Eye-opening: This is how jade was carved in ancient times!

Since ancient times, gentlemen have compared their virtues to jade. Although the technology in ancient times was not as advanced as it is today, the manufacturing process must have been the same. The Jade Museum of the Palace Museum has a set of "Jade Making Pictures", which are "Jade Making Pictures" painted by Li Chengyuan in the 17th year of the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, with a total of 12 pictures. The jade-making drawings are realistic in style, recording and depicting the main steps of jade-making.

1. Sand pounding and slurry grinding

In this picture, the standing jade worker is holding a pestle in his hand to beat the sand in the mortar into finer particles. Another jade worker sat on a stool with a large sieve that looked like a frying pan in front of him. There are small holes at the bottom of the sieve, which allow fine sand to filter through, while coarse sand remains in the sieve. In this way, the sand can be classified according to particle size.

2. Opening Jade

Jade that has not been carved is called "jade raw material". Its surface is often covered with some rough loose stones. To cut jade means to chip away other stones on the surface of the jade.

In this picture, there are two jade workers sitting on stools under a big tree, with a large jade block placed between them on a wooden frame. They each held one end of the "Dafa Strip Saw" and pulled the saw back and forth. The main part of a saw used to cut jade is just a piece of steel wire.

3. Zhayi

Zaiyi means using a jade cutting tool to cut jade into blocks or strips. After designing and drawing the pattern, large pieces of excess jade are cut off to give the jadeware its initial shape.

The jade worker sat in front of the carousel, on which were mounted tools of a rather complicated structure. This set of tools is used to install a round steel plate on one end of a long wooden stick (also called a wooden shaft). This steel plate is called a "za pot". The edge of the steel plate is very thin and very sharp like a knife edge. Two ropes are wrapped around the wooden shaft, and a wooden board is tied to the lower end of each rope. These two wooden boards are called "boarding boards".

During the operation, the jade worker takes turns stepping on the board with his feet, and uses a hemp rope to pull the wooden axis to rotate. The jade worker holds the jade material with his left hand and presses it against the edge of the rotating steel plate. At one end of the table was a basin filled with water and red sand. The jade worker used his right hand to scoop the sand and pour it on the jade material. Only the hard jade-dissolving sand combined with a rotating and sharp edge-cutting blade can cut the jade into cubes or strips.

4. Chong

Use the tool "Chongqi" to "punch" the hard corners of square blocks or strips of jade into circles. This step is also completed while sitting on a spinning wheel. A thick bamboo branch is wrapped with a thick steel ring (also called a Chongji) and red sand mixed with water is used to gradually wash away the square corners of the jade block. After this step, the work to be carved is roughly formed.

5. Grinding

A tool called "moji" is used to grind the surface of jade into a finer texture. The tools used are somewhat similar to those used in the third step of "setting up the pot". But the za pot is thin and sharp, while the grinding pot is about two or three centimeters thick (about 0.6 to 0.9 cm). It can polish the surface of jade into a fine and smooth surface, giving it a warm luster.

6. Dig the Hall

To hollow out the inside of a container. First, a steel drum is screwed into the center of the jade. After this process, a cylinder will appear in the center of the jade, which is called a "jade stick."

At this point, the most experienced master has to use a hammer to take out the jade stick. If the force is not right, either the jade stick cannot be taken out, or the entire jade piece will shatter. Then, use the curved flat cone head to slowly hollow out the inner cavity of the jade.

7. Flowers

Flowering means using a small grinding tool, also known as a Dingzi, to grind patterns on the surface of jade.

Different rolling methods will leave different lines. For example, the lines carved out by a thick, sharp-edged tool are often narrower and shallower at the ends and wider and deeper in the middle. This is the case with the lines on jade artifacts from the Hongshan culture of the Neolithic period. Some people have speculated that the Hongshan culture, five or six thousand years ago, had begun to use grinding tools to carve jade artifacts.

Modern jade carvings are done with a drill similar to the one used by dentists. The motor drives and coordinates the movable hose, so the movement is very flexible and free.

8. Drilling

This is an important step for some jade pieces that need to be carved with hollow patterns. The main tools for drilling are a bow and a rolling rod, with a diamond drill inlaid at the bottom of the rolling rod. The jade worker sits at one end of the table, holding the jade with his left hand, which is placed under the steel drill at the lower end of the rolling rod. He pulls the bow back and forth with his right hand. The bow drives the rolling rod to rotate back and forth, and the diamond drill embedded in the tip of the rod can drill a round hole in the jade.

Jade craftsmen from the Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty were very good at using the technique of drilling round holes to create the effect of smooth and plump lines and twists.

9. Transparent flowers

Openwork, or hollow patterns, use the "sou bow" as the main tool. When operating, first untie one end of the steel wire on the search bow, pass it through the round hole, and then tie it up. The jade worker holds the bow in his right hand and pulls it back and forth. Stone sand soaked in water is added to the steel wire, and then he can cut according to the lines drawn on the jade piece.

Since ordinary ink used for writing and painting will be washed away by the ink, the jade craftsman uses the juice of pomegranate peel to outline the pattern to be carved. When the jade-dissolving sand mixed with water is used with steel wire to saw back and forth on the jade piece, the pattern remains clear and will not be washed away by water.

The Liangzhu culture, which dates back 5,300 to 4,200 years, already had jade artifacts with drawn lines and through-the-line patterns. By the Qing Dynasty, the technique had reached its peak with thin and fine openwork jade artifacts.

10. Drilling

This is a special technique used to drill holes in small jade items with fixed shapes, such as snuff bottles, thumb rings, and pipes.

Since this type of jade is too small to be held by hand and drilled, water is filled in a large bamboo tube, and a wooden board is placed on top. A hole is dug in the center of the board. The shape of the hole is the same as the shape of the small jade piece to be drilled. Small jade pieces of different shapes are paired with wooden boards with holes of different shapes.

The jade worker holds the small "iron cup" in his left hand and pulls the "bow" with his right hand, driving the iron cup to rotate repeatedly back and forth. The diamond drill embedded in the lower end of the iron cup will drill a hole in the jade.

As techniques gradually improved, rod drills and tube drills took their place. If the holes are punched on both sides, there will often be signs of uneven joints.

11. Wood

Wooden pestle is a polished pestle, usually made of gourd pulp. Carefully polish the surface of the carved jade. The tool structure used at this time is a board connected to a wooden shaft, driving a circular turntable. The disc used in this step is a thick "wooden mortar", and the stone sand used is of relatively low hardness, also known as "water-soaked yellow treasure material", which is about quartz sand (seven degrees) for fine polishing.

12. Leather

The leather is made of cowhide and is used in the final polishing process of jade to bring out the color of the jade in detail.

The grinding wheel in ancient times could not be used in any way possible like the grinding wheel. Looking at the workmanship of each period, the method of grinding jade actually originated from the long-term accumulation of stone processing experience of the ancients, and the use of primitive water stools gave rise to jade grinding. Using a wheel and jade-dissolving sand with water to grind jade is more difficult than you might imagine - you can hardly see where the wheel should be, and it all depends on the feel of the hand. If you don't get it close enough, you can't grind it. If you put too much force on it, you may damage the wheel or cause it to stop. This technique requires at least special control methods for the hands/arms and even the whole body and long-term special training before it can be initially mastered.

Any jade carving work contains a high level of artistry and appreciation. The techniques used by the ancients to carve jade are the most difficult compared to any ancient handicrafts!

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