“If jade is not carved, it cannot be used as a tool” comes from "Book of Rites·Xue Ji", carved: carving. Jade cannot be made into utensils without being carved. It is a metaphor that people cannot achieve anything without education and learning.
If jade is not polished, it will become useless. As the name suggests, each piece of jade must be carefully carved, or at least cut, to become a work of art with exquisite craftsmanship or plain surface. Understanding the carving techniques, or cutting and workmanship, of jade in the past dynasties is indispensable for identifying the age of jade. Zen benefits.
Ancient jade-making techniques originated from the production of stone tools.
Cutting, exchanging, polishing and polishing are the technological procedures used in jade.
To cut, that is, to cut the material. To cut the jade, you need to use a toothless saw and add jade sand to separate the jade materials;
To cut, you need to use a circular saw dipped in mortar to repair;
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Carving is to use drills, awls and other tools to carve patterns and drill holes;
Grinding is the last process, using fine wood chips, gourd skin, and cowhide dipped in pearl mortar, and then polished. It emits a gelatinous luster.
This set of jade-making technology has been mastered by craftsmen in the Shang Dynasty. Today's jade carving techniques generally use four methods: cutting, exchanging, carving and grinding. In the pre-Qin Dynasty, it was called Zhuoyu, in the Song Dynasty it was called Nianyu, and now it is called Nianzhuo.
In the Neolithic Age, because the production tools used were all made of stone tools, the workmanship of the utensils was limited. Most of the utensils were uneven in thickness, often thicker on one side and thinner on the other, and there were even traces of misalignment during opening. Moreover, the shape is irregular, such as round utensils that are not round enough.
The blade of the utensil is not sharp enough. For example, the blades of jade knives, jade axes, and jade shovels are thick and blunt, and the drill holes often have a conical shape with a large upper part and a small lower part. When viewed from the side, there are often rotational patterns on the edge of the hole wall.
Hongshan Culture Jade Owl
Hongshan Culture jade is carved in pursuit of charm. The surface is smooth, the edges are natural, the grinding technology is exquisite, and the edges of the flaky objects are thin and seem to have The surface of the blade has no glass luster, but the luster is fine. There are pits on the surface of some objects, which are small, deep and dense.
Liangzhu Culture Jade Cong
In Liangzhu Culture jade, the straight lines are composed of straight negative lines, and the thin curved lines are short and thin lines connected at random. The coexistence of two lines of different workmanship on the same object is the basis for identifying its authenticity.
In the Shang Dynasty, stone tools were further polished and trimmed, making them sharper and more practical. In particular, the use of bronze tools further improved the technology of polishing jade, making it possible to develop Produce relatively uniform and thin jade pieces.
The style of jade carving lies in the perforations and carved lines. The lines of jade carving are mostly straight, smooth and neat, with more negative lines and fewer positive lines.
Sapphire bird-shaped pendant from the late Shang Dynasty
The jade carvings and perforations are also very distinctive. Most of them are punched on both sides, with a large outside and a small inside, similar to the shape of a morning glory. This phenomenon of large outer eyes and small inner eyes is commonly known as "horseshoe eye".
In terms of decorative patterns, the Shang Dynasty had three more and three less, that is, more straight lines and fewer curved lines; more thick lines and fewer thin lines; more short lines and fewer long lines.
The exquisite artifacts of the Shang Dynasty were carved using double hooks to imitate the yang line, which is to use double parallel yin lines to carve the objects to form a yang line, commonly known as double hook lines or double hooks to imitate the yang line.
Human-shaped Jade Juan of the Western Zhou Dynasty
The workmanship of Western Zhou jade wares is very different from that of the Shang Dynasty in the style of carving jade wares. For example, the carved lines are mostly curved, but the overall The carving process is exquisite, and the techniques and shapes of jade are constantly changing.
Paying attention to the layout of ornamentation, the lines have become increasingly complex, with slightly curved lines as the main ones, and long arcs are more commonly used, especially in the structure and carving methods of ornamentation in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty. The patterns began to interlock with each other, and the inscribed lines were ground into a slope shape on one side, with traces of an oblique knife, commonly known as "sloping Yin lines on one side". "One side sloped with shaded lines" is a typical workmanship of Western Zhou jades.
Spring and Autumn Animal Face-Shaped Jade Ornaments
As jade developed into the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the carving process became more mature. The carved patterns were layered and very particular, and jade sand began to be used. Techniques It is more exquisite than the Shang and Zhou Dynasties.
Compared with the previous dynasties, the workmanship of jade in the Spring and Autumn Period showed new progress, with more emphasis on polishing.
Spring and Autumn patterns were interconnected in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. Curly and connected patterns appeared. The layout was full and dense, leaving no gaps.
