Jade has a long history of 5,000 years. It is said that the ancient jade is beautiful, the jade quality is indeed not good, and the beauty is in the shape. As we all know, jade is originally a beautiful stone, because of the ingenious carving technology and exquisite design of the jade carver, the finished product is amazing. Although ancient jade has its own style in each era, only the jade of the Chu people has unlimited imagination, is a romantic imagination, and is also the elegant gene of the Chu people.
If you don't know much about the Chu people, then you must have seen the "Biography of Mi Yue" and more or less understood the dazzling Chu culture. After reading Qu Yuan's article, I can appreciate this style of a big country. In the Chu kingdom, birds are used as totems, and because of this, dragons and phoenixes will appear on the jade of the Chu kingdom, and women at that time can hold up half of the sky. The women of the Chu Kingdom are very powerful, such as Mi Yue, who is one of the representatives.
In particular, the Warring States Chu-style jade is not only vivid in shape, but also full of romantic atmosphere. Using imagination to shape jade is the landing of ideas, and these represent the superb skills and rich imagination of the Jade Workers of the Chu Kingdom, which is beautiful from an artistic point of view.
The dragon is the totem of the Chinese nation, and in ancient times only kings could use it. The more common jade in the Chu kingdom is the Panlong. The dragon's body is carved with cirrus clouds, showing a rugged and majestic domineering spirit. The cirrus pattern is just right and very vivid. In fact, the dragon-shaped pendant first appeared in the late Spring and Autumn Period, popular in the Warring States period, and the dragon shape in the Chu State was more attractive.
The Chu people have a tradition of honoring dragons and phoenixes, so most jade objects are engraved with dragon shapes. The jade pendant of the foot dragon shape is the most abundant and vivid, with a dragon body, a dragon head and a tiger body, a dragon and phoenix combination, a dragon and phoenix followed, a god and a man a dragon and other shapes, which are rich in mythology, and the ancient totem worship is from the heart, and the whole country is worshiped.
Interested friends must go to the Jingzhou Museum in Hubei to admire the jade of the Chu kingdom, while admiring these ancient jades, it is also a dialogue with the Chu people. Each one is legendary, and the story behind it may not be known, but the shape of this shape seems to be understandable to you.
The tomb of Chu in Jingzhou also unearthed a lot of jade in the shape of a phoenix bird. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the phoenix was already regarded as a sacred bird, and this kind of sacred bird imagined by human beings has always existed in ancient jade. In the Zhou Wu King's cutting, there was a legend of Fengming Qishan, and in the Chu Kingdom, the phoenix bird myth has always existed and was worshipped by the Chu people. The image of the dragon on the jade carving of the Chu people is mostly looking back at Gu Pan, while the phoenix has a strong feeling, as a fluttering wing and flying high, which is the common means of expression of the Chu people's Chongfeng thought.
The ancient Chu people revered the dragon and the phoenix, and the dragon and phoenix followed, like flying in the clouds, implying a hundred years of good harmony and auspiciousness. These representative dragon-shaped pendants and dragon phoenix pendants represent the highest level of jade carving in the Chu state at that time. In the era without machines, it is rare for humans to be able to carve so meticulously using extensive tools.
Today's carving machines are very developed, and jade can also use the finest materials, but there are fewer and fewer legendary romantic feelings. Chu people have a strong romantic atmosphere, will not stick to the rules, they are not willing to be bound by some traditional ornaments, fully exert their wisdom and wisdom to create some special patterns, such as the common triple valley pattern on jade, S-shaped pattern, etc., which is an important feature of Chu-style jade.
These Chu people's jades, which are full of romantic colors, represent that the life of the Chu people has become colorful due to the existence of jade, not only the spiritual life is satisfied, but also in the spirit of innovation and pioneering spirit, it is also displayed in jade to varying degrees.
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