Your jade is so beautiful, do you know where it was carved?

As we all know, when evaluating the value of a piece of jade, the main factors to look at are its type, water, color, workmanship and flaws. If we look into it in more detail, among these five factors, type, water content, color, and flaws are all natural properties of a piece of jade that are difficult to change, and only the "craftsmanship" has great flexibility. Moreover, whether it is adjusting the water content or concealing flaws, it depends on exquisite craftsmanship. As the saying goes, "jade cannot be made into a useful object without being carved", and the craftsmanship used to make the material is very particular in the jade industry. Today we will talk about the four major "schools" of jade carving, namely Jieyang craftsmanship, Sihui craftsmanship, Suyang craftsmanship, and Ruili craftsmanship (Yunnan craftsmanship).

Jieyang Engineering

If you ask an expert in Guangdong where to buy high-quality jadeite, he will definitely tell you: Jieyang. Go to Jieyang to buy high-quality jadeite. The reputation of Jieyang workers is evident.

Jieyang craftsmen are well-known in the industry for "Jade from all over the world, craftsmen from Jieyang". The biggest feature of Jieyang craftsmanship is "refinement". High-quality jade is obviously more suitable for exquisiteness, and Jieyang craftsmanship has taken meticulous carving to the extreme. Even if the material is small or the details are insignificant, the jade carver will carefully carve and polish them.

The Jieyang craftsmen who pursue refinement will never "sacrifice the details for the sake of the whole". When it comes to dealing with defects, if a large piece is not perfect enough, the Jieyang workers will not hesitate to make a smaller piece; if a small piece also has defects, they will make an even smaller piece instead. As for water head, Jieyang workers will process the back of the jade material to adjust the water head to a better level no matter how good the water head of the jade material itself is. It is precisely because of the pursuit of perfection in details and the rigorous attitude that Jieyang workers have created a golden signboard.

On the other hand, Jieyang craftsmanship, which has a short history, is relatively lacking in historical heritage and cultural heritage. Jieyang craftsmanship is like a high-standard industrialized standardized processing, which keeps Jieyang carving at a very high level, but also lacks some imagination and spirituality.

Su Yanggong

Suyang jade carving has a long history and has always been outstanding and famous in modern times.

Suyang Crafts is also known as Su Crafts for short. Compared with the rising star Jieyang Crafts, Su Crafts is characterized by its profound cultural heritage and full of classical charm. Su craftsmen often use the method of one side being relief and the other side being yin-yang carving. The relief works have smooth lines and can freely outline the depth, which has the meaning of landscape painting and can give the relief image a strong three-dimensional sense.

Su craftsmanship emphasizes inheritance, and many jade carvers have many years of experience in copying ancient carvings. Their works pursue ingenuity and integrate Chinese and Western art. Traces of traditional carving and strong cultural connotations can also be seen in many Su craftsmanship works, truly achieving the goal of "objects carry the truth, and jade cultivates virtue."

But when it comes to materials with defects that need to be processed and repaired, Su Gong may not necessarily be the best choice.

Ruili Engineering (Yunnan Engineering)

Located in Yunnan, Dian craftsmen can be said to have the advantage of being close to the water and getting the moon first. Thanks to the geographical location and relatively cheap and abundant supply of jade raw materials, Dian craftsmen have made great breakthroughs in carving content compared with traditional crafts.

Yunnan craftsmen dared to make breakthroughs. They were not limited to Guanyin Buddha in terms of figures, nor were they limited to flowers, birds, insects, herbs and auspicious animals in terms of pendants. As a result, the themes were rich and a unique style was formed. The large pieces made by Yunnan craftsmanship are generally very stylish and majestic, and the works are naturally formed. This is the most important and distinctive feature of Yunnan craftsmanship. By preserving the original natural charm of the materials as much as possible, the materials are not compressed by craftsmanship, but the craftsmanship is integrated into the materials to seek the best balance between the two.

Of course, the pursuit of naturalness makes it difficult to avoid some minor defects and flaws, and sometimes there will be slight lack of details.

Four Associations

If the first three are like regular armies, then the Sihui workers who take the "small, fast and smart" civilian route are a bit like the workers and peasants' armed forces of "millet plus rifles", trying to achieve economies of scale by saving costs and shortening the production cycle from raw materials to finished products.

When comparing jade works of the same theme to those of Jieyang craftsmen, we can find that Sihui craftsmen pursue a similar appearance, save on details wherever possible, and lack a sense of refinement. Because they don't pay attention to details, they are not picky about the materials. No matter what kind of material it is, Sihui's jade carvers can produce a good piece of work with a few tinkerings.

The above is the basic situation of the four major carving crafts. In short, if you want high-quality products, look for Jieyang craftsmen; if you want antique carvings, look for Su craftsmen; if you want novel themes, look for Yunnan craftsmen; if you want cost-effectiveness, look for Sihui craftsmen. What kind of carving style does the jadeite in your hand belong to?

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