Collection value of Western Zhou Jade
1、 Important archaeological discoveries, materials and production of jades in the Western Zhou Dynasty
In the early days of Zhou Dynasty, it was called Western Zhou Dynasty in history. At that time, China's slave society had entered the Third Dynasty. Its capital was located in today's Shaanxi area, known as hojing. At the same time, it was built as the eastern capital in today's Luoyang City, Henan Province.
The jade wares specially made in the Western Zhou Dynasty and enjoyed by the royal nobles have entered the later stage of the second peak since the Shang Dynasty, and have made new achievements, producing a large number of exquisite works. Among them, in recent years, the excavated objects of various tombs have attracted great attention. The important jade objects include the powerful country cemetery in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, the Xincun cemetery in Junxian County, the Yingxian cemetery in Pingdingshan County, the Guo cemetery in Sanmenxia, the zhaojinhou cemetery in Quwo north, Shanxi Province, and the Yanguo cemetery in Huangtupo, Fangshan, Beijing. In addition, it was also found sporadically in Shandong and other places. The above-mentioned cemeteries, sites and some of them were unearthed in the early years, but the time and age of excavation are unknown. According to the situation of handed down jades, the jades of Western Zhou Dynasty have the following basic conditions: the jades used are slightly more exquisite in texture than those used in the earlier period; most of them are Kunlun Jades from Xinjiang and a small amount of Xiuyu from Liaoning. The production of jade in the Western Zhou Dynasty was similar to that in the Shang Dynasty, except that it was made of the hardest Kunlun jade, the tools used were more advanced and the jade carving skills were greatly improved.
2、 Varieties and changes of jades in the Western Zhou Dynasty
The biggest change of jade in the Western Zhou Dynasty is the variety of jade. From the Neolithic period to the Shang Dynasty, the practical or impractical jade tools, which were popular, gradually disappeared; among the jade ceremonial weapons made in imitation of actual combat weapons, jade swords and jade Qi were not found in the Central Plains at least; Yuge and Yuqi have entered a period of decline, which is reflected in the fact that not only the quantity is small, but also the shape of the utensils has been miniaturized. Most of the utensils have been reduced from tens of centimeters in length to about 10 centimeters in length, and their uses have become symbolic, mainly for the collection of treasures and financial products; Jade Cong, one of the ritual utensils, has been found in large quantities in the Western Zhou Dynasty, especially in the area of Zhouyuan, Shaanxi Province. Most of the jade Bi have tended to be miniaturized. The number of jade huang and jade Hu (i.e. realistic jade tiger type utensils) has suddenly increased. The jade GUI first appeared in the jade ware group, while the jade Zhang still has no real object; One of the major changes in this period's jade pendant is to break through the habit of single Pendant in the past, and to develop into groups with certain specifications and groups. Its form is composed of a number of jade ornaments and many tube beads of different quality and color, which are hung on the chest to the legs, giving people a dazzling and magnificent freshness. In addition, the first appearance of inlaid ornaments based on animal face and jade mask (also known as jade mask) for burial with the dead is also impressive.
At this time, except for a small number of plastic upright realistic human artifacts, there were also many human dragon composite artifacts in squatting style. The whole body had several dragons, which could be used as some organs or ornaments. They were in the shape of side view or individual face up. Its system is peculiar and full of sense of the times. Although the number of realistic animal shaped utensils made of jade is very considerable, the variety is less than that in the Shang Dynasty, that is, from more than a few hundred species in the Shang Dynasty to more than ten species. The common types are cattle, sheep, pigs, rabbits, birds, tigers, deer, turtles, cicadas, silkworms, fish, mantis, etc. The non realistic gods, birds and beasts, the Phoenix, which began to appear in the Neolithic period, reappeared after a break in the Xia and Shang Dynasties, and suddenly increased. In this period, the Phoenix shaped crown is upright or bent forward with a club like high crown. The eagle has a hooked beak and round eyes. The tail is raised from the back to the top of the head. The shape of the dragon also had great development and changes. In addition to retaining some of the bottle shaped horns and bipedal dragons between the Yin and Shang Dynasties, there were also two or more bipedal dragons joining each other in the form of a knot and a long tongue. The sudden increase of these birds and animals and their more abnormal mystery show that people at that time turned from worshiping nature and realistic animals to worshiping gods.
