The Jade Chun is a heavy weapon of Liangzhu culture, known for its strange and exquisite shape, beautiful symmetry of composition, and profound and mysterious meaning. In 1986, in Yuhang County, Zhejiang Province, yuhang County, anti-mountain, Yaoshan Liangzhu culture tomb found a delicately carved, breathtaking "emblem" (or "divine emblem"), more attention from Chinese and foreign scholars, aroused people's enthusiasm to reveal its mysteries, Yuqun has become a worldwide research topic.
Liangzhu culture jade can generally be divided into two categories: flat cylindrical and square cylindrical: the former outer wall highlights four symmetrical rectangular convex surfaces with subtractive ground method, each convex surface is engraved with animal face patterns with yin lines, and its body is low and low like a bracelet, so it is also called a bracelet-style convex. The latter has the largest number, its body appearance is a square column, slightly larger than the bottom, and there are vertical grooves carved in the middle of the four sides, and at the same time, the equidistant horizontal grooves are carved on the convex surfaces on both sides of the vertical grooves, and the body is divided into several sections; each section takes the four corners as the central axis, and symmetrically carves out the "animal face pattern" of complexity or simplicity on the two adjacent convex surfaces. The lower end (projector) of the body is rounded, and the center is drilled with round holes. This is what people call the "inner circle outer square" and the perforated square pillar type Qun, which is a typical jade Qun after the specification. Yu chun originated from the Liangzhu culture, and its distribution range was centered on the Taihu Lake Basin jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and then spread around, and it was also sporadically excavated in the late Neolithic sites in Shandong, Anhui, Jiangxi, Guangdong and other places. Roughly introduced to the Yellow River Basin during the Shang Zhou Dynasty, it was occasionally found in various places in the subsequent dynasties, and even in the Ming Dynasty, there were celadons imitating white jade quarry that were popular in the world, which shows that the jade qun has lasted for thousands of years and is one of the precious cultural heritages of the mainland.
However, what is the purpose of yu chun? Ancient and modern scholars have different views, and they are inconsistent. The Zhou Li Dazongbo says: "With jade as six instruments, with the four directions of heaven and earth... Huang Zhen politely. The "Examination Worker's Record of The Jade People" records: "Bi Chun is nine inches, and the princes enjoy the Heavenly Son; the bi Qun is eight inches, and the princes are hired; the Qi is five inches, and the Hou is the right; the Da Chun, ten has two inches, the shooting is four inches, the thick inch, is the inner town, and the Hou Shouzhi; the Qi's seven inches, the nose inch, has a half hole, and the Tianzi is the right; the state is eight inches, and the princes are enjoyed by the lady." The "Eight Years of ram ding" said: "Chun, to send troops." The Zhou Li DianRui says: "Thin the wall to collect the corpse." The Eastern Han Dynasty Xu Shen's Shuowen (說文) interprets it as "Ruiyu". Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty said: "In ancient times, it was used to decorate the head of the pole." It is bottomless and clear, and it is also a proof. It is not necessary to be easier to carry the burden of the present and the old to be the one who is the bearer. Modern archaeologist Guo Baojun in the "Ancient Jade New Interpretation" believes that the predecessor of Chun, "when the wooden loom on the back of the hand to turn over the ear." "Why can it be opened and closed, there is no such thing as a high-level thing, and this thing is mentioned as a thing, that is, Zhen ye." "The evolution of the jade, the evolution of the wooden one." The outer square is so staggered, the inner circle is so half-turned, and the tooth body is so lifted. Na Zhiliang said, "The seal of the jade character is 'Wang', and these three horizontal paintings represent three pieces of jade, and one of the vertical paintings is a rope, a rope that runs through these three pieces of jade." "Later, some people thought that if the jade was first twisted into several pieces, and then worn and connected with a rope, why should it be made into a piece of jade, and use ornamentation to indicate that it was made of several pieces of jade. Artifacts of this shape, the largest is The Zhen, the smallest is the Qi" (Forbidden City Cultural Relics Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 10).
Mr. Kosaku Hamada of Japan believes that "at the beginning, or a practical product with a round hole and a square cylinder, it was later accidentally produced an explanation of the inner circle like the heavens and the outer square of the earth, and finally it was determined that it was used as the table number of the earth, and it was carved on the outer pillar of the four elephants and bagua to deepen the meaning of its substitute image" ("Aritake Jaizo Ancient Jade Spectrum", 1925). Ankers is even more groundbreaking in advocating that chun is the female genitalia that symbolizes the mother. The Swedish scholar Gao Benhan believes that the Qun is a letter of sheng man's sexual organ, and is the ancestral (or ancestral) ancestral vessel. Based on this, Mr. Ling Chunsheng identified Chun as "a symbol of female yin and male roots, representing the most primitive object of ancestor worship" (Volume VIII, Proceedings of the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan). In 1947, the Belgian scholar Mr. Mischer believed that it was the "jade balance" recorded in the "Book of Shang" and "Shundian", which was used to observe celestial phenomena.
Mr. Feng Hanji and Tong Enzheng advocated that "Chun is a symbol of yin and land" (Cultural Relics, No. 2, 1979); Zhu Hanwen believed that the shell of the single-section outer square round and hollow square pillar jade was representative of the boundaries and scope of the fields cultivated by people, and the central cylinder structure was the epitome of the barn or social altar (Wenbo Newsletter, No. 5, 1983). Mr. Shi Zhilian pointed out that the original origin of the matriarchal society's worship of female reproduction, arguing that the higher its form, the more numerous the number of body knots, the greater the power of the symbol holder, the greater the wealth, and the higher the status (China Cultural Relics Daily, October 1, 1987). Li Wenming believes that the Qun is the tool of bun (Southeast Culture, No. 6, 1989).
Professor Hayashi Neff, a famous Japanese archaeologist, argues that Yu Chun is the "Lord", also known as the "Zong", which is the dependent object of the souls of the ancestors of the gods when the temple sacrifices. The central round hole is used as a hut for the souls of the ancestors of the gods. Ancestral spirits can fall from the sky or come out of the earth, so the middle hole runs through from top to bottom. The irregular egg-shaped face on the jade is the original form of the sun god. The "divine face" inscribed on the vessel can protect the soul of the deceased, and if the living wear it, it can also be blessed (Oriental Journal, vol. 60, 1988). Professor Zhang Guangzhi, a famous American scholar, based on the characteristics of "inner circle and outer square", believes that it is the embodiment of the original ancestors' cosmology of "heaven and round place". Zhang Shi pointed out: "The square instrument is like the earth, the round instrument is like the heaven; the square circle and the square circle symbolize the string of heaven and earth": "The square and circle of the square represent the earth and the heaven, and the perforation in the middle indicates the communication between heaven and earth." The stick that passes through the hole is the Pillar of Heaven and Earth. On many of them there are animal images, indicating that the shaman communicates with heaven and earth through the pillar of heaven and earth with the assistance of animals. Therefore, it can be said that Qun is a very good symbol of the ancient Chinese cosmology and the behavior of the heavens" (Collected Treatises on Cultural Relics and Archaeology, 1986).
Deng Shuping, a well-known expert on ancient jade in mainland China and Taiwan, once wrote that Yu Chun is a "totem pillar in Liangzhu culture", which is "set on the upper end of a circular wooden pillar and used as a symbol of gods or ancestors" ("Cultural Relics of the Forbidden City", 1986, 34 episodes; "Chinese Five Thousand Years of Cultural Relics Collection: Jade Chapter I"). Many researchers have linked the Qun to the wall, and cited the "Heaven with the Cangbi Ceremony, and the Huang QunLi" in the Zhou Li as evidence, arguing that the Qun is a ceremonial instrument for sacrificing heaven and earth, or a theosophical tool for shamans. Mr. Wang Zunguo, based on the current situation of up to 32 pieces of jade chun excavated from tomb No. 3 of Wujin Temple in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, combined with the record of "Donkey Bi Chun to Collect Corpses" in the "Zhou Li", advocated that Yu Chun had the function of "collecting corpses", and tomb No. 3 of Si Dun was the earliest physical example of jade burial in mainland China (Cultural Relics, No. 2, 1984).
Mr. Lin Huadong quoted widely, believing that The jade is not all "inner circle and outer square", and many of the "shooting" surfaces (that is, the "inner circle" part) of the jade chun are square with the corner, and some of the central round holes of the jade chun are not drilled, and even some are excavated with a cover, obviously can not "communicate with heaven and earth", saying that the chun is the symbol of the ancient Chinese ancestors' "heaven and circle place", and it cannot be established. After in-depth research, combined with the analysis of the excavation status of Yu chun, Lin Shi advocated that Yu Chun is a complex entity, with its height, shortness, square circle, different sizes, and its use should not be generalized. It is a complex and special jade that combines religion, decoration, rituals, and power. The small jade quince may be a hanging ornament or attachment of the jade, with many decorative functions, standardizing the typical jade as a tool related to primitive religious witchcraft activities; and the jade qun in the tomb of the buried person should be a magic weapon used by the good people to collect corpses, protect the deceased, suppress the tomb, and avoid evil and evil. Since the owners of the jade are all clan nobles, the jade is also a symbol of the power, status and wealth of the deceased. At the same time, the jade is also a gift vessel between liangzhu fangguo and other clan tribes ("Southeast Culture"), No. 6, 1991).
Mr. Zhou Nanquan believes that the square altar of Liangzhu culture and the square pillar-shaped jade made of imitation of the earth were found in one place at the same time, which is consistent with the ancient people's so-called that the earth is square. That is to say, the jade is imitated from the shape of the "earth", which should be used for ceremonial land, that is, for the purpose of sacrificing the land, or may symbolize the ancestors of the earth. In addition, in ancient China, there was the so-called "yin and yang theory", which believed that the earth belonged to yin, so all content related to yin, such as the moon, stars, earth, etc., as well as the queen and lady derived from yin, could use, enjoy, and represent the Qun, and then use the Qun to hire, enjoy, and sacrifice. At the same time, it is also possible that yu chun symbolizes female reproductive organs (Journal of the Palace Museum, No. 1, 1990).
From this point of view, in order to uncover the real mystery of the use of the jade, it is still necessary to analyze it from new archaeological data (especially the current status of excavations) in the future.
"The Mystery of the Legend of National Treasures" Editor-in-Chief Zhao Min