I have discussed in detail the Republic of China jadeite master Song Meiling, who has loved jadeite all her life, and on her 100th birthday, she still looks at a stunning jadeite jewelry: jade rings, jade bracelets, jade necklaces, jade earrings...
And the most talked about is her pair of twisted jadeites that are legendary for Du Yuesheng, the leader of the Green Gang, jade crystalline, exquisite and moist, dazzling.
Many people therefore think that Song Meiling should be the representative of the Jadeite Talents of the Republic of China, but in fact, it is not, the Republic of China as a very important period in the development of jadeite, the glory of jade history, people who do not have a deep understanding of it can hardly imagine.
At that time, jadeite was chased by celebrities because of the inheritance of Cixi, and because of the early breaking of the Qing Dynasty court, a large number of craftsmen with extremely high jade carving skills were no longer limited, seeking opportunities for their own development, and their freedom of mind and body created the best soil for jade art to create, so that in a short period of time, the jade art of the Republic of China climbed to the peak.
Stills from "Generation Grandmaster", jadeite is a symbol of its era
During this period, a large number of jadeite collectors were born.
Warlords and politicians such as Xu Yuanquan, Song Ziwen, Duan Qirui, Xu Shuzheng, Feng Guozhang, Cao Kun, Yan Xishan, Dai Kasa, Zhang Xueliang, Zhang Xun, Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang, ma Jinqing, Zhang Wendi, Ma Gongfu, Lu Junren, Tie Baoting, Sha Yunwu, Chang Xingyuan, Gao Jichuan, and Li Jichuan, as well as tycoons such as Yu Qiaqing, Jin Jinrong, and Du Yuesheng.
Many of these names may not be familiar to you, and even if you are familiar with them, you may only know other aspects of them, not knowing that they are still jadeite collectors.
First, Xu Yuanquan
Xu Yuanquan was a General of the Kuomintang, then a staff officer and commander of the Cavalry Regiment in Shanghai, who led the army to participate in the Defense of Nanjing and the Defense of Wuhan, and only talked about jadeite, most people almost did not know his name, but if we joined another person, some people may have an impression.
The man's name was Sun Dianying, and we have written about him, and he is well known to collectors because he stole Cixi's tomb.
Sun Dianying
Only 20 years after Cixi's death, Sun Dianying led people to dig up her tomb, the body was discarded aside, and the funerary gold and silver jewelry was looted, according to Sun Dianying's later recollection, the treasures stolen from Cixi's tomb were loaded with dozens of large boxes, which were transported in three nights.
Li Lianying's eldest son, Li Chengwu, wrote in "Notes on Ai Yuexuan" Cixi's burial treasures have been recorded in detail and the valuation is given: the price of the golden silk cotton mattress is 84,000 taels of silver; the price of the embroidered Buddha beaded mattress is 22,000 taels; the valuation of the jade lotus leaf is 850,000 taels; the Tradhara sutra is paved with 820 beads, with a valuation of 160,000 taels; the posterior beaded robe is estimated at 1.2 million taels; the golden Buddha next to him is respected 8 taels, the jade Buddha is respected 6 taels, the jade Buddha is respected 6 taels, the ruby Buddha is respected for 325 yuan per 27 statues, a total of 108 statues, about 620,000 taels; 2 jade watermelons, about 2,200,000 taels, 4 jade melons, about 600,000 taels; the jade lotus is about 1 million taels; and the red coral tree is worth about 530,000 taels The highest value is the crown of beads worn on Cixi's head, on which a large 4-fold bead is a tribute to foreigners, worth 10 million taels, with a total price of about 10.05 million taels. In addition, Cixi's body is filled with about 500 large beads and about 6,000 small beads, with a valuation of 228,000 taels...
In order to exonerate the guilt of tomb robbery, he paid bribes to the Kuomintang "party-state dignitaries" to steal a large number of treasures, which was recorded in a public bribery of Sun Dianying's bribery materials:
Sun Dianying gave a stolen Nine Dragon Sword (Sun Dianying not only stole Cixi's tomb that time, but also the Nine Dragon Sword from the Qianlong Mausoleum) to Chiang Kai-shek, but it seemed that Chiang Kai-shek did not accept it.
The Nine Dragon Sword
Dai Kasa, on the other hand, obtained the two largest scarlet beads in the imperial beads on Qianlong's neck.
