Chinese Jade
12 min readChina is the major jade producer in the world As recorded in the ancient book pre-Qin period the Classic of mountains and Seas, there were more than 200 jade origin places in China, providing jade development in China with inexhaustible materials. Hotan of Xinjiang, the most famous jade origin place in China, is abundant in high-quality jade, serving as an importing jade material source in ancient China. In addition, Jiuquan jade in Gansu, Lantian jade in Shaanxi, dushan jade in Henan, Xiuyan jade in Liaoning, turquoise in Hubei are also common materials for jadewares China enjoys superb jade polishing techniques, with only very simple tools applied The book Jade Theory (or “Yu Shuo”) of the collector in late Qing Dynasty Tang Rongzuo recorded a series of 12 pictures about process, methods and tools of making jadewares. The process includes examining materials, designing, cutting rough materials, chasing materials, polishing jade with an emery wheel, polishing, etc. It is thus clear that, the wonderful jadeware is not a sculpture, but ground by the emery, quartz, garnet and other “jade grinding sand, “mixed in some water. Therefore, jade production process is also called the jade treating, jade polishing or jade grinding. The early jade polishing tool was a rotary disk-emery wheel When the wheel revolved, the emery could grind In the Neolithic Age and Bronze Age when ironware hadn ‘t been nvented, most jade polishing tools were composed of bamboo wares, bone objects and sandstone And traditional jade making tools like fret saws, disks made of steel and wrought iron, and wooden engine lathes had been handed down all the way to modern times in china
Jadeware is the derivative of stoneware.The early jadeware was made with the technology and of some materials in the Neolithic Period，during later period of which，jade polishing had been independent from stoneware making industry.The early jadeware could be categorized into production tools，ornaments and sacrificial vessels，with the former one still connected with stoneware，and the latter two showing the characteristics of jadeware.The ancient Chinese would take the beautiful stones（the colorful，good-texture，and multi-shape stones which could be obtained without having to go far）as the jade And some might not exactly be the usually contemporary jade，such as the agate，crystal and lapis Jadewares were extensively distributed in early days，represented by Hongshan Culture and Liangzhu Culture.To be specific，jadewares of the Hongshan Culture，primarily in the east of Inner Mongolia，West of Liaoning and north of Hebei，were mostly animal-shaped ornaments，simple in shaping and usually with hole drilled for Wearing.Jade loong the most popular jade article resembled the letter c when standing.Holding its head high the loong was solemn and imposing，with intaglioornamentation in some part and a hole on the neck.Jade loong tied to a rope for wearing would drop its head arch its back and hook its tail Liangzhu Culture，primarily in Taihu Basin，boasted the largest number of jadewares Jadeware here was dominated by ornaments but the sacrificial vessels used for rite and worshiping were the most typical ones. For example, the Jade Cong(a long hollow piece of jade with rectangular sides a circular hole inside) implied the round sky and rectangular land and the hole inside was the channel connecting the heaven and man, symbolizing the theocracy or political power. Besides, there was jade Bi jade pie with a hole in the middle), symbolizing economy, and the jade Yue (jade axe) military. The Cong was relatively large in size, tall and thin, or rough and foursquare in shape, and complicated or simple in emblazonry. And it was significantlymore exquisite than other articles in craftsmanship, with both relief and line carving adopted. The composition of pictures was symmetrical and the typical emblazonry was the animal-face immortal
Jade polishing technique made a big progress in Late shang dynasty with jadewares excavated in Yin Dynasty ruins as the typical. Some jadewares were the beautiful stones from various places, and the nephrite in accordance with the mineralogy standard had been adopted Those different materials were the evidence that those tribes and small countries at that time paid tribute to the empire of Shang Dynasty. From the Fu Hao Tomb, which didnt suffer stealing, 755 jadewares wereexcavated, showing the passion for jade of the rulers. By shape and structure, jadewares fell into sacrificial vessels, ornaments, furnishings, ceremonial weaponry, tools, appliances, and general articles. A small part of sacrificial vessels were for containing Since jade was precious and loved by people, there were always just a small number of jade containers in China. Ornaments and furnishings were mostly animal shaped and sometimes man-shaped, carved in round, flake, vivid in form and simple in emblazonry
