Finally ended the wandering time of traveling and studying, returned to peace of mind writing, stepped into the standardized traditional life trajectory, and then the preceding text detailed an important ornament of the people at that time, the jade sword ornament.
The characteristics and shape of jade sword ornaments have also been written in the previous articles, friends who subscribe to pay attention to my text may understand, I write words is not to be innovative, and disdain to compete with whom to fight for fame and profit, my words are all felt and hair, just want to have time to do a systematic collation of their own words in the future, can also be compiled into a book, from this thinking point of view, the purpose of re-frying cold rice is not without theme, is because in the journey to see an article, suddenly felt, so I want to change an angle, From the reason why the ancients used jade to make sword ornaments, I will communicate with you.
There are many versions and interpretations of the history of the sword, the earliest should be from the flood period of the primitive tribe, and there is now a lot of controversy about whether the origin of the sword is native or from a foreign country, because it is too "ridiculous", we will not waste time on this link.
There is a phenomenon that cannot be ignored, that is, the sword as an artifact of the cold weapon era, the charm inherited from ancient times to the present day has not diminished, in the cold weapons have disappeared today, whether it is the morning training of the big mother, or the Olympic project, you can feel everyone's love for the "sword" of this kind of weapon.
In China's cultural heritage, the "sword" is also one of the artifacts that appear more frequently in ancient poetry, whether it is from Bai Juyi's 'Huang Ai Scattered Wind Xiao Suo, Cloud Stack Haunting Deng Sword Pavilion', as well as Xin Zhiyi's "Drunkenly Picking The Lamp to See the Sword, Dreaming back to blow the horn and camping" and so on. Many famous poems and nouns that have been passed down through the ages have been used as a carrier by literati and rioters of successive dynasties, accompanied by those moving verses from ancient times to the present.
First, why the ancients liked to use jade swords
We all know a saying "gentleman Peiyu, villain hides the sword", according to the popular interpretation: "Gentlemen are all identity, their common characteristics are Peiyu, and the villains here are not villains, just ordinary people without identity marks, their symbols are wearing a knife around the waist", the knife is bloody, not everyone is eligible to wear, the ancients wear a knife for self-defense, the second is the symbol, most of them are samurai identity; later, The sword in the peacetime and the end of the cold weapon stage has gradually withdrawn from the historical stage, and in the process of reciting this proverb, the knife here is no longer a weapon of weapon fighting, but should be a tool that can dissolve meat during meals; from the circulation of this sentence, it can be inferred that the time of the spread of this proverb should be the Mongolian Yuan period, and ethnic minorities now retain the custom of waist sabre, but this knife is more in line with the dinner knife than the weapon.
Our ancients praised the sword as a gentleman among weapons, which also has its own special reasons; the sword is considered a weapon with the virtue of a gentleman, so the gentleman often admires it. What is the virtue of a gentleman? The sword is just and upright, it is for righteousness; the sword is flexible but not curved (flexed), it is for the sake of advancing and retreating; the sword is sharp and introverted, it is for humility; the sword is sheathed to stop evil, it is for chivalry; the sword is close to the lord, it is for loyalty. The swordsman has no gun and spear domineering domineering, no bow and arrow desperate domineering, no sword axe to sharpen and bend the snobbery, and no blunt weapon heavy and complex heart. From a practical point of view, the first is that the sword body is upright and not brute force. People who conform to the position of power control, real swordplay, pay attention to the sword point and wrist. The enemy does not move, I do not move, the enemy wants to move me first, and the tip of the sword points at his wrist and makes him disarm. It is a typical gentleman's style. In the eyes of the ancients, the sword represents the chivalrous warrior, the king, the general, the authority and the status, is the person who has the status of the self-yi uses, the symbolic meaning of its authority is greater than the practical significance, in the historical record and the novel we can also see that Xiang Yu is using a sword, which is known as the last real nobleman in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the last thing left to us is the moment when the sword is killed by the sword, at this time, the sword, which no longer simply represents a weapon, more is a metaphor for a spirit, a noble quality that still exists in the bones, A kind of nobility and arrogance that prefer not to bend, self-destruction, a feeling of being recited and sighed by future generations.
