A piece of ice in jade carving, appreciation of national treasure jade carvings

As one of the most traditional jades in China, jadeite has always been a leader in the jewelry market. After inheriting the traditional jade craftsmanship, jadeite handicrafts have become one of the most classic representatives of jewelry in the jade market and are deeply favored by consumers.

Jade carving decorations were popular in the Han and Tang Dynasties. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, jade carving craftsmanship reached its peak, and some small pendants became widely popular among the people. Contemporary jade carvings are divided into northern and southern schools, showing different charms.

Jade carving is one of the oldest types of carving in China. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, jade making became a profession, and jade articles became ceremonial tools and decorative accessories. Jade has always been regarded as a treasure by people. In ancient China, jade was regarded as a symbol of beautiful objects and a symbol of gentlemanly demeanor. There are many varieties of jade carvings, mainly large works such as figures, utensils, birds, animals, flowers, etc., as well as small works such as pins, rings, seals, and ornaments. Chinese jade carvings enjoy a high reputation in the world.

Archaeologists have long believed that jade artifacts such as jade pendants and jade beads had already appeared in my country during the Hemudu culture period 5,000 BC, which is the oldest jade culture in human history. However, today, "three chopping tools made of jade from Xiuyan Laoyugou were unearthed at a small lonely mountain 45 kilometers southeast of Haicheng, Anshan, Liaoning. They are more than 12,000 years old. This shows that China's earliest jade tools, like stone tools, were gradually formed from hammering to grinding to carving. The appearance of this jade tool can only mean that more than 10,000 years ago, jade and stone were already in common use in China. It was during this long process that people discovered the characteristics, beautiful color and tough quality of jade, which was separated from the stone-based material by our ancestors and became a special material for making specific tools.

China's contemporary jade carving craftsmanship can be divided into two major schools, the northern school, represented by Beijing, covering Liaoning, Tianjin, Hebei, parts of Henan, Xinjiang and other northern provinces and cities; the southern school includes the Yangtze River coast and areas to its south, and is divided into several branches, including the "Shanghai Craftsman" represented by Shanghai Mu Yujing, the "Suzhou Craftsman" represented by Suzhou, the "Yangzhou Craftsman" represented by Yangzhou, in addition there are the "Guangdong Craftsman" and "Fujian Craftsman". Shanghai jade carvings are mainly made of white jade, but there are also a small amount of jadeite. The range of jade carvings produced by Shanghai Zhuoyixuan is very wide, mainly Xinjiang Hetian jade.

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