qin classics, synthesizing the longevity of each family, completing the academic unification, and leading the Western Regions and the Xiongnu people to create a precedent for cultural exchanges between China and the West. The situation of an unprecedented cultural integration has laid the foundation for the Chinese nation’s culture. Since then, the structure and appearance of Chinese culture have basically been fixed. Since its birth, China’s jade ware is no longer a purely cultural phenomenon but first appears as a political phenomenon. As ancient Chinese politics and ghosts and gods have constantly linked, so jade has always been branded with a mysterious mark. Then, under the social and political system of the Han Dynasty, what is the status of jade articles? To understand this issue, we must first answer the main features of the social, political, and cultural aspects of the Han Dynasty. According to the historian's many political systems and socio-cultural structures in the Han Dynasty, there are three major characteristics: First, the system of Han Chengqin, from the Daze township uprising led by Chen Sheng to the complete demise of the Qin Dynasty, which was a peasant war to overthrow the feudalism. The great struggle of the dynasty. The Chu-Han War between the two unified dynasties of the Qin and Han dynasties was essentially the continuation of the peasant war in the late Qin Dynasty under new historical conditions. From Qin to Han, although this experienced a storm of peasant wars, although the main force that eventually overthrew the Qin Dynasty was still thousands of peasants, but as a leader of the peasant rebel army Liu Bang, when he was in the vast majority of farmers After winning the military's complete victory under the support of the army, he immediately took up the position of emperor and lost no time in picking up the law of the Qin Dynasty, making nine chapters of the law, restoring feudalism, formulating etiquette, and finally completed the conversion to feudal rulers. This magnificent and magnificent struggle eventually became the transition from one feudal regime to another feudal regime. Liu Bang Group, which has become the feudal landlord regime, has inherited all the systems of the Qin Dynasty in terms of politics, economy, law, and religious etiquette. This is the so-called "Han System of Qin"; the second is Han Ji Chuxu. In sharp contrast to the political and economic aspects, the Liu Han Dynasty did not completely inherit the Zhou and Qin culture in the field of culture and art, but it inherited and developed Chu culture in the Warring States period in a large number of traditions. As early as the demise of the Shang Dynasty, Chu inherited the achievements of the Shang civilization in the South. After centuries of development, the Chu culture is far from the Zhouqin culture. The poems, rhythms, and paintings that originated in the Chu Kingdom, and even the Huang Lao studies that dominated the early Han Dynasty all played an important role in the history of Chinese culture. Chu Song Chu Chu Chuan rhyme is spread throughout the great rivers north and south. When Xiang Yu was trapped, Xiang Yu was trapped, and the news that he had “attacked on all sides” was suddenly lost. This has become an example of the use of culture to win military victories. Liu Han’s founding monarchs and Han Chinese soldiers were mostly from Chu’s land when they were on the political stage. They brought the cultural customs of their hometown to the shores of the Central Plains and Qilu, and Liu Bang’s “Big Wind Rises From the Clouds” on the day of the return of Yijin was not spread all over China for more than 2,200 years. This is what the historicalists have discussed. The third was the solemn worship of Confucianism, and Liu Wu, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, further strengthened the centralized system of communism.The Confucian scholarship coincided with the needs of the Han dynasty. In AD (the first 134 years), Wu Di resolutely ordered the exclusion of 100 The official orders of the imperial courts of Confucianism that were not ruled by the family were greatly promoted and reused by Confucian scholars until they served as prime ministers for the imperial court. Since then, Confucianism has replaced Taoism’s dominance, and Confucianism has become the orthodox thought of ruling the people. These three characteristics of political culture in the Han Dynasty had a very significant impact on the development of the jade artifacts in the Han Dynasty. The performance of Han Chengyu’s devices still retains a “Zhou Li” jade thought and etiquette system. The Qin culture itself grew up in the original culture of the Zhou culture. One of the main positions in the Qin culture is the ceremony of the Central Plains. Although at that time, "Zhou Li's jade system experienced the trend of courtesy collapse in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, but as a Han Dynasty that inherited the Qin Dynasty system politically and economically, it still inherited part of the traditional ritual system and Yu Zhiming. The court custom of ceremony, but this kind of inheritance is not all copied, but it conforms to the political background of the Han Dynasty and has been further improved, the most prominent is the change of the six devices.When the Western Han Dynasty, the Zhou Li’s six devices still exist. Three devices, the use of jade cymbals is still more, the number of Kyu has been reduced, as 琮 has rarely seen. All this shows that the characteristics of the Western Han Dynasty in terms of etiquette are: Although the week system has collapsed, the spirit of ritualism is particularly evident. The system of six devices has been disintegrated, and the idea of ​​worshiping heaven with jade is still prevalent. The jade rituals of the palace were consolidated into history, and political sites still used jade, but they changed in a practical direction.