3、 Innovation and development of Western Zhou Jade
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, in addition to retaining a large number of traditional types of jade, there were also some new types of jade, mainly groups of jade and jade masks for the burial of the dead.
The jade mask is composed of several pieces of jade which are similar to the facial features. They are sewn on the cloth according to the size and shape of the human face. Some of them are specially made, and some of them seem to be made or combined with other jade. The number of each piece in each set is different, and each piece is flat. There are holes at the corners for sewing. When used, all the decorative patterns are facing the face of the deceased.
Group of Peiyu, also known as Dingdang, jiebu and Buyao, can emit beautiful sound and control people's movement according to certain rules. Judging from the unearthed relics, more than 10 sets have been found, all of which are owned by princes and nobles. In addition to the above-mentioned stanzas, his usage also shows that he is of high rank and high morality, that "gentleman" has "aboveboard" character, and that he is used to beautify clothes.
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, some rare jades were also found, such as jade animal face, jade GUI, jade bundle and silk shape. Among them, the new appearance of Yugui is particularly noticeable, which is flat and sharp without blade, which is consistent with the theory of Guixing in the literature. It must also be pointed out that the bronze was stable in Ming Dynasty, and the word "Gui" also appeared in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, it is not a problem to locate the earliest history of this kind of jade in the Western Zhou Dynasty. It also shows that it is improper to name the jade and stone axe with a blade at the end before the Western Zhou Dynasty as GUI and to date its creation in the Neolithic period.
4、 Patterns and characteristics of jade wares in Western Zhou Dynasty
Most of the jades in the Western Zhou Dynasty are decorated with patterns. There are two types of decorative patterns: first, the decorative patterns are relatively simplified, which is manifested in the fact that the main patterns are often represented by several Yin lines on a piece of jade, which has the special aesthetic feeling and effect of "making the finishing point"; The second is the pattern of dense layout, which is characterized by the expression of eyebrows, hair, feathers and feet, etc. when a person or elephant lives, all of them are specific and meticulous, and the shape is like the feeling of looking at the object near the object.
Another feature of the decorative patterns on the jades of the Western Zhou Dynasty is that they represent the two simple and complex patterns mentioned above. When you look at them, they are similar to those of the Shang Dynasty. There are both single Yin lines and double hooks. However, if you look at them carefully, there are differences in the expression of the patterns. For example, the single Yin line is usually decorated with oblique mound. The depth on both sides of the line is different and the line is in slope shape, which is similar to the oblique knife cutting. If it is a double hook line, its double lines are of different thicknesses. The thin ones are similar to those of the Shang Dynasty, and seem to be carved with a vertical knife. There is no sense of depth on both sides. The thick ones are shaped like the above-mentioned single Yin line, and are also decorated with an oblique mound.
The form of the eyes on the jade objects of Western Zhou Dynasty is similar to that of Shang Dynasty, especially that of yin and Shang Dynasty. The word "Chen" is also commonly used, but there is an extended line between the word "Chen" and the corners of the eyes. In addition, the decorative patterns of Western Zhou Jade are mainly dragon pattern, phoenix pattern or human God pattern, which pay attention to the artistic effect of mysterious majesty, abstract deformation and smooth lines.
In the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the jade wares were Ge, Yue, Qi, dagger, tiger, ox, rabbit, deer, dragon, animal face, bird, fish and handle shaped wares. More than 1300 pieces of jade, including tiger, deer, rabbit, silkworm, cicada, Phoenix, Huang, GUI, Ge, Guan, Jue and handle shaped ware, were unearthed from Zhongbo Tomb of rujiazhuang in Zhaomu period.
