In ancient mainland china, the Chinese people had the idea of respecting jade and loving jade. Jade has long been deified in the hearts of the Chinese people, becoming a spiritual creature, and even forming a ceremonial jade culture. Therefore, jade products occupied all aspects of the lives of the ancients, and even after death, they had to bring all kinds of exquisite jade products to the grave, hoping to continue to use them in the world after death. However, archaeologists unearthed a jade tablet in the tomb of Chu Guo in the lower temple, but it was an unfinished work. What kind of jade is this, and why is it not completed? Next, let Xiaobian reveal the secret for you.
In 1977, archaeologists discovered a large ancient tomb in Danyang Town, Huaichuan County, Henan Province. It was once the first capital of the Chu state in the Spring and Autumn Period and one of the birthplaces of Chu culture. The ancient tomb found here is an ancient tomb group of the Chu State in the Spring and Autumn Period.
After several years of archaeological excavations, archaeologists have excavated a total of 25 tombs and 5 carriage and horse pits nearby. Although many of these tombs have been excavated, more than 8,000 cultural relics of various types have been excavated after careful collation by archaeologists. Among them, there are also national treasure-level cultural relics such as the cloud pattern copper forbidden, the prince noon ding, and the wang sun chime bell.
Among these precious cultural relics, there is a jade plaque that is very special. This jade plate is made of green and white jade, and the whole is inverted trapezoidal in an upper width and lower narrow, 75 cm long, 7 cm wide, and only 0.2 cm thick. The back of the jade plate is a simple surface, the front pattern is very exquisite, the lower part is a beast face pattern, the two sides are symmetrical dragon head patterns, and the symmetrical tooth ridge around the dragon head is the outline of the tongue, nose, eyes and horns of the dragon head.
When the researchers further studied the pattern of the jade plate, they found a problem, the pattern on the jade, how to see how awkward. Because the pattern is symmetrical left and right in the central axis, the pattern on the left and right sides should be consistent. However, the problem is that although the left and right of the pattern are completely symmetrical, the pattern on the left side of this jade plate is significantly shallower than the right side, and even some of the details of the pattern are not available. Why is this so, is it that the pattern on the left is worn? After measurement, the thickness of both sides of the jade plate is basically the same, so the view that one side is worn is naturally denied.
The researchers finally concluded that the jade tablet turned out to be an unfinished work. How is this possible? How can such a serious funerary object be unfinished? However, if you look at the methods and processes of the ancients to make jade, there is really such a possibility.
Beauty stone is jade, and jade is a kind of stone. Although there is a kind of nephrite, its hardness can still reach 6.5-7, and the hardness is also leveraged. Today, we can have a variety of professional electric equipment for processing jade, but in ancient times, there was neither electricity as a power nor advanced tools, and our ancestors processed jade, which was definitely a time-consuming, labor-intensive and labor-intensive project. To process a delicate piece of jade, it is necessary to go through a full twelve processes, and the processing method is basically to use a rope to glue the jade sand and grind away the excess part of the jade bit by bit. Such tools and processing methods, to complete the production of a piece of jade, naturally very time-consuming. According to the records, to make a piece of jade, not counting the search for jade, mining jade, just the processing process, at least two hundred man-hours. More complex jade even takes craftsmen several years to do.
Speaking of this jade plate, according to research, this jade plate is not only a simple ornament, it also has a more unique role in identifying the identity of the owner. That is to say, this jade tablet is a burial item that the owner of the tomb must bring after death, and there is no substitute for funerary goods. Coupled with the fact that the ancients had a date of burial after death, the hour was required. In this way, it is very likely that there will be a situation where the jade card cannot be fully prepared and will have to be buried in a "hurry".
Perhaps for the ancients, it would be somewhat regrettable to use a jade tablet that was not completely completed to accompany the burial. However, it is this regret that gives us a better understanding of the ancient people's jade ideas, jade making and funeral systems.
Wen Xiucai, editor-in-chief of Wenlan Hairun Studio, this article is written by: Special History Writer: Zhang Hongguang