Compared with the characters of the sword, our heroic culture has gradually changed from aristocratic culture to a powerful culture, in the thinking mode of "the gun is out of power", we look at the historical allusions of those who rebelled and started, street fights and slashed people, the weapons used are knives, axes, guns, sticks, big contributions, brutal people to do the work.
And the use of jade to make sword ornaments, itself and the sword such as the sword light and blood shadow of the weapon is too big difference, in the tomb of the Marquis of Haixia unearthed a large number of jade sword tools, but also proved that in the two Han Dynasty, the sword has gradually lost its practical function, more is to show the authority and status of the symbol, the sword ornament made of jade, on the one hand, is the beautification and decorative function, on the other hand, the ancients may want to prove that they are "gentlemen" anytime and anywhere, is a person with identity and moral cultivation, which is the "hypocrite" that appeared later in the process of our cultural inheritance. Even if this person has poor character and people and animals are far away, he still likes to be a "gentleman" and live in a self-constructed space with hypocrisy.
Second, the historical and cultural background and artistic characteristics of jade sword tools
At present, domestic archaeological research has found that the jade adorned sword should have begun in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the development of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, but it is not matched, and the Warring States to the Western Han Dynasty is its prosperous period, and there has been a decline after the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The complete set of jade sword tools, first seen in the Western Han Dynasty, was mainly worn by high-ranking officials and dignitaries of the Han Dynasty, and was used more systematically and extensively, which appeared less often after the Eastern Han Dynasty and declined after the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
The shape of the Han Dynasty jade sword is exquisite, smooth and lubricated, the carving is exquisite, delicate and perfect.
Although the composition design breaks the traditional symmetrical balance, the rules are orderly, rigorous and changeable, showing the innovative style and the majestic and simple atmosphere of the Han Dynasty.
Third, the basic characteristics of the complete set of jade sword tools
In ancient times, jade ornaments used to decorate copper or iron swords were called jade sword tools.
The jade sword tools of the Han Dynasty have been basically fixed and standardized, and a complete set of jade swords composed of four pieces: jade sword head, jade sword grid, jade sword yan and jade bismuth began to appear.
The jade sword head is a decorative jade embedded in the top of the hilt, or the title head, mostly as a flaky flat circle.
The jade sword grid is embedded between the hilt and the body of the sword, also known as the sword, the sword, the shape resembles a diamond horn, slightly rectangular.
The largest number of single pieces is the jade, which is a flaky rectangular strip with two ends bent inwards, and a rectangular hole on the near side of the lower part, which is a buckle attached to the outer and upper end of the sword sheath, which is used to wear the belt to secure the sword at the waist. Jade bismuth is a decorative jade embellished at the end of the sword scabbard, which is trapezoidal in the face.
Fourth, the key points of appreciation of jade swords in the Han Dynasty
The head of the sword is often decorated with a paisley, valley pattern, persimmon pattern, and a few ornaments are decorated with cloud patterns or convex carvings.
The front back of the sword grid is often decorated with a hidden animal face hook cloud pattern, and the other side is embossed with a cockroach pattern, and there are also carved end patterns or animal face cloud patterns on both sides.
The most exquisite components of the Han Dynasty jade sword are the jade and jade bismuth, the pattern theme and carving technique are basically the same, which can be divided into two categories: the tiger pattern and the hook cloud pattern, and there are string borders around it.
The tigers are all high reliefs, or single mantises are circling and twisting, or double mantises are playing.
The tiger is characterized by: the head resembles a tiger, the round eyes are protruding; the eyebrows are curved upwards, and the ears are zigzag; the body is S-shaped and curved, with two strong bends, the abdomen is on the ground, the hips are raised, the posture is graceful, the free coiled tail end is partially forked like a cloud head.
The head and tail are often flexed and extended outside the body of the bismuth and bismuth. It's beautiful, with a strong dynamic rhythm of beauty.
The hooked cloud pattern is milled with a yin line, fine rules, square folding, full of pictures, patterned display.