Shang Dynasty jade swallow nesting with humans
Xu Wenning
Xu Wenning, in 1990, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage awarded the title of cultural relics appraisal, a well-known cultural broker, art collector and connoisseur. He has successively served as the deputy general manager of Jiangsu Aitao Auction Company, the deputy director of the Art Museum at No. 5 Guanghua Road in Beijing, the deputy director of the Beijing Tianwu Museum, the deputy general manager of the Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Exchange, the chief art consultant of Nanjing Dahe Media, the construction consultant of the China Imperial Examination Museum in Nanjing, the expert in cultural relics identification, and the visiting professor of anti-smuggling of cultural relics at Shanghai Customs College. He has published more than 10 art books, such as "Catalogue of the Art Museum at No. 5 Guanghua Road, Beijing", "Porcelain from the Collection of Heavenly Objects", "The Story of the Jade Pendant Collection", "Taige Meteorology - Changle Pavilion Ming and Qing Dynasty Champion Calligraphy and Painting Collection", and has written more than 100,000 words of appreciation and auction information articles for more than 20 domestic magazines and auction companies. In 2008, he published the first paper on "New Attempts at Art Securitization" in China, systematically expounding the theory and operation mode.
The historical legend of "Xuanniao Shengshang" has always been equal to the phoenix theory and the swallow theory in contemporary academic circles. Scholars of all ages have relied on literature and legends to speculate on the mystery of the mysterious bird. Generally inclined to Xuanniao is a swallow. During the period of the Republic of China, anthropology and mythology gave enlightenment to new scholars, and then the theories of totem worship and fertility worship rose.
From the excavation of a large number of Shang Dynasty tombs across the country, we were surprised to find that the Shang Dynasty tombs in archaeological excavations did unearth a large number of bird-shaped jade, bronze, and pottery, which seemed to imply that the Shang was indeed a nation that worshiped bird totems. And the number and shape of jade swallows in the Shang Dynasty are far more than the legendary phoenix, or more than the image of the long-crested and big-tailed jade bird in the Shang Dynasty. Modern analysis of many of these factors may be related to the source of jade. The Shang Dynasty jade was rich in sources, although there were components of Hetian jade, but it was still dominated by local miscellaneous jade, such as blue-green jade, gray-white jade, etc. The shape of the swallow is made of less material, easy to carve, and conforms to the characteristics of jade stock. Given the merchants' need for worship of natural objects, rituals, and sacrifices, people regarded natural objects such as jade swallows as auspicious objects or believed that they had some kind of mystical power. Then, faith promoted the production, circulation and development of jade swallows.
The natural worship of the Shang Dynasty was due to the limited understanding of various phenomena and the development laws of things in the natural world during the Shang Dynasty, which led to the artificial endowment of mysterious meanings and values. Once human beings had a worship and awe of the divine power of the natural world, it became the mainstream ideology of the society at that time. The people of the Shang Dynasty believed that natural phenomena such as heaven, earth, sun, moon, stars, water, fire, wind, and thunder were all manifestations of the gods, and that if people wanted to be blessed and protected by the gods, they had to worship various animals, plants, and gods in myths and legends.
In China, swallows come and go in spring and autumn, and in summer they are all over the country, nesting under the eaves of their homes, breeding offspring, and living together. If we say where the inspiration for human beings to build nests and live comes from, the author thinks that the biggest possibility is that they saw swallows building nests in mud and learned from them. It can be said that the swallow is the teacher of mankind, including the original creativity of the ancestors to make pottery, which should also come from the swallow's nest. Therefore, people have an affinity for the swallow, regard it as a mascot, protect its young children and nests, and use precious jade materials to make jade swallows, the swallows can move to the south in winter, leave the nest when they go, and still live in the original nest as a god when they return, sacrifice with jade, and ask the gods to bless themselves and protect their families.
The relics of Yuyan in the Yin Shang period, the forms seen today are different, there are round carvings and flat sheet shapes. Its main features are an exaggerated double circle order, a slightly hooked pointed beak, and wings represented by large cloud patterns or thunder patterns. The tail is forked, and the feathers on each part of Yuyan's body are also different, and some are worn to wear. The jade swallows are all monomers for the utensils, with a certain degree of realism, and the utensils are small, generally 2-5cm in length and width. The abdomen of the individual vessel is engraved with the character "Tian", which indicates the characteristics of the bird's foot.
The ancient poems that describe the swallow's hard work for the family include Tang Dynasty Bai Juyi's "Spring Trip to Qiantang Lake" "Whose New Swallow Pecks Spring Mud", and Song Dynasty Liu Zihui's "Swallow" "The swallow's nest is relied on, and the mud is hard to fly". The first volume of the "Strange Records" written by Zu Chongzhi of the Southern Dynasty recorded: The mausoleum of the queen of Helu "Zhou Hui Bali, the annex cave room, the same thing, the lacquer lamp is rotten, such as the sun and the moon." Especially different, there are more than 1,000 pairs of golden silkworms and jade swallows." It can be seen that the jade swallow left over from the rituals and sacrificial activities of the Shang Dynasty has a high status and value in the social activities of the past dynasties, and is highly valued and collected by the royal family. This provides modern collectors with a documentary guarantee of historical value and investment value.