Interpretation of Jade History and Culture: A Detailed Explanation of the History and Culture of Chinese Jade

Jade has a very long history in our China. The most famous person who loves jade is Empress Dowager Cixi. Her obsession with jade is almost crazy. What other cultural information do you know about jade?

Chinese jade culture has a long history. In the long history of Chinese jade culture, the most dazzling ones are the white jade culture and the emerald jade culture! White jade culture is the essence of Chinese jade culture, and it advocates the jade cultural moral value of white being beautiful. In "Shuowen Jiezi", it is mentioned that jade has five virtues: "benevolence", "righteousness", "wisdom", "courage" and "purity". The ancients' praise for white jade is also vividly used in their written praises of women, such as pure as ice and jade, skin as white as jade, chaste as jade, beautiful as a flower, fairy-like appearance, as beautiful as a flower, slender jade hands, and graceful and elegant, etc.

White jade culture has been passed down in my country for at least several thousand years, while jadeite, as a form of jade culture, only appeared in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. There are different accounts of the discovery of Burmese jade. The British Mr. Brown believed that it was discovered by a porter in Yunnan, China in the 13th century. Some Westerners further elaborated that the original meaning of the name jadeite was related to the discovery of jadeite at that time. They believed that Chinese porters picked up stones in the Wulong River to balance the mule's body on their way back from the Southwest Silk Road. When they returned to Tengchong, they found that the stone was different from the jade from Xinjiang, China, and called it "Fei Cui" stone.

According to the research of Mr. Zhang Zhubang (1995), Burmese jadeite was discovered during the Ming Dynasty 500 years ago. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the locals in the jade producing areas were still living in the tribal period of slash-and-burn agriculture, and it was impossible for them to regard jade as a treasure. After the three expeditions to Luchuan during the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, Han people poured into Gaoligong Mountain and the areas west of it, bringing with them a large amount of knowledge about jade culture, which provided an economic and cultural basis for the discovery of jadeite. In the late Ming Dynasty, jadeite, as a handicraft and decoration, had gradually matured in terms of quality identification, processing, and pricing systems. In the Qing Dynasty, with the love for jadeite from emperors and officials to ordinary people, jadeite became a very precious jade treasure, almost surpassing the Xinjiang Hetian white jade that had been passed down for centuries, and became a treasure of the prosperous age. Mr. Niu Bingtie believes in his book "History of Jade" that "jade existed in the Zhou Dynasty and in the Han Dynasty, but it was not until the end of the Ming Dynasty that it became a rare treasure..." Jade products became popular in my country during the Qing Dynasty. The above statement is more logical.

It can be said that before the Qing Dynasty, my country's jade culture was mainly based on the white jade cultural moral concept that white is beautiful. However, since the Qing Dynasty, while people have inherited the traditional white jade culture, the fashionable jade culture that values ​​green as beauty has gradually become popular. Green was gradually accepted as a new trend and fashion. Wearing jade was pursued by emperors, officials and even ordinary people at that time. The preference for green jade even far exceeded that for white jade. A full green jade bracelet can be worth millions or even tens of millions, which is far beyond the reach of white jade. Why did China's jade culture, which has inherited the cultural concept of white jade for thousands of years, undergo rapid changes in just over 200 years after the Qing Dynasty with the emergence of jadeite? Moreover, the speed of its change far exceeds the changes in written records, which is beyond people's expectations. Analyzing one of the reasons for the change, the author believes that this is closely related to the characteristics of jade itself and the social background in which jade appeared.

1. The properties of jadeite are completely different from those of white jade

1. Jade has a bright luster. Jadeite is one of the few jade types that displays a glassy luster. Its surface is smooth and bright, and it is very eye-catching. White jade has an oily luster and a warm surface, but it is not as sharp and eye-catching as jadeite.

2. The green color of jade is the embodiment of life. The most attractive thing about jade is its emerald green color. The emerald green color of jade is mainly caused by the chromium element contained in the jadeite minerals that make up jade. The green is bright and vivid, just like the tender buds of trees, full of vitality. It is a manifestation of green life. There is also green in white jade, called jasper, but it is mainly caused by the iron element contained in it. The green tone is deep, gray and dark.

