In 1994, the tomb of King Chu of Xuzhou Lion Mountain was excavated, although archaeologists have long known that this tomb has been stolen before, but still stunned by the messy burial chamber, most of the funerary goods in the tomb have disappeared, and even the bones of king Chu have been seriously damaged, pulled out of the jade coffin, torn apart.
The golden jade clothes on his body have long been out of shape, the gold threads have been removed, and the jade pieces are scattered in all corners of the ground, and the wear and tear is serious, only more than 2,000 pieces of jade pieces are intact. It is really painful that a good golden jade coat has been destroyed to the point.
There is a question here, why did the tomb robbers not take a good golden jade robe, but discarded the jade pieces, only to tear down the gold thread and take them away?
The golden jade garment is a funerary instrument during the Han Dynasty, and the blunt point is the shroud, but this shroud is a jade box made of jade pieces instead of cloth and gold thread instead of silk thread, this funeral rite may have originated in the Zhou Dynasty and reached its peak in the Han Dynasty.
The use of the golden jade robe in the Western Han Dynasty was not particularly strict, it was used by the emperor, the emperor's favorites and the princes after their deaths, and as long as the princes were rich enough, they could use the golden jade clothes.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were changes, most of the princes could not use the golden jade clothes, only the emperor was eligible to use them, and some princes and emperor's close subjects may be given golden jade clothes by the emperor after their death. Most of the princes and courtiers used silver or bronze jade clothes, which had become a status symbol.
However, because the production of golden jade clothes is too cumbersome and costly, Cao Pi in the Three Kingdoms period ordered the abolition of the use of golden jade clothes, so in ancient history, golden jade clothes were mostly used in the Han Dynasty, and more than twenty pieces of golden jade clothes found now are basically found from tombs in the Han Dynasty.
The golden jade garment is definitely a time-consuming, laborious and expensive production, and because it is a symbol of status, its production is quite sophisticated, and the jade is transported from Tibet and then processed into suitable jade pieces. Jade flakes are not like the cloth we use, and the processing process is very strict.
The jade smiths cut the jade into small jade pieces through a series of processes, and their size and shape are designed, in terms of shape, there are square, rectangular, triangular, semi-circular and crescent-shaped shapes, and the size and thickness are also strictly controlled, only in this way can it be supported into a golden jade coat that wraps the whole body.
After the jade piece is cut, it is also polished, polished and drilled, and then strung with gold thread into a gorgeous shroud that fits the owner's body, and lives with the owner in the burial chamber.
Generally speaking, a piece of golden jade clothing needs at least more than two thousand pieces of jade, more than four thousand pieces, of course, there are also particularly few, as far as the excavation situation is concerned, shandong Linyi Liu Yao tomb in the golden jade cloth with the least jade pieces, because this golden jade cloth is only a part, including the head and limbs of the five.
I don't know whether it was out of time or financial considerations that such a simple golden jade coat was used, or there were other considerations.
Among the more than twenty pieces of golden jade robes unearthed, the golden jade robe in the tomb of the Chu King of Lion Mountain is the earliest, the largest number of jade pieces, the best jade quality, and the most exquisite craftsmanship. The jade pieces used reached 4248 pieces, which are now on display in the Xuzhou Museum, but this one took more than two years to restore.
The original tomb robber destroyed, the gold thread was removed, and the jade pieces were destroyed in large quantities, only more than 2,000 pieces were intact, so if you want to show its original appearance, you can only repair it. Let's go back to the question at the beginning, why would a tomb robber steal a gold thread, but not a jade piece?
We know that the ancients had a special affection for jade, they believed that jade can make the bones incorruptible, so in ancient tombs, jade can be seen everywhere, or there is a jade box of this kind of shroud, or jade in the mouth, etc., of course, jade in ancient times, especially before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, was quite valuable, only the royal family and nobles were eligible to use, ordinary people are not eligible to use.
Therefore, many people think that after the tomb robber finds jade in the tomb, he generally will not take it away, after all, he does not dare to sell it when he takes it out, and once he sells it, he will be found to have been stolen. Therefore, tomb robbers generally do not take away the jade in the tomb when they see it.
Is this a reason? I am afraid that it is not a very small reason, there are many jade in the tombs of the Qin and Han Dynasties, not only the golden jade clothes, but also other kinds of jade, there are also stolen cases, and the jade is not in circulation in the market, does not mean that it cannot be bought and sold through other channels, since it is a tomb robber, it naturally has its own special channels to buy and sell, so the jade is not impossible to bring out.
So why can't the golden jade robe be brought out? The reasons are simple, but they are often overlooked.
A complete golden jade coat cannot be brought out, this is really impossible to circulate, how expensive is the price of a golden jade coat, everyone knows, and it is someone else's shroud, who still buys it as their own shroud? Those who have that money and that power can use silver jade clothes or copper jade clothes, and those who do not have that power do not dare to use it.
So what if the golden jade robe is removed? Isn't it good to bring out the gold thread and jade pieces and turn them into pieces to sell? Gold was hard currency at the time, naturally a good thing, but these jade pieces were not very valuable. You know, these jade pieces are processed, specially used to make jade boxes, it is characterized by a specific size and shape, small and thin.
As far as this jade box in the tomb of the King of Chu is concerned, the largest is only 9 square centimeters, the smallest is less than 1 square centimeter, and in terms of thickness, many are less than one millimeter thick. And these jade pieces are drilled holes, I would like to ask, what can such a thin, holed jade piece be used for? If it is not very useful, who will buy it?
Most of the tomb robbers are seeking wealth, they put so many gold and silver, bronze, iron, pottery and other treasures do not take, to take these useless jade pieces to do what?