The lotus flower of a thousand years ago is a jade face that is not falling clear

One day in the summer of 1972, a sudden rainstorm fell from the sky, pouring down the bare mountains, converging in one place and roaring along the Zhanghe River.

After the flood receded, the local people who were leveling the fields were surprised to find graves and collapsed graves on the banks of the river, and while finding many gold, silver and jade objects, they also saw exquisite brick carvings in the tombs.

View of the Wang family cemetery

After learning of this situation, the relevant personnel of the cultural relics department quickly rushed to the local area, and the experts came to a shocking conclusion: this ancient tomb covering an area of about 30,000 square meters is the family cemetery of Wang Shixian, the right king of the Yuan Dynasty, and his descendants, and is the largest group of Yuan tombs found in the mainland so far.

The Wang family is a very prominent family in the Yuan Dynasty, since the ancestral emperor Genghis Khan entered the Central Plains on an iron horse, Wang Shixian and his children and grandchildren served the imperial court, repeatedly made military achievements, and one by one obtained high-ranking officials and honorary titles, from Wang Shixian to his great-grandchildren for five generations, throughout the Yuan Dynasty, "more than 180 officials, including three kings and ten dukes", that is, the famous "three kings and ten dukes".

From 1972 to 1990, the Gansu Provincial Museum Cultural Relics Task Force excavated the Wang family cemetery in batches, and more than 700 precious cultural relics were excavated one after another, but the highest quality and most eye-catching were the first to recommend this glass lotus pendant excavated from the tomb of Wang Weixian (Wang Weixian is Wang Shixian's grandson, the yuan dynasty "Former Ronglu Doctor, Great Situ").

Keep your eyes fixed on this lotus flower tray, with a glittering color, exquisite and bright, extraordinary style... These words are not an exaggeration to describe it.

So far, it is the most complete set of Yuan Dynasty glass trays unearthed in the mainland, composed of two parts, consisting of a cup and a tray, which is a translucent glass texture of blue color, the body is seven-petal lotus-shaped, the abdominal wall of the support is octagonal, the outer edge is eight-petal lotus-shaped, and there are more bubbles in the fetus than inside the cup. The pairing of the tray and the lamp complement each other perfectly, like a blooming water lily under the blue night.

Seeing here, many people will ask, is it not the material of glass that began to appear widely in the Qing Dynasty? What kind of glass was in the Yuan Dynasty?

Glass vs glass

Professor Qian Wenzhong of Fudan University once said: "Just because of a breath of foreign air, glass is no longer a luxury!" ”

What we now call glass is glass, and glass usually refers to architectural tiles covered with colored enamel. But in ancient times, glass has always been called glass.

So when was ancient, when was it ancient? Is there a clearer dividing line?

According to the "History of Chinese Arts and Crafts" written by Mr. Tian Zibing, the word "glass" appeared earlier than the word "glass", and the term "glass" only appeared after the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the two were slightly different in expression, but usually the glass before the Qing Dynasty refers to glass, and the glass after the Qing Dynasty refers to glazed bricks.

Glazed tiles

After figuring out the concept problem, let's talk about this foreign breath.

Nowadays, glass has reached a ubiquitous and indispensable degree in our lives. Without it, our quality of life would have dropped a lot, but glassmaking technology did not initially appear on the mainland.

Glass is believed to have been born in the plains of Mesopotamia more than 5,000 years ago and subsequently spread through Arabia to the rest of the world.

Tomb No. 70 of Wenchang Pagoda in Hepu County, Guangxi Province, excavated from the Western Han Dynasty Glass

Judging from the archaeological results, the earliest glass products on the mainland appeared in the Western Zhou Dynasty, but the process was very primitive and the development was relatively slow. In the Spring and Autumn Warring States, the production and use of glassware has entered a period of development, and it can be seen that many glassware objects from this period have been excavated, mostly some small ornaments, such as glass beads, glass tubes, etc.

Hubei Zeng Houyi tomb unearthed Warring States Dragonfly eye glass beads

Of the more than 100 Warring States Chu tombs found in changsha, Hunan, more than 80 have unearthed glass bi, which shows that the Chu state at that time was likely to be an important glass production area.

Glass bi

Made in China? Central Asia?

Scholars have many different views on the origin of this glass pendant. Some believe that the mainland began to make glass tea sets late, the technical level is not high, but this set of tray process is extremely exquisite, it is likely not produced in the mainland, but from Central Asia.

First of all, since the Han Dynasty, the cultural and material exchanges between China and Central Asia have been very close, and Wang Weixian is a Family of Mongolian bureaucrats, and it is naturally easy to obtain foreign fine products.

In addition, most of the early domestic glassware of this continent is green, light green and white, and only the utensils in Central Asia are more blue. Moreover, at that time, the glassware made in China was thin and small, but this lotus pendant was a large and thick vessel, and it was very likely that it was imported from other countries.

However, some experts deny this, because they believe that during the Yuan Dynasty, the mainland was capable of making such exquisite objects.

At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, out of the need to consolidate political power, the rulers adopted a series of measures conducive to restoring production and developing the economy, and the traditional arts and crafts were revived and developed. In order to meet the needs of their material life and spiritual pleasures, the rulers organized the craftsmen of Europe and Arabia captured in the war, as well as the Western Xia, Jin, and Southern Song Dynasties, and built huge royal government-run handicraft workshops.

The craftsmanship can be passed down from generation to generation, and the son inherits the father's business, which is convenient for accumulating craft experience and improving the skills, so that the government-run handicraft industry talents gather, the skills are exquisite, and a large number of high-grade handicrafts and consumer goods are produced. Therefore, under the influence of this trend of combining Chinese and Western styles, it is not impossible to make utensils like glass lotus pendants.

The exquisite appearance and beautiful color of this glass lotus pendant fully reflect the development of the Arts and Crafts of the Yuan Dynasty, and its superb production skills are also amazed by the world, which is the best of the glassware excavated in the Yuan Dynasty, which can be called a national treasure.