In 1977, an ancient tomb from the Warring States period was discovered in Qufu, Shandong. Qufu, as the ancient city of the Lu State at that time, also indicates that this ancient tomb will definitely find some rare treasures.
Sure enough, a piece of jade bi with an outer diameter of about 32 cm and a pore diameter of about 11 cm was found in the ancient tomb.
Because this piece of jade bi is very large, and it was found in the ancient tomb of Lu Guo, it was named "Lu Guo Da Yu Bi". Although it is not as good as the legendary Heshi Bi, its ornamentation is perfect, the layout is well-proportioned, the lines are smooth, and the craftsmanship is skilled, which is definitely the best in the Warring States Jade Bi.
However, it is worth noting that the thickness of this piece of jade bi is only about 0.6CM, which is also the thickness of three coins. Although this is the standard thickness of the jade bi, it is very strange to think of "Heshi Bi".
During the Warring States period of the Chu State, a man named Bian He found a piece of jade raw material and presented it to the King of Chu. However, the king of Chu at that time did not recognize the goods and thought that he wanted to cheat money, so he cut off his left leg.
After the next King of Chu ascended the throne, Bian He offered jade again.
But the king of Chu didn't believe it either, so he cut off his right leg as well.
After the third King of Chu ascended the throne, things changed, and the King of Chu chose to believe, so he ordered someone to open the stone, and sure enough, he found a piece of world-class jade in LiMo.
Afterwards, the King of Chu summoned skilled craftsmen from all over the country to process the jade, and finally made this jade into a piece of jade. In order to commemorate Bian He, who had sacrificed jade many times, the King of Chu decided to name the jade bi "Heshi Bi".
Later, because of his peace with Zhao Guo, this piece of jade arrived in Zhao Guo. However, after the unification of the world, the jade bi was taken away by the First Emperor and made into a national jade seal.
However, this is very unreasonable, because the center of the jade bi is hollowed out of the ring, and its thickness should be similar to the thickness of the "Lu Guo Da Yu Bi", how can it be made into a large and square chuanguo jade seal?
But everyone who knows anything about jade knows that the ancient seals are basically square seals, especially the emperor's jade seals, under the influence of the "heavenly round place" cosmology, it must be a square base, a round button.
As for the size of the jade seal, from a historical point of view, the later the time of the dynasty, the larger the jade seal, such as the jade during the Qing Dynasty, generally four inches square, two inches thick, and three inches high.
This is because compared with the previous dynasties, the jade mining technology of the Ming and Qing dynasties was very developed, and many large jades were found. Therefore, the jade seals of the Ming and Qing dynasties are very large and appear very domineering.
However, the jade seal before the Tang Dynasty was actually not large, and it could even be hung around the waist, and in the event of an emergency, the emperor could use the seal anytime and anywhere.
If you think about it, if you make the jade very large, it is not a burden to hang on the body. And this thing is so important, it can't be faked.
Judging from the official seals of the Qin and Han dynasties that have been unearthed so far, it is also 2.5cm square. From this, it can be inferred that the emperor's jade seal is not much bigger.
Since the jade seals of the Qin and Han dynasties were so small, does it mean that the "Heshi Bi" finally made a jade seal?
According to the research of historians, the national jade seal should be "square four inches, three inches high and six inches", converted into modern units of length, then the size should be about 9cm, and the height should be about 8cm.
As mentioned earlier, the center of the jade bi is a hollow ring, if you want to change it to jade, then the diameter of the jade bi is at least 30 cm, and the thickness is 8.5 cm.
If this is the case, then "Heshi Bi" has become as big and heavy as a millstone, at least more than a dozen kilograms.
However, if it is lower than this circle diameter, then the surrounding arc cannot be processed. Below this thickness, it is not possible to engrave the upper round button.
In addition, from the current excavation of the Warring States Jade Bi, the thickest is only about 2cm.
Of course, a jade object with a thickness of more than 2 cm is not a jade bi, but a jade vessel, which is a ceremonial vessel used for sacrifice. This is fundamentally different from the jade bi, which is mainly used for decoration.
At present, the thickness of the Shenren Pattern Jade King unearthed has reached 8.8cm, and the diameter of the circle is only 17cm, so its weight is only 6.5 kg.
In other words, although the shape of the instrument looks similar, it is a very thin jade bi, and a very thick one is a jade qun.
Pictured: The Divine Man Tattooed Jade King
Therefore, it can be concluded that "Heshi Bi" cannot be made into a national jade seal.
Since it is false, where did this claim come from?
If you open the historical texts, you will find that this statement comes from the "Record of Differences".
In fact, just by looking at the name of this classic, you know that it is a book that records strange things, and its reference value is actually not high, and it can even be determined to be false.
Since it is false, where did the Chuanguo Jade Seal come from?
In fact, it is described in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, and the original text in the book is as follows:
"Pass on the national seal, and its jade comes out of the Blue Field Mountain".
Yes, this is the record of the correct history, although the Book of the Later Han Dynasty is a work of the Southern Dynasty, but the author Fan Ye carefully wrote a book, the credibility is still very high.
References: Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Records of History, Records of Differences