First, the category of jade.
Generally speaking, all beautiful stones that are naturally formed and can become delicate and smooth, bright in color, tough in texture and stable in chemical properties after processing can be classified as jade. Generally speaking, nephrite and jadeite are the main products.
1. Precious jadeite jade belongs to pyroxene, mainly composed of sodium aluminosilicate, with hardness of seven degrees, slightly higher than nephrite, and specific gravity of 3.33, slightly higher than nephrite. Emerald is a fibrous compact aggregate of blue fine crystals or cryptocrystals, which is very tough and not easy to break after being hit hard. Its color is caused by the type and quantity of metal impurities, which makes the color of jadeite ever-changing. The colors of jadeite are basically different shades of green, red, yellow, white, gray, black and purple. Emerald is the most precious, with the most economic value and collection value.
2. Soft Hetian Jade Xinjiang Hetian Jade is also called "nephrite", commonly known as real jade. "Jade" in a narrow sense only refers to Hetian jade. The scientific name of Hetian jade is tremolite-actinolite mineral with hardness of 6-6.5 and specific gravity of 2.96-3.17. Because it is particularly hard, it generally does not "eat a knife" and can be used to cut glass. Because the proportion is heavy, dense and powerful, it gives people a heavy feeling, which experts call "enough hands". Microscopically, Hetian jade has a filamentous structure like mica, so Hetian jade has a certain toughness and emits warm and soft fluorescence. The following briefly introduces several kinds of hetian jade.
White jade nephrite is the most precious one, and the best one is as white as white fat, which is called "white jade with sheep fat". Sheep fat white jade is white, transparent, delicate and moist. It is white in itself and warm pink through light.
Jade jade is mainly cyan, but there is also a small area of sugar color (yellow or brown) in the primary color. This kind of jade is called sugar jade, which is very valuable in jade carving and is very popular.
Jasper color from light green to dark green, common colors such as spinach, slightly transparent. Generally, jasper has black spots and light color, which is mistakenly called "vegetable jade" and is a second-class product of Hetian jade. A good jasper is like jade, which is easily confused with jade at first glance, but its black star characteristics and its green color are completely eclipsed by the light, which is completely different from jade.
Ink jade is generally dark gray, and it is extremely rare to be really pure black as paint. Most black jade is similar to sapphire. Jasper is a precious jet when its impurity content is high and it is black. It's black as a speck of sesame, or like a flake of dark clouds. Its names are Dark Clouds, Light Ink, Beauty Temple and so on. The black and white contrast of jet is strong, which can be used as a work of clever colors. Gold and black are mostly used to make utensils for pressing gold and silver threads.
Topaz nephrite is a very precious variety, harder and opaque than white jade, with