It is said that Bian He, a native of Chu State during the Spring and Autumn Period, accidentally discovered a beautiful phoenix perched on a piece of bluestone while cutting firewood on Jingshan Mountain (now west of Nanzhang County, Hubei Province) one day. According to the folklore at that time, "the phoenix never falls without treasure", Bian He believed that this bluestone was a treasure, so he dedicated it to King Li of Chu. At that time, the jade carver in the palace did not recognize this treasure and said that it was an ordinary stone. King Li was furious and ordered his warriors to cut off Bian He's left foot for bullying the king. After King Li's son King Wu succeeded to the throne, Bian He presented the gem to King Wu. It was still said to be an ordinary stone. King Wu chopped off Bian He's right foot for the same crime.
A few years later, King Wu's son King Wen came to the throne. Bian He also wanted to offer the treasure, but he lost his feet and could not walk, so he sat at the foot of Jingshan Mountain holding the gem and cried for three whole days. For three days and three nights, I cried until my tears dried up, and blood flowed from my eyes. Someone reported this matter to King Wen, who sent someone to ask Bian He: "There are many people in the world who have been tortured and had their feet chopped off. Why are you the most sad?" Bian He replied: "What I feel sad about is not His own feet were cut off, but this strange stone was thought to be an ordinary stone!" So King Wen sent people to bring Bian He into the palace, and ordered the jade carver to carefully cut open the stone, and he got a smooth piece from it! The flawless, crystal-clear and rare treasure, King Wen then ordered the craftsmen to carve it into a piece of jade. In order to commemorate Bian He's discovery, people named the jade wall "He's Bi". This is the origin of "He's Wall".
Hundreds of years later, Zhaoyang, the Prime Minister of the Chu State, made great contributions to the Chu State. King Chu Wei rewarded Zhaoyang with the "He's Bi". Soon, "He's Bi" was stolen. Who stole it? Unable to find out. More than 50 years later, Miao Xian, the eunuch of Zhao State, bought a beautiful and dazzling jade from an out-of-town guest for 500 taels of gold. After identification by a jade mason, he found out that this jade was missing for more than 50 years. "He's Bi". After King Zhao Huiwen learned the news, he immediately took the "He's Bi" away from the eunuch Miao Xian. From then on, "He's Bi" was owned by King Zhao Huiwen.
At that time, the princes and emperors were superstitious about "the jade ring resembles the sky", and they all wanted to use jade bis as ritual vessels to worship the heavens. They regarded "He's Bi" as "a priceless treasure unique to the world." Therefore, "He's Bi" became the object of competition for various vassal states in every possible way. According to the "Historical Records: Biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru" written by Sima Qian, the famous historian of the Western Han Dynasty, during the Warring States Period, King Qin Zhaoxiang heard that "He's Bi" was in the State of Zhao and wanted to get this treasure, so he set up a conspiracy to deceive the State of Zhao. , willing to exchange 15 cities for Zhao's "He's Bi". At that time, Qin's military and economic power was getting stronger and stronger, and it was constantly expanding and attacking. King Zhao was reluctant to part with "He's Bi" and did not dare to offend King Qin. He had no choice but to send envoy Lin Xiangru to escort "He's Bi" Go to Qin. When the King of Qin saw "He's Bi", he praised it repeatedly. Lin Xiangru saw that King Qin had no intention of giving the city, so he relied on his wit and bravery to take "He's Bi" back from King Qin's hands, and cleverly and secretly sent someone to sneak back to Zhao with "He's Bi". This is the popular historical story of "returning the perfect jade to Zhao".
In 228 BC, the State of Qin destroyed the State of Zhao, and "He's Bi" fell into the hands of Qin Shihuang. By 221 BC, Qin Shihuang unified the country and established the first unified centralized feudal state in Chinese history. He immediately ordered Prime Minister Li Si to write "Ordered by heaven, he will live long and prosperous" in eight bird- and insect-shaped seal characters. The craftsman engraved these eight characters on "He's Bi" and became the emperor's treasure seal. From then on, "He's Bi" began to be called the "National Seal".
In 206 BC, Liu Bang captured Xianyang and overthrew the Qin Dynasty. Prince Qin Ying dedicated the "He's Bi" to Liu Bang. After Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu in 202 BC, he established the Han Dynasty and ordered that "He's Bi" be passed down from generation to generation as the "National Seal". Therefore, "He's Bi" was named the "National Seal".
In 5 AD, Wang Mang, a careerist who was born into a relative and took control of the political power, poisoned Emperor Ping to death and established a two-year-old clan member Ru Ziying as the crown prince. At this time, "He's Bi" was managed by the Empress Dowager Xiaoyuan. In order to seize the throne of the emperor, Wang Mang sent his cousin Wang Shun to Changle Palace to ask for the "He's Bi". Empress Dowager Xiaoyuan saw through Wang Shun's political conspiracy to ask for the treasure, but if she didn't hand it over, she would be killed, so she angrily took out the "He's Bi" and threw it to the ground, cursing: "If you get this seal of national destruction, look at you brothers." What a happy ending!" Wang Shun hurriedly picked it up from the ground and saw that a corner of the "He's Bi" had been broken. In this way, "He's Bi" was seized by Wang Mang.
