■Gold medal: at least 6 grams of pure gold
■Ribbon: vermilion moire
■Creativity: "Jade" compared to "virtue"
On the afternoon of the 27th, with the 500-day countdown to the Beijing Olympics, three Beijing Olympic medals inlaid with beautiful jade were displayed in front of the world in the Capital Museum. Qian Shaowu, a judge of this medal solicitation event, said that the metal texture is flamboyant, while jade gives people a subtle feeling. This medal design can be described as a "gold and jade match".
The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games medals are 70 mm in diameter and 6 mm thick. The front of the medal has the patterns prescribed by the International Olympic Committee - the Greek goddess of victory standing with wings and the Greek Panathinaiko Arena. The back is inlaid with jade in the shape of ancient Chinese dragon-patterned jade. The metal in the center of the back is The graphics are engraved with the Beijing Olympic Games emblem "China Seal". The medal hook evolved from the traditional Chinese jade double dragon Pu pattern Huang. The entire medal has strong Chinese characteristics, which not only reflects the praise of the winner, but also vividly interprets the value of the Chinese nation that compares "jade" to "virtue" since ancient times. It can be said to be a "combination of Chinese and Western".
In addition, medal packaging boxes and ribbons were also released at the same time as the medals. The packaging box is a wooden lacquer box with a square shape. The four sides of the heaven and earth cover are slightly curved, which symbolizes the four directions of heaven and earth and the perfect union of heaven and earth. The ribbon is machine-woven with a red ground cloud pattern, which is festive and auspicious.
It is reported that the International Olympic Committee has strict regulations on the material and identification, weight, size, pattern, etc. of Olympic medals. The medals for the champion and runner-up in Olympic events are made of pure silver, and the championship medal is plated with no less than 6 grams of pure gold. There has been no breakthrough in the material of medals in previous Olympic Games. The Beijing Olympic Games medals creatively incorporate jade into them. This design not only complies with the relevant regulations of the International Olympic Committee, but also demonstrates the noble quality of "jade", symbolizes the "gold and jade good relationship" in traditional Chinese culture, and embodies the Chinese people's praise of the Olympic spirit and respect for athletes. To praise.
(Picture 4)
●Design concept
A gentleman’s jade
Reflecting Chinese values
Hang Haizeng As a member of the sports icon design team for the Beijing Olympic Games, based on the concept of "the beauty of seal script", he designed sports icons with the structure of seal script as the basic form, which combines the pictographic interest of ancient Chinese oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions and other characters with the simple characteristics of modern graphics. This time, China's thousands-year-old jade culture has become a source of inspiration for medal design.
When talking about the creative inspiration for this medal design, Hang Hai said, "Our creative concept comes from Chinese jade culture. In the eyes of the Chinese, jade is something that embodies the aura of heaven and earth. Dark blue jade The combination of gold and jade embodies the values ??of the Chinese nation and expresses our respect and praise for athletes. In addition, after the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucianism has always had the tradition that gentlemen value jade. There are five kinds of jade. Virtue, in fact, connects all virtues with jade. If you walk gracefully, the jingling sound of the jade will be very elegant. "
The original design idea still regards material. Stick to metal. Hang Hai recalled: "At the beginning, we made many attempts to make the medal look like jade, but the metal could not feel the texture of jade. Later, someone asked why jade was not used as the material of the medal, and then jade was introduced into the medal design. ”
Hang Hai believes that the success of the medal design lies in the fact that the medal’s jade, hook, medal box, certificate, and lanyard form a whole, and the jade, lacquer box, silk, rice paper, and feathers , these all represent elements of traditional Chinese culture. ●Judge interviews
From “three pillars”
to “golden and jade”
■Qian Shaowu: Cloud Pattern, Holy Fire and Jade Pendant
From more than 170 pieces to 10 pieces, from 10 pieces to 3 pieces, and then to the final winner, as the judge of this medal collection event, Professor Qian Shaowu, professor of the Sculpture Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, witnessed the entire process of the birth of the medals.
Qian Shaowu said that during the re-evaluation stage of the 10 works, after many discussions, everyone focused on the three works of cloud pattern, sacred fire and jade pendant.
"The flame plan makes people feel as if the medal is a sacred fire plate. It uses traditional Chinese calligraphy to express the flame. The expression method is very flexible and casual, and has the charm of Chinese calligraphy. The moiré plan uses traditional Chinese cloud patterns to express detours. The coordination and vitality between the twists and turns are very powerful and imposing; the jade pendant plan uses the 'combination of gold and jade' to boldly innovate in materials and present China's most traditional jade culture to the world, which is refreshing. " Qian Shao. Wu introduced.
As the selection work gradually deepened, Qian Shaowu found that everyone’s attention was gradually focused on the jade pendant plan. He believes that although the moiré and sacred fire scheme has Chinese characteristics, there are similar designs in Europe, but the "gold and jade combination" scheme is a complete innovation, and the jade culture is also unique to China, which is why it was finally selected. reason.
Professor Jin Shangyi looked very satisfied, "The combination of gold and jade is unique and is an ingenious combination of Chinese and Western cultures."
Jin Shangyi said that compared with previous Olympic medal designs, the jade pendant plan is the most distinctive. Through the design of ancient Chinese jade pendants, Evolution makes the combination of gold and jade unique. At the same time, jade has a long history in ancient Chinese ornaments, symbolizing purity and high moral character. This design will leave a unique mark in Olympic history. The three materials of gold, silver and copper are inlaid with white jade, green white jade and sapphire respectively, which meet the aesthetic requirements in terms of color.
Jin Shangyi said that the box containing the gold medal is made of traditional Chinese lacquerware. The square shape has a slight arc, which avoids the simplification of the square and is not the simplification of the circle. It is very Chinese. flavor.