What is the most important value of jade? Collection and appreciation are secondary

Jade is not only a luxury item or a work of art, but also like a witness to human emotions.

In the Book of Songs, there are countless records of giving beautiful jade as gifts. Some people give it to lovers they fall in love with at first sight, some give it to confidants they meet by chance, some give it to elders who are traveling far away, and some give it to lovers they are in love with. Wherever there is love, it is deep and lasting.

People at that time were simpler, and the economic value of jade was not as high as it is now. When they gave jade to each other, they emphasized the expression of emotion.

As the value of jade was gradually appreciated by the powerful and wealthy, and as it was used to meet various ceremonial needs, jade began to have more political and economic value. For example, jade ornaments were used to identify one’s status and demonstrate one’s socioeconomic status. It was not until the Song Dynasty that jade ornaments began to be widely used among the people.

The commercial economy was developed in the Song Dynasty. While the political value of beautiful jade weakened, its economic value increased significantly. However, ordinary families could not use Hetian jade, so they used other jades instead. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that large quantities of jade flowed into China from Myanmar, and jade began to become intertwined with the lives of the Chinese people, becoming inseparable.

A set of jade, passed down for three generations, is a testimony to family inheritance; a pair of jade, flying hand in hand, is a testimony to everlasting love; a piece of jade, unique in its quality, color and workmanship, is a testimony to blood relationship.

This unique and stunning jadeite has trading value, collection value, and unique credit value.

It is often said that Chinese people lack a sense of contract.

In a way, this statement is correct, because in essence, Chinese society is a society based on human relationships. A society where human relationships are valued is one where human relationships are more important than legal principles. Many commonly accepted rules seem illegal, but they are actually reasonable.

The key to the fulfillment of a contract lies not in the parties to the contract but in the third party - the arbitrator of the contract. Whether the arbitrator is powerful is the key to whether this contract can be fulfilled. In the West, this "invisible" arbitrator is the omniscient and omnipotent God.

Therefore, in Western society, any contract concluded between equal parties is endowed with sacred rights and obligations by God.

But in China, there is no God in secular thinking, only circles. A big family consisting of several families is a circle, an enterprise or a unit is a circle, a street is a circle, a village is a circle, and a township is also a circle.

In Western society, people establish a "many-to-one" relationship with God through documents and prayers; in China, people establish a "one-to-many" relationship with their circles through living together.

Different lifestyles have created differences in the views of credit between Eastern and Western societies.

Westerners have (extra-legal) obligations to God, but not to the people around them. That’s why in foreign films we always see gangster godfathers who don’t take the law seriously, often swearing in the name of God and voluntarily abiding by it.

In their eyes, only what is written in black and white (written for God to see) or what is prayed silently to God in the heart (said to God) is called obligation. This is the spirit of contract.

However, due to their introverted cultural characteristics, Chinese people are reluctant to put all their emotions into words. They even find it difficult to say "I love you" to their parents and friends who are not their lovers. Therefore, we do not know how to write contracts using precise legal language, and prefer to use "tokens" to express promises between people.

This token can be anything, from an expensive jadeite to a feather, as long as it is recognizable.

Compared with ordinary objects, jade has unique aesthetic and economic value and has the potential to be a high-quality token of trust.

First of all, jade is easy to carry, which makes it possible for the holder to think of the person when seeing it. Secondly, jade is of high value and gives the recipient a feeling of being particularly valued. Third, each piece of jade is a unique piece, with unique quality, water quality and color, making it easy to identify. Fourthly, high-quality jade is small in size and easy to store and maintain.

Fifth, jade can be carved into different shapes according to needs to express specific emotions. There was a girl who used her first income to take her parents on a trip. She then carved a photo of them taking place on a piece of jade rough material as a lifelong commemoration.

Faithfulness, the true meaning of jade

A man without faith cannot stand.

In the ancient world, beautiful jade was the embodiment of trust and faith. Not only men wear jade, but women also wear jade.

It is recorded in "The Book of Rites: Jade Ornaments" that "A gentleman will not take off his jade without a reason." So when a person takes off a jade ornament and entrusts it to another person, this action either means friendship or symbolizes love.

Upon closer inspection, the act of giving jade as a gift has many different meanings for different recipients.

The first is giving jade as a gift, which is given to friends based on common interests and emphasizes "practicality". This kind of gift of jade can be classified as a casual show and benefit transfer in social occasions. It may be a sweet treat beforehand or a reward afterward. Jade articles are mostly selected from jades of good quality and high value. Once the common interests disappear or become difficult to satisfy, their friendship will vanish into thin air, and gifting jade will turn into asking for jade.

The second type of jade gift is given to friends based on common interests, and the emphasis is on "mutual understanding". This kind of jade gift should be called "transfer of love" or "half sale and half gift", which carries both a profit component and an artistic appreciation component. One is to give or transfer jade to each other based on each other's aesthetic standards and love of jade. Once the economic level of both parties changes, or their interests and hobbies change, the friendship will break.

The third type of gifting jade, which is also the most special and rare type, is to give jade to friends who admire each other's character or virtues, emphasizing "like-mindedness". To put it in today's terms, it means that both parties have consistent values ​​and believe in, uphold, and defend the same beliefs or ideals. The jade gifts between them, whether precious jadeite or Hetian jade, were just tokens of trust; ordinary jade was worth more than gold and silver.

The “Jade Disaster” Phenomenon and the Rise of Jadeite

Since jade represents trust and integrity, the owner of jade will definitely pay attention to the quality of jade. A flawed jade is not worthy of a flawless heart.

In the middle and late Qianlong period, with the gradual decrease in the production of tribute jade raw materials and Emperor Qianlong's crazy love for jade leading to the social trend of collecting, purchasing and using jade among the people, a large number of inferior jade wares became popular for a time, and even Qianlong had to compose poems to denounce this large-scale commercial behavior.

This market phenomenon of bad money driving out good money was called "jade disaster" by people at the time, and it was the misfortune of the jade industry.

Generally speaking, "Jade Evil" is mainly manifested in the following aspects:

1. In order to increase the price of jade articles, jade articles with vulgar themes and bizarre styles have appeared in large numbers in pursuit of new styles and fashion.

2. In order to increase the output of jade products, the products are made with shoddy workmanship.

3. In order to pursue the volume and weight of each jade piece, obvious flaws on the jade are not processed.

4. In order to pursue a high unit price, the carvings are added with unnecessary details.

Faced with the difficulties of the jade industry, jade lovers led by Qianlong launched a top-down campaign to protect the industry. First, the raw jadeite from Burmese jade, which has abundant mineral resources, began to flow into the country, and its price even exceeded that of Hetian jade. Secondly, Qianlong vigorously promoted the idea that jade making should be "imitation of antiques" or "picture themes", and jade carvings began to appear. Thirdly, small pieces of jade were loved by officials and the public. Every household began to collect small pieces such as jade bracelets with simple shapes to pass down from generation to generation.

Hundreds of years passed, and at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, China faced greater hardships than Myanmar, the origin of jade. However, in response to "unprecedented changes in a thousand years", the Chinese people demonstrated their perseverance and determination, breaking the deadlock and rebuilding China.

This noble character of "rather die with honor than live in dishonor" and the revolutionary spirit of "using stones from other mountains to polish jade" are engraved in the bones and souls of the Chinese people.

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