Jadewares of the Western Zhou Dynasty trended to be plane. Animal patterns were lifelike, emblazonry simple, and the texture of jade dense and solid mild and crystal-clear. By then the idea of loving jade was getting clearer. Jade material was given morality and ethics. It’s a fashion that the gentlemen referred jade to morality, and the upper class people pursued the conduct code of”without cause, gentlemenmust wear jade(The book of rites). Wearing a whole set of jadewares was of some era characteristics, including jade hair accessories, neck ornaments, plastrons, wristlets etc, in different shapes and gorgeous
During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period, the idea of loving jade drove the boom of jadewares, which were dominated by sacrificial jade and jade for wearing, as well as some newly-appeared belt hooks(the hook the nobilities, scholars and warriors used to tie the belt). shape and structure of sacrificial jadewares were relatively fixed, but later, there were also some innovation made. For instance, the Harmonious Chi Tiger Pattern Jade”of the Warring state Period collected in the Palace Museum, was originally a round flake, and was even more etherealized after being sawed into two parts. Ornaments were mostly animal shaped, various animals
The themes included Kuilong(a one-legged monster in fable), Panchi(a legendary dragon), loong and phoenix, bow string patterns, clouds, rope patterns, etc. and the craftsmanship covered deep carving, shallow carving, low-relief, line carving, cycling that was harder made the line carving and emblazonry more vigorous and smooth e hiding, etc. Tool reform resulted from popularity of iron wares and the use of nephrite The elaborate jadewares from the tomb of yi (a marquis in State Zeng) in Hubei was the typical jade objects in that period
Han and Tang Dynasty were the heyday of jadewares. Among those of the two Han dynasties, while sacrificial jade declined, ornament jade remained popular, shareof high relief and three-dimensional carvings got increased and chasing and polishingtechniques become mature. As for sacrificial vessels, only Bi(jade disc) and Gui jade tablet) were still in use, Cong and Zhang jade bar) were rare, and Huang(semi annular jade pendant) and Hu(tiger shape jade) become the ornament. Ornaments could be classified into the jade for wearing and utensil accessories, the former smooth and nice and the latter mostly sword accessories. Furnishings were mostly three-dimensional carvings, like jade fleeing horses, jade bears, jade eagles, jade amulets, etc, simple but lifelike in shape and plain in technology For daily articles, in addition to belt hooks and stamps there were stem cups horn shaped cups and other jade vessels. the horn shaped cups were peculiar in shape, which might be influenced y the Western Art. The funeral jade was a result of the belief of Han people that the ade made the body incorruptible and the vital essence retain forever it was the production of that era, and typical articles were jade clothes, jade for blocking off the nine orifices, namely, ears, eyes, mouth, nose, anus and genital, and jade for holding the status and official titles. Since being extremely extravagant, the jade clothes for o The jade clothes could further divided into fold, silver and copper-thread according funeral were forbidden in early Kingdom of Wei
There are lots of documentary records on jadewares of tang dynasty but the objects retained are rare, due probably to being easy to be damaged. Jadewares oTang Dynasty were made of materials from the Western Regions, and the high-class products were usually exotic Represented by the eight-petal jade cup and animal head shaped agate cup, the splendid and Western Regions influenced Tang jadeware stylewas formed. People of this dynasty attached great importance to the jade belt, ofwhich some were edged with white jade, embedded with jewels in the gold belt, and based on a copper pad, just magnificent