2. The shamanic culture's worship of willow branches reflects the northern people's desire for green and pursuit of life

Shaman culture is one of the core elements of northern ethnic culture. There are three kinds of primitive worship in shaman culture: one is the worship of the eagle. The eagle flies high on the grassland and sees far. It can fight and soar even in the face of strong winds and rainstorms. It is a symbol of heroism. The second is the worship of polar bears. Polar bears live in extremely harsh environments and have to come out to look for food even in the cold winter, struggling against nature. This embodies their courageous spirit of struggle and fearlessness in the face of adversity. Third, it is a worship of willow branches. Although willow branches have no roots, they can take root and sprout as long as they are buried in the soil, showing extremely strong vitality; and the green new shoots from the willow branches also reflect the beginning and revival of life, and are the embodiment of people's desire and pursuit of life.

In winter, the north is covered with snow, everything is quiet, and life seems to have stopped. Only in spring, when all things come back to life, the grass on the grassland sprouts again, the earth turns green, and life begins again, people can go outdoors to raise livestock and work. Therefore, the northern people regard the appearance of green as a symbol of the revival of life and desire green even more. The worship of willow trees in shaman culture also fully confirms the northern people's desire for green and pursuit of life. The bright green color of jade is like the tender buds growing on willow branches, which is the embodiment of green life. This coincides with the northern people's desire for green.

Therefore, the shaman culture's desire for green can be said to be one of the cultural foundations for the rapid spread of jade culture during the Qing Dynasty.

3. The idea of ​​individual worship in traditional Chinese culture promoted the development of jade culture

The emperors of the Qing Dynasty were influenced by shaman culture, and their desire for green induced a special preference for jadeite. In particular, Empress Dowager Cixi's love for jade reached an almost crazy level. All kinds of jade items could be seen everywhere in the Changchun Palace where she lived. She used jade covered bowls for drinking tea, jade chopsticks for eating, jade hairpins in her hair, and jade rings on her fingers. There is a story circulating among the people about a pair of jade watermelon hand-held toys and a jade cabbage ornament that were loved by the Empress Dowager Cixi. The jade cabbage is still collected in the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. It was precisely because of the love of jade by the Qing Dynasty emperors and dignitaries such as Cixi that it inevitably led to the pursuit and love of jade throughout the court, which quickly pushed up the popularity and preciousness of jade. Jade, like white jade, was presented to the world as one of the typical representatives of jade culture, and its preciousness was even higher than that of white jade.

It can be seen that the reason why the concept of jade culture has developed rapidly since the Qing Dynasty is inseparable from the superior nature of jade itself and the social and cultural background of the Qing Dynasty. The bright glassy luster of jade itself, the vivid green color symbolizing life and hope, the uniform and clear texture and other high-quality qualities have essentially laid a good material foundation for the establishment of jade culture; the worship of willow trees by the northern ethnic group Saman culture embodies the desire for green and the pursuit of life, and has also laid the cultural foundation for the establishment of jade culture.

Therefore, the combination of the above factors has led to the rapid and widespread development and popularity of jade culture concepts of jadeite since the Qing Dynasty, so that the changes in concepts have far exceeded the changes in text, creating a situation in which Chinese jade culture is on par with traditional white jade culture moral values ​​and jade culture fashion values, which together constitute the mainstream of Chinese jade culture.

Jade is the treasure of the East, a stone that came from the sky. From the moment it came into the hands of a large number of Chinese Qing Dynasty emperors in Myanmar, it was destined to be no ordinary gem. In Japan, jade is a sacred object of Shintoism; the royal family and nobles of China's Qing Dynasty regarded jade as a treasure, and in Shanghai in the early years of the Republic of China, a piece of fine jade was more valuable than a large house. In recent years, the price of jade has continued to soar, making it a true "crazy stone".

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