In 9 AD, Wang Mang usurped the power of the Western Han Dynasty and became emperor. He changed the name of the country to "Xin". He ordered the jade mason to replace the missing corner of "He's Bi" with gold. After the fall of Wang Mang's regime, "Heshi Bi" was owned by Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was passed down from generation to generation until the young emperor of the Han Dynasty at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. "Heshi Bi" was lost again and its whereabouts are unknown.
In 192 AD, the Kwantung Allied Forces attacked Dong Zhuo. Late one night, Sun Jian, the governor of Changhe, was patrolling Luoyang City and accidentally discovered a well in the south of the city - "Zhen Gong Well", which was shining with light. Sun Jian immediately ordered his soldiers to drain the well. The body of a woman dressed in royal attire was fished out from the bottom of the well. There was a brocade bag under her neck, and inside there was a small scarlet box with a gold lock. Sun Jian took out a pure white and flawless jade seal from the small box. The seal is engraved with the five-dragon intersection, and a corner is missing, which has been inlaid with gold. Sun Jian knew at a glance that this was a priceless treasure that had been lost - the "He's Bi", the national seal, so he kept it.
After Sun Jian was killed in the Battle of Xianjian Mountain, "He's Bi" fell into the hands of the warlord Yuan Shu. After Yuan Shu's death, Xu Mu, the prefect of Guangling, seized the "He's Bi" and presented it to Cao Cao. After Cao Cao, "He's Bi" was passed down by successive dynasties until the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, when it was lost in the war.
In 960 AD, Zhao Kuangyin launched a mutiny in Chenqiaoyi, northeast of Kaifeng, proclaimed himself emperor (Taizu of the Song Dynasty), and changed the country's name to the Song Dynasty (known as the Northern Song Dynasty in history). At that time, there was no "He's Bi". Although for more than 1,000 years since the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, various dynasties (especially the third year of Shaosheng in the Song Dynasty, the thirteenth year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty, etc.) have legends about the discovery of national seals, but those are not the real "He's Bi". It's some forgery - a fake national seal. According to the research of historians, the real national seal "He's Bi" did disappear more than 100 years ago during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
"Heshi Bi" has been passed down for more than 1,640 years from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the late Tang Dynasty. This is a unique miracle in the history of the world. How did it disappear during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period? Where have you been? Become an eternal mystery. Many people throughout the ages have been enthusiastic and tried every means to explore this mysterious mystery, which has set off a treasure hunting craze.
What kind of rare treasure is "He's Bi"? Is it really as valuable as history says? This has become a major problem that archaeologists and geologists have discussed and debated fiercely.
Some scholars believe that "He's Bi" is not a piece of jade because jade is not produced in the Jingshan area. Jade was a common thing during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It is not unusual and can be distinguished by ordinary people. Clearly, it is even more impossible for the jade masons in the palace not to know jade. Therefore, when Bian He presented it to the King of Chu, the experienced inner palace jade masons would never mistake the jade for an ordinary stone. From this we can conclude that what Bian He presented to the King of Chu was not jade, but another rare treasure that was unknown to the jade-smith and different from ordinary jade. Precisely because this rare treasure was discovered for the first time, no one recognized it and could not distinguish it clearly. It can be seen that some ancient books describe "He's Bi" as a jade bi, which is a misinformation. Since no one knew the name of this rare treasure, some ancient books mistakenly wrote it as precious jade. Many scholars concluded that it was not jade at all.
In 1921, the famous geologist Mr. Zhang Hongzhao speculated in his book "Shi Ya" that "He's Bi" is labradorite produced in the basic rocks of the Jingshan area, because the Feldspar has green and white flashes, and it is often difficult to find this white light without thinking about it.
Many scholars disagree with Mr. Zhang Hongzhao’s conclusion. They believe that although there are basic rock veins producing labradorite in the Jingshan area. But so far, this kind of labradorite with gem properties has not been found.
Some scholars believe that "He's Bi is an extremely rare natural gemstone on earth, and people still don't know its real name. It is a very strange natural gemstone. It is not only crystal clear, magnificent and colorful, but also has excellent luster, Its wear resistance and specifications exceed those of ordinary gems; it is not only beautiful in appearance, but also has more wonderful inner properties than ordinary gems. In short, no one can tell what kind of wonderful treasure it is. What is the truth about "He's Bi"? Why did King Qin Zhaoxiang trade 15 cities for it? Why did all the emperors and generals fight for it? Why is it so valuable? It is still a mystery that cannot be fully revealed. .