In addition, Chiang Kai-shek's wife, Soong Mei-ling, also obtained a pearl of night and a bag of pearls contained in Cixi's mouth, which was also sent by Todai Kasa, and this bribe achieved "obvious results." Soong Mei-ling once took care of the relevant personnel and delayed sun Dianying's trial of theft.
Song Ziwen of the Song Meiling family is said to have obtained an "emerald watermelon" that has not yet reappeared.
Shang Zhen, the presiding judge of Sun Dianying's theft case, received a green-skinned yellow jade melon.
In addition, the bribe-taking personnel recorded in public information include: Yan Xishan, Kong Xiangxi, Wang Zhonglian, Zhu Shouguang, and so on.
Xu Yuanquan was Sun Dianying's immediate superior at that time, and naturally he got a lot of things, such as the emerald lotus leaves on Cixi's head, as well as a golden Buddha, a ruby Buddha, and a bag of pearls.
If nothing else, this jade lotus leaf alone can make Xu Yuanquan rank among the jade collectors.
2. Tiebao Pavilion
Tie Bao Ting was undoubtedly the most successful jade merchant in the Republic of China.
He became a famous chaebol in the Republic of China by operating jadeite, and Song Meiling's twisted bracelet was from his hand.
In addition, in 2011, Beijing Poly sold a famous jade bead chain for 23 million yuan, and that jade bead chain handled many celebrities in his lifetime: Emperor Puyi, Huang Zhonghan, the king of the sugar industry, and Huang Huilan, daughter of Huang Zhonghan.
And Tie Bao Ting played a key role in it, at that time, the Qing Dynasty sunset and dusk, emperor Puyi to eat has become a problem, he can only sell the treasures in the palace in exchange for money and silver, the first choice, naturally is the famous jade merchant Tie Bao Ting in Beijing at that time, Tie Bao Ting received Pu Yi's jadeite, after a transformation, it was sold to Huang Zhonghan, the king of the sugar industry.
Huang Zhonghan
Although the process is simple to describe, it is easy to see that Tiebaoting was very famous and had a wide commercial territory at that time. Beijing at that time can be said to be the center of Chinese art and culture, located in the front gate of Tiananmen, the jade street almost gathered the most famous jade art masters and jade merchants in China at that time, but Tie Bao Ting was famous here; and Huang Zhonghan, an Indonesian overseas Chinese, Tie Bao Ting could intersect with him, proving that his jade business was not limited to the land of China.
In fact, at that time, the jadeite business of Tiebaoting had spread all over the world, and even the kings of Britain, Belgium, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands had asked him for jade.
Tiebao Pavilion
3. Zhang Wendi
Regarding Zhang Wendi, he did not do the jadeite business, but in his life, he formed a lifelong relationship because of a piece of jadeite.
In 1922, when Zhang Wendi was doing business, he encountered a piece of "golden silk seed" jadeite with thousands of kilograms, he bought it, and then sent it to Beijing to invite more than 150 famous jade carvers to spend 10 years to build it into a jade pagoda with "no antiquities before and no one after".
Photograph of Zhang Wendi's emerald pagoda published in jewelry magazine in 1965
Then, he twice took the jade pagoda overseas to participate in the "World Exposition", which caused a huge sensation in the world and won respect and status for the Chinese nation in the forest of the world's nations.
Later, due to the outbreak of the Japanese invasion of China, Zhang Wendi was forced to stay with the Emerald Pagoda in the United States and could not return, watching the motherland fall into the fire of the invaded war, he was heartbroken, and then took the Jade Pagoda to exhibit in various parts of the United States day and night, raising funds and funding China's war against Japan.
In 1939, Zhang Wendi raised funds for the Chinese War of Resistance
"Bury me on a high mountain, and look at my hometown, which is invisible and can never be forgotten."
Bury me on the top of the mountain, look at my continent, and the continent is invisible, only weeping.
The sky is clear, the wilderness is vast, and on the mountain, the country is ruined! "Looking Home"
The Republic of China, and even the entire history of jadeite, has produced countless jadeite masters, but their names have slowly dissipated with the passage of time, and only Zhang Wendi, because of his great contribution to China and the great artistic value of the jade pagoda, has been passed down through the ages.
Zhang Wendi has not only made remarkable achievements in the jadeite industry, but also made significant contributions to the Chinese nation in winning the respect of the international community.
Taking stock of the Jade Masters of the Republic of China, Zhang Wendi is indisputably the first, and after that, I think it is the legendary Tiebao pavilion, and finally, it is Song Meiling, who is the representative of the celebrity class.