Like jadewares of Tang Dynasty, there are lots of records of jadewares of Song Dynasty but a small number of objects remained. During this dynasty, the civil was advocated and the military restrained leading to the flourishing culture and epigraphy and the decoration and antiquing of jade craftsmanship was a fashion Jadewares were primarily accessories, featuring artfully using the colors. In other words, the jade was made into various shapes according to its natural color, texture and shape The real flowers and birds were usually taken as the model and the jade articles were nice and concise, lifelike in both the body and the spirit. Jadewares had long been well-known, not only elaborate but also of high artistic attainment. Influenced by the our-Season Liao Dynasty Na Bo institution, the spring water jade””autumn mountain jade”were the typical work reflecting the four seasons changing and the fishing and hunting life
The ruling class of Yuan Dynasty placed value upon jade. they were keen on making large-size jadewares As recorded in the historical materials, in the palace there were many large jadewares, even jade furniture and architectures. the extra large jade bowl of dushan handed down from Yuan Dynasty was the typical large jadeware. The craftsmen carved the jade according to the natural shape Pattern on the edge was a magnificent picture in which the auspicious beast swam in the terrifying waters, reflecting the heroic and robust spirit of the Yuan people. Literati and officialdom also respected jade, and the “spring water jade”excavated in the tomb in the south ofYangtze river demonstrated the influence of national culture of the ruling class People of ming Dynasty loved jade, and there were lots of works and discussions about jade. Most jadewares were in the royal family, and some in the influential officials and rich merchants. Jade of Ming Dynasty included ornaments(body ornaments, belt accessories and baldrics), sacrificial vessels, furnishings, stationeryaccessories, daily utensils, etc. Being various in shape but largely similar to that of other dynasties, jadewares of Ming Dynasty were featured with the gold adorned ornament and jewelries embedded body ornaments. Especially in late Ming dynasty, when the daily utensils would be decorated in that way. But the gold or jewelries stole the show of the jade. the northwest tribes paying tribute to the empire of ming Dynasty and trade between the official and the folk brought the gem from Hotan of Xinjiang to the central China In Beijing there was the feudal official jade making center, and in Suzhou, the folk jade production base. Lots of jade makers gathered in
the Zhuanzhu Alley of Suzhou, but only Lu Zigang during the reign of Emperor Jiajing and Emperor Wanli(1573-1620) remembered today. Because of his fame, many counterfeits in his name are on the market
Qing Dynasty abounded with jadewares, with Beijing, Suzhou and Yangzhou as the central production area. Gems were mostly from Xinjiang, and whether or not the high-quality jade material could enter the mainland depended on the relationship between the central government and the government in northwestern China, the riseand decline of jadeware making was directly influenced accordingly. In early Qing Dynasty, the rebellion in northwestern China made jade materials transporting difficult, and resulted in the rare new jadeware in the palace. most works were renovated ones. After Empire Qianlong suppressed the northwest region, a large amount of gem was contributed to the Empire. The special workshop affiliated with the Imperial Household Department majoring in making jadewares for the empire, wasgood at making furnishings, antiquing wares, and baldrics. Besides the traditional varieties, there were also large-size jadewares in the palace. For example, the JadeMount of King Yu tamed the Flood, the largest existing ancient jadeware, had King Yu Tamed the Flood Picture engraved with the three carving methods(even and far, high and far, and deep and far methods of Song people on the front side. the back side had a long preface and many stamps on it, the calligraphy and seal cutting combining in harmony. during the reign of emperor Jiaqing(1796-1820), contributed jade became less and less And the domestic strife and foreign aggression during the reign of Emperor daoguang and Emperor Xianfeng(1782-1861) completely stopped the contribution of jade from Xinjiang and the court jadeware making was on the wane Although it recovered a little at the end of Qing Dynasty, its day had gone. By then,the folk jade making industry in Beijing saw development and even surpassed that in Suzhou and yangzhou