In the late Spring and Autumn Period, dense relief patterns appeared, and there were shallow incised broad patterns on the plane. The openings of the utensils are thin and even and regular, with few thick lines and many thin lines, and the lines have burrs (when imprinting patterns and lines, many knife marks are left on the edges of the lines).
Warring States Period Jade with Grain Pattern
The Warring States Period jade has fine knife work, sharp vertical edges and fine grinding, and a strong luster on the surface of the object, especially in the negative lines. The inner wall of the hole is well-proportioned and smooth, and there are very few production marks left due to weak tools. Mainly due to the emergence and widespread use of iron tools, the craft of jade carving has advanced by leaps and bounds.
Semi-relief and openwork carvings were popular in jade wares during the Warring States Period. The depiction of animal images focused on detailed features such as eyes, teeth, claws, etc., and the wonders were seen in the details, and the essential characteristics of the animals were depicted.
Han Dynasty Jade Cicada
The workmanship characteristics of Han Dynasty jade artifacts are good at using incised lines and bold lines, which are not as refined as those in the Warring States Period. The carvings on small objects are relatively fine, and the carvings on the fine lines have traces of rough edges and jumping knives, and the lines are not very coherent.
The inner walls of the holes of perforated utensils are often not smooth enough, often leaving traces of drawing. Burial jade in the Han Dynasty was made using the "Eight Han Swords".
The workmanship of the "Han Badao" does not represent the workmanship of the entire Han Dynasty jade, but only refers to the workmanship of the "Burial Jade" of the Han Dynasty.
The "Han Ba ??Dao" in the Han Dynasty refers to the use of concise lines for carving and the use of push-and-grind carving techniques. The sword technique is rough and powerful, the blade is sharp, strong and straight, and the lines have no cracks or cracks. Traces of knife marks. The representative works are Jade Pig, Jade Cicada and Jade Wengzhong.
Dragon-shaped jade pendant of the Tang Dynasty
The social atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty was open, foreign trade was frequent, and the status of women in this era was greatly improved. Therefore, jade carvings were mostly aesthetic, and flowers appeared. The patterns of birds, animals and figures flying into the sky, especially the carvings of lions and beasts, are very delicate.
The jade wares of the Tang Dynasty were exquisitely carved and had many fine lines. Especially in the Tang Dynasty, figures with boards were decorated with short and dense Yin lines all over their bodies. Many fine lines are also carved on the animal's feet and tail. The strip plate adopts the ground subtraction method, that is, the surface of the pool is hidden, and the carved lines are painterly.
Song Dynasty jade pendant with flower and bird patterns
Due to the influence of different ethnic cultures, the jade articles of the Song and Yuan Dynasties also reflected national and local characteristics on the jade articles.
The jades of this period are very delicate, and the shapes of the carved objects are generally small pieces, while there are relatively few large jades. Since calligraphy and painting were particularly prosperous in this era, the jade carving style paid more attention to The similarity in appearance and expression.
The carvings in the south are delicate and neat, while the carvings in the north are strong and powerful. But overall, the carved lines always feel thin.
Animal pieces generally have upper and lower perforations on their bodies, and most of the holes are square. The facial features of the characters are often on the same plane, and there are shallow "rice-shaped" shapes on the "brows" costumes. carve.
Yuan Dynasty Chi Pattern Jade Ribbon
By the Yuan Dynasty, the carving work was generally rough and powerful. There were often drill marks and thallium marks on the surface of the vessel, as well as the phenomenon of dangerous knives. The polishing was not very particular. .
Ming Dynasty Jade Goblet with Animal Face Patterns
Jade wares in the Ming Dynasty took a new leap forward. With Yangzhou and Suzhou as the centers, the jade carving industry began to develop greatly. The knife work is thick, powerful, lively, and has a strong sketching flavor. Relief, hollow work, and double or even triple layer carvings appear. The glass on the surface of the utensils has a strong luster, and there are often drill marks and thallium marks on the surfaces of large utensils.
Qing Dynasty Tracestan Jade Inlaid Treasure Cover Box
Jade craftsmanship developed rapidly during the Qing Dynasty, especially during the Qianlong period, which was an unprecedentedly prosperous period in the history of jade management in my country.
During this period, jade wares were meticulously carved and lifelike. A large number of ingenious works were produced, with fine carving lines, smooth polishing and strong three-dimensional effect. The veins of branches and leaves of flowers and fruits were clearly carved and lifelike.
Three carving methods: hollow, semi-relief and relief are popular. Among them, semi-relief and relief are the main ones. The carvings of jade wares after Jiaqing gradually tended to be rough, distorted and dull.
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