The influence of Han Ji Chuxu on jade was mainly manifested in the creation and popularity of jade artifacts of the Han Dynasty, and the emergence of evil jades. The funeral jade wares have reached the summit. The Chu people believed in immortals and preferred witchcraft. In fact, ghosts and gods thoughts originated in ancient times. They are also very popular in the northern land. They have only declined to the weekends. After the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States period, they gradually replaced rational thoughts of the Qin Dynasty. However, history has yet to leave a large number of myths of ancient myths of ancient traditions and customs in the Chu mountains and Chushui, and are hidden in the Chu customs of Chu townships. For example, among Heavenly Question and Lisao, there are a lot of ancient myths that can reflect the degree of superstition of Chu people. After the reunification of the Han Dynasty, the ghosts and superstitions in the original Chu culture were once filled in the literary creation of the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty's literary creation also relied on the powerful power of political unification and economic prosperity to promote the widespread spread of the custom of witchcraft.

Han Dynasty jade is mainly divided into five categories:

One is the ceremony jade: there are jade, jade, jade. Yuhuan, Yuyao, and jade can also be found in unearthed objects, but they are not used as ritual vessels.

Second, funeral jade: jade, jade, jade, jade, jade grip and nine mortar. The funeral jade wares mentioned here refer specifically to jade wares for corpses. All other burial jade articles are not included.

Third, the decoration of jade: Due to the Confucian scholarship to an orthodox position, Yude's thought has become prevalent and has greatly promoted the development of decorative jade.

Fourth, it is jade artifacts: mainly animal-shaped jade, there are famous jade horses, jade dancers, as well as jade bears, jade birds, jade animals, jade frogs, jade lions, jade dragons, jade tigers and so on.

Fifth, it is a real jade product category: There is a jade container in the category of diet, which shows that the jade of Han Dynasty began to embark on the road of life and culture, and once again opened up the spring of jade carving art in China.

What kind of political, economic, and cultural background will there be will be a kind of jade culture, which has become a fixed law. The prosperous world of Liu Han created a golden age in the history of jade articles in China following the four peaks of Hongshan, Liangzhu, Shang merchants, and the Spring and Autumn Period. According to the records of Han and Hou Han, the imperial court prescribed that the emperor should use jade jackets for gold and silver, princes and nobles, and princesses for silver and jade and large nobles and long princess should wear copper and jade. Although it was later overdone, the specifications and quantity used exceeded the regulations, but this marked the country’s jade policy and the jade of the times.

The jade objects unearthed in the tombs of Han Dynasty kings reflect the characteristics of complete categories, exquisite skills, wide distribution and national rituals, and should be the general representative of the style of jade. None of these royal tombs are not extremely luxurious. Their basic structure is either a high-pit deep crater or a Yadong hole, an ante-chamber rear room, or a left or right side house. It is like a human house. Fully reflects the Han Dynasty court and general social concepts, jade still has an extremely lofty position. Among all the burial jades in the Han Dynasty, there is no more than a typical jade dress. This kind of jade can reflect the political background and ideology of the Han Dynasty very well. The jade garments were made in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, prevailed in the Han Dynasty and ended in Weichu. According to incomplete statistics, the number of jade garments found so far in the country is approximately 40 sets. There are about 5 sets that can be completely restored. Due to the rampant rot of materials and rampages and rampages, most of the damage was caused by scattered jade pieces, and even some of them were found overseas. The earliest and most influential Jinyu Jade found in China was the two sets of Liu Sheng and Dou Shu’s couples in Jingzhong, Zhongshan, Hebei Province, excavated in 1986. Each piece of jade clothing is calculated according to the production of jade, and it takes a craftsman more than 10 years of hard work. Its material selection, styling skills, honing process and overall specifications are unprecedented among the funeral ceremonies of the emperors in China.

This kind of jade theory in the Han Dynasty has been more fully proved in the use of jade. Among all the burial jade wares of the Han Dynasty, the role of Yuxi was very prominent. It has the largest amount of use, the most complex meaning, and the ceremonial significance is far better than that of jade clothes. The most attractive feature of jade clothes lies in its vast process value and the so-called anti-corruption immortality. The ancient history of jade poems in ancient rituals and the religious connotation they contained were all difficult for Yuyi. So far, in the tombs of the Hanwang kings that have been excavated, although the people have encountered different situations and are in different situations, they must be similar in the tomb system. What is particularly important is that among almost all the tombs of the kings, jade cymbals are indispensable even with or without jade clothes.