In Qing Dynasty, the craftsmen not only equipped with superb jade polishing technique, but also learned from the drawings sculpture and even islamic art generating the diversity in style: fresh and classic, simple and sincere, or overelaborate and fine Miniascape made of jade, coral and jewelries, implying good luck and being elegant, was not merely the favored decoration on the table, but also the preciousaward, tribute or gift. From the special workshop of Imperial Household Department down to the folk workshop, jade making remained popular In Qing Dynasty, people began getting the high-quality jade jadeite) from mountains in Burma. Among many colors of jadeite, the green one is favored by people. The green jadeite was priced higher than the nephrite at that time and loved more by the upper class due to the rarity
At the beginning of 20 century, the large scale under the government and the masterpieces had gone with the wind. During the transform of court jade art into folk business, some jade masters and craftsmen started running jade workshops and firms, accelerating the court art moving towards the folk. at the moment, there were jade workshops of different sizes in Beijing, like Wen Zhen Zhai, “”Bao Zhen Zhai”andKui Sheng Zhai. “A warehouse alike goods yard the Qingshanju Goods Yard was built outside of the Chongwenmen Gate. The fashion of playing jade and appreciating jade in the folk prevailed. In order to purchase more jade from China, Japan, Germany America, Italy, etc had run firms in Beijing in succession, generating a booming import and export business. Since the private workshops and firms were limited in finance, their jade products were usually of small size, and antiquing and innovated ones. And the shape, and structure, and pattern were handed down from Ming and Qing Dynasty
After 1949, the importance attached to jade craftsmen training from the government and improvement of tools contributed to the fast growth of this ndustry. In general, there emerged two large schools, the South school and the north School, divided by the Yangtze river. the two schools enhanced each other’s beautyand ability. The north School, centering at Beijing, extended to Tianjin, Jinzhou, Lingyuan, Xiuyan, Xi’ an, Lanzhou, Nanyang, etc And the South School, centering at Shanghai and Yangzhou, spread to various production regions in the south of Yangtze river basin compared with the forceful and heavy north school, the south School was exquisite and fine in shape texture and craftsmanship although there were only two schools in general, the techniques and styles in each place were largely distinct
The luxury style of court jade making was retained in Beijing jadewares. the highly skilled craftsmen artfully made use of the natural colors of jade. In 1980s, the twogenerations of craftsmen of Beijing Jade Carving Factories united to create the four jadeite treasures-Dai Yue Qi Guan(spectacle of Taishan Mountain), Han Xiang Ju rui(containing fragrance and gathering good luck), Si Hai teng Huan(the whole world in jubilation), and Qun Fang Lan Sheng(wonderful view of all kinds of flowers), just exquisite and neat dignified and stately Jadewares of yangzhou were elegant and pretty, with the large-sized Yue Xia Chao Sheng Tu(pilgrimage in the moonlight) and Ju Zhen tu(gathering treasures) as typical Jadewares of Shanghai were featured with boasting the freshness and vividness charm and elegance of Shanghai style without losing the preciseness, like the du Jiao Shou(unicorn), Rui Lu(auspicious furnace) and Tian Ji Ping(celestial chicken and bottle). Hubei, Hennan, Liaoning were abundant with kallaite, dushan jade and Xiuyan jade and jadewares here were generally made of local materials, with variety, materials and craftsmanship varying from place to place Jadewares of Guangzhou were small and delicate, well-known for the jade ornaments in modern times
In modern times, jadewares were made of lots of materials usually the jadeite agate, Xiuyan jade and dushan jade, due to the shortage of Hotan nephrite. There were three major categories of jadewares-furnishings, ornaments and miniascape further classified into figures, vessels, rockeries, flowers, birds and beasts, bonsai jewelries, etc. Taking over the traditional technique, the modern jade vessels were the major variety of jade furnishings, such as the dong Fang Ju long(giant oriental loong made of white jade, famous at home and abroad. Jade, losing it political complexion and entering the ordinary family, was treasured by people for its high value of art and decoration exquisite craftsmanship and profound culture
