(Continued from the previous issue)
Originally wanted to write a historical story of the Ming Dynasty, but I saw a Tibetan friend's thing, very representative, I myself once collected similar items, just today will be this theme of jade to make a detailed explanation.
I. The historical and cultural background of the Mongolian Yuan period
In the first few articles, we introduced the characteristics and process characteristics of jade manufacturing in the Yuan Dynasty, today we introduce a jade fish of the Yuan Dynasty, it is reasonable to say that Mongolia is a nomadic civilization, in the agricultural projects of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishing, it may be the least related to it is "fishing", why make such objects? We still need to introduce the characteristics of Mongolian culture step by step.
With the establishment of the Mongolian Yuan Empire, the expansion of the territory, the restoration of the development of agricultural production in various regions, especially the establishment of The Station Chi, the strengthening of ties between various regions, and at the same time for the development of commerce in the steppe areas and the economic and cultural exchanges between the Mongols and the peoples of various nationalities.
Let us not take the "Silk Road" as a mere sign of existence, under the speed of the Mongolian Iron Horse, the expansion and convenience of the Silk Road may be the most direct harvest, with the increase in the number of commercial transportation and the scale of personnel, all kinds of daily necessities, luxury goods, building materials, jewelry, medicinal materials are continuously transported to the grassland area.
At the same time, a large number of cattle, horses, furs and handicraft products originally on the grassland were also exported from the grassland to various places along with commercial exchanges. In the process of extensive exchanges, the number of cities in the grassland area has been increasing, and the porcelain industry and iron smelting industry have also flourished.
Another important change in the Yuan Dynasty was the development of religious and cultural undertakings, because Kublai Khan hired tibetans as a state teacher, he as one of the state religions, he vigorously promoted Buddhism, while other religions such as Islam, Jingjiao and Taoism were widely protected and widely spread in the grasslands.
In the process of religious inheritance, his emphasis on Han culture was also unexpected, especially the widespread establishment of Confucianism and confucius temples in various cities, which became an unprecedented feature of urban culture in the grassland area.
The area where the cities and stations on the grassland are connected is a vast range of currency circulation in the Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty has initially built and improved the financial system, which is the physical object that we have begun to use when the Western countries have not yet had the concept, and the "Zhongtong Yuanbao Banknote" and "Zhiyuan Pass Treasure Banknote" banknotes have been found, as well as Chinese and Bassba wen copper coins, which have been valued by the numismatic research community.
In order to consolidate the unity of the multi-ethnic state, the Yuan Dynasty set up Zhongshu Province and eleven Xingzhongshu Provinces for governance.
Second, the artistic characteristics of jade production in the Mongolian Yuan Period
The so-called Zhongshu Province and Xingzhongshu Province, that is, the highest administrative organ assigned by the Yuan government to the locality, zhongshu province has jurisdiction over the core areas of the Yuan Dynasty in Dadu, Shangdu and the grasslands of North China and the northern region, so it is also called "belly".
The establishment of the Yuan Empire symbolized that the northern steppe countries and civilizations had developed to the highest peak, further promoted the integration of various ethnic groups in China, laid the foundation for the pattern of China's unified multi-ethnic state, and went beyond the scope of East Asia, paved a smooth path for cultural exchanges between the East and the West, and promoted the common progress of world culture.
The jade fish is an important ornament in ancient times, and it is a shape that appears early and has been used for a long time in decorative jade.
In the early days, it was mostly seen in the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty, and during the Tang and Song Dynasties, due to the rise of realistic flower and bird paintings, the artistic image of fish became active again, and jade fish gradually became more common.
The jade carved mandarin fish works that prevailed in the Yuan Dynasty, the shape and ornamentation have become a relatively fixed pattern that sprouted in the Song Dynasty.
The inheritance of this type of vessel we can only interpret as jade craftsmen are from the Song Dynasty, through such items, commemorating or remembering the glory of the Han cultural period, especially the design of jade in the Song Period, and gradually formed a development trajectory from small to large, ornamentation from simple to complex, carving from coarse to fine, and artistic style from focusing on realism to paying attention to the artistic conception.
With the change of the times, the shape of the jade fish has also been integrated into some characteristics of the Mongolian Yuan period, that is, the innovation of the overall composition, which is good at using plant patterns such as lotus leaf curl grass as a foil to increase the auspicious atmosphere of auspiciousness, which did not appear in the Song Dynasty.
Third, the basic characteristics of jade fish in the Mongolian Yuan period
In the Yuan Dynasty, most of the jade fish were mandarin fish-shaped, and they were often carved from green and white jade throughout the body.
The shape of the instrument is not large, the body length is 5-8 cm, and the broad body is flat and straight. It is different from the striped small fish of the Song Dynasty and the carp of the Ming Dynasty.
Fish generally swim in a diving motion, shaking their heads and tails. The large round eyes are heavily ringed, some have narrow eyelids, and some have a backward extension line of the orbit that is connected to the posterior edge of the parotid cap.
Thick-lipped snouts, large mouths slightly open, angles of the mouth sloping upwards, some street lotus leaves or seocho.
The cheeks are slightly bulging, and some are carved with thin yin lines. The pectoral fin is close to the abdomen, the fin is stretched in a paddling motion, the dorsal fin is stretched and developed, and the lines of the bone spurs are straight and powerful, clearly visible.
The fish body is made of small and dense, staggered parallel and fine yin straight lines into diamond-shaped reticulated scales, and the knife technique is powerful and the checkered pattern is not chaotic. The fishtail is wide and diastolic fan-shaped, and the surface is mostly radial yin line to make out long and stretched fins and tail lines, which are obviously different from the thick yin line fish patterns of the Song and Ming dynasties.
Fourth, the elements of jade fish appreciation in the Mongolian Yuan Period
There are many species of mandarin fish, and the performance is also slightly different, mainly in the lines of the eyes, gills, body and fins.
The carving technique with deep knife is obvious, which is typical of the Yuan Dynasty style.
Most of the ornaments are carved with heavy knives, especially at the junction of the demarcation parts of the fish body structure, which is rough and powerful.
The large round eyes are milled with a reduced-ground relief technique.
The white jade fish-shaped pendant shown in the figure is the standard jade fish form of the Yuan Dynasty.
Outstanding personality, thick and not shy, straight tail like water, fin end teeth more realistic, with quiet movement quite subtle.
It is far from the jumping style of the jade fish of the Song Dynasty, the fish lotus dormant type of the jade fish of the Jin Dynasty, and the fishtail fork type of the jade fish of the Ming Dynasty.
This is the characteristics of each period, but also the basic standard for the division of jade fish, this article with pictures of all the jade fish, are the domestic collection of Yuan Dynasty jade fish, understand this, this article is not in vain.
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