Heshibi is a national treasure of China with a long history, and there are many idioms related to Heshibi in history, such as "Complete Bi Returns to Zhao", "Bear Jing Please Sin", etc. Although these historical allusions are familiar, Heshi bi itself is still an unsolved mystery.
Yu Bi
Speaking of Heshi Bi, many people will think of the story of "Qiu Bi into a seal". According to historical records: "In the twenty-sixth year of Qin, Li Si was ordered to write the eight characters of 'Ordained by Heaven, Both Shou Yongchang', and the Xianyang Jade Worker Sun Shou flattened he and his clan bi and carved it into a seal, that is, the national seal." In the Later Tang Dynasty, Li Congke carried the national jade seal and set himself on fire in the Xuanwu Building, and the jade seal disappeared ever since. Although on the surface, Heshi Bi seems to have an indissoluble relationship with the Chuanguo Jade Seal, some experts believe that heshi Bi and Chuanguo Jade Seal are two national treasures that are incompatible.
Decree
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, as a symbol of royal power, Heshibi has always been the object of contention among various princely states, and after Qin Shi Huang unified China, Heshibi became a symbol of the unification of the Qin state. However, in the thousands of years after the Qin Dynasty, Heshibi was entangled with the Qin Shi Huang Chuanguo Jade Seal. However, did Qin Shi Huang really use Heshi Bi as a raw material to carve a national jade seal?
Dr. Wang Chunyun of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found through research that the hollow circular Heshi Bi is not suitable for carving into a national jade seal, even if the jade seal is made of jade as raw material, it is impossible to be carved into an artifact the size of "square four inches". After the fall of Qin, during the long period of time between the Two Han Dynasties, the Three Kingdoms, and the Two Jin Dynasties, it was impossible to find any historical records of witnessing Heshibi, and in the pre-Qin literature, Heshibi was only a jewel the size of a goose egg. Therefore, Dr. Wang pointed out that Heshi Bi and Chuanguo Jade Seal are two independent national treasures.
What kind of materials is the valuable Heshi Bi made of?
Finished illustrations
Throughout the ages, many scholars have tried to unravel the mystery of the structure of Heshibi, and Mr. Zhang Hongzhao, the founder of modern Andean Geology in China, uses modern natural science research and the materials of Shibi.
Mr. Zhang Hongzhao mainly relies on the description of Heshi Bi in the Tang Dynasty Taoist monk Du Guangting in the "Record of Differences": "The color of the side and the color of the view is blue, and the color of the square is white. It is proposed that the historical Heshi bi may be one of the "moonstone", "turquoise", "opal", "lantian jade", "agate", "nephrite", "elongated stone". Dr. Wang Chunyun disputed this view, the "History of Lian Po Lin Xiang Ru Lie" once recorded the Qin Dynasty with 15 cities in exchange for Heshi Bi, if Heshi Bi is only a treasure of the level of moonstone, Lantian jade, agate, how can the King of Qin be willing to exchange 15 cities for it? Moreover, Du Guangting's era is more than 1600 years later than the era of the discovery of Heshi Bi, and it is impossible to see the authentic Heshi Bi of that year, so Du Guangting's description of Heshi Bi cannot be used as a basis for research and Shi Bi.
Dr. Wang believes that the most reliable way to solve the mystery of Heshi bi is to find the answer from the historical documents of the Spring and Autumn And Warring States periods. In the "Warring States Policy", "Lü's Spring and Autumn", "Han Feizi" and other literatures, there are discussions on Heshi Bi, especially the "Three Offerings of Hebi" in "Han Feizi Heshi", which can be called the most valuable reference literature.
Relying on historical documents and theoretical knowledge such as mineralogy and gemology, Dr. Wang finally judged that the mysterious Heshi bi was actually a super large diamond, and this research result provided a new way of thinking for exploring the historical origin of Chinese diamond. However, there are still many unexplained blind spots in Heshibi that need to be further explored and discovered.