What does it mean to “open the face” of jade?

Everyone is familiar with jade. It has always carried everyone's beautiful hopes and expectations because of its unique beauty. So when you choose jade in your daily life, I wonder if you have ever paid attention to the carving of jade, which refers to the depiction and shaping of the facial features of the person. How can we distinguish the two in terms of carving? Let’s talk about this topic today.

How to distinguish the quality of jade carvings of human figures by looking at how its “face” is? The professional term "kailian" refers to the craftsman's depiction and shaping of the facial features of a character. A good face drawing should be in line with the character's techniques and aesthetics and be lifelike. When it comes to vividness, we have to talk about the portrayal of character expressions. Human expressions are very complex. In order to better capture facial expressions, our ancient capable carving craftsmen summed up the "three-court and five-eye" method to better depict facial expressions. "Three courts" refers to dividing the front of a person's face into three equal parts vertically: upper, middle and lower. "Five eyes" refers to the width of the face, that is, the distance from the left ear to the right ear is the length of five eyes. An angry face requires the brows to be tightly furrowed, the eyes to be large and round, the mouth to be tightly closed, and the corners of the mouth to be slanted downwards.

Taking Maitreya Buddha as an example, this type of character material is often shown with a big smile, a loud laugh, a smile, etc., with deep eyebrows, a short nose, and a protruding apple. In this way, the overall effect of the character can give people a feeling of kindness and joy, which is also called a happy face. Let’s talk about another one with a bigger contrast - the angry face, which is also a very widely used facial expression. In addition to jade carvings, it also often appears in many wood carvings, jade, pine bracelets, etc.

Therefore, when we select human-shaped jade pendants, hand-held pieces and other carvings on the market, we should also observe whether they have the same characteristics as mentioned above. The reason why good jade jewelry is so valuable is not only because of the exquisite materials used, but also because the carvings are often very easy to make brilliant after ingenuity, presenting a vivid effect.