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For thousands of years, the people of Tibet drove their cattle and sheep to live in a land rich in water and grass. They worship nature and believe in animism. For generations, they will exchange their accumulated wealth for a variety of brightly colored natural jewelry, such as red coral, green turquoise, yellow beeswax, white pearls, and so on.
Tibetan woman in costume
In ancient times, jewelry of various natural colors was rare and difficult to obtain, such as turquoise and pearls from the mainland, beeswax from the Baltic Sea, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, and coral from the distant Pacific and Indian Oceans. Jewelry from all over the world was exchanged to Tibet through ancient trade routes, thousands of miles or even tens of thousands of miles, high mountains and long roads, and many dangers, so the price of jewelry arriving in Tibet is not affordable for every family.
Tibetan old coral beads
The quest for beautiful colors led people at the time to look for alternatives to these precious materials, the most typical of which was the discovery of southern red agate in Yunnan, Gansu and other regions and circulation throughout Tibet as a cheap substitute for coral.
Tibetan old southern red beads
Perhaps some of you do not agree with the idea that southern red agate is a cheap alternative to coral in Tibet. We look through the photos before liberation and some cultural relics, whether it is the jewelry worn by the nobles or officials of the upper class of society, or the gems used for the inlay of temple Buddha statues, there is really only coral, and there is no Nanhong agate, which is just the jewelry of some poor people.
Old photograph of Tibetan female aristocrats
Before 2000, when the Tibetan culture was not yet popular, the price of old coral in Tibet was dozens of times different from that of southern red agate, unlike the price that is now speculated.
Tibetan old southern red melon beads
Some people may also say that the emperors of the Qing Dynasty wore southern red agate pearls and top pearls, how can it be said that southern red agate is cheap? In fact, the Qing Dynasty government did not use large-scale mining and use of southern red agate, and we have seen that the so-called red pearls are made of coral. For the red crown, the crown of the first rank is ruby, and the second is red coral. The so-called people who propagate the use of southern red agate by the Qing royal family to make court beads and hat crowns either do not understand or are liars.
Qianlong coral pearl
Historically, the source of southern red agate is mainly Gannan Diebu and Yunnan Baoshan, also known as Gannan red and Yunnan red, Sichuan Liangshan material is nearly twenty or thirty years before the large-scale development and use.
Speaking of which, I have to mention that the word Nanhong has only appeared in recent decades. Why is it called Nanhong, it should be that Gannan and Yunnan both have a southern character, South is to say the location, and Red is to say the appearance characteristics, so there is the word Nanhong. In fact, in the past, it was called red agate, and there is a record of this in the "Yongchang Mansion Chronicles" in the Baoshan area of Yunnan.
"Yongchang Mansion Chronicles" about the record of southern red agate
In the past, the Central Plains culture advocated gentlemen such as jade, and the warmth and delicacy of Hetian jade was orthodox, although the color of southern red agate was bright, but the texture did not meet the traditional aesthetic requirements. In addition, Gannan red and Yunnan red have a common feature that there are many cracks, brittle texture, and are not suitable for processing large pieces. Therefore, in the past, southern red agate has always been a relatively marginal jade processing material, and has not been developed and used on a large scale.
Yunnan red rough stone
In Tibetan areas, most of the processing of Nanhong is also very coarse, and it is simply processed into lezi or flat beads, and the number of exquisite melon beads or round beads is relatively small.
Tibetan old southern red lezi
After 2000, Sichuan Liangshan Nanhong Agate was discovered, which made Nanhong really come to consumers on a large scale. Liangshan Nanhong reserves are large, less cracks, suitable for processing large pieces, after being found by the capital market large-scale publicity and speculation, overnight all over the country, its price continues to rise, the most expensive time good persimmon red gram price to three digits.
Kawanan Rough Stone
The popularity of southern red agate beads also reflects the continuous change of aesthetic values in ancient and modern times. The era of warmth and introversion has passed, and modern people are more in pursuit of flamboyance and unrestrainedness, so red and green have become the mainstream aesthetics.
Tibetan old southern red bracelet
In today's entertainment market, Nanhong Agate can definitely be regarded as one of the mainstream cultural entertainment categories, but who would have thought of its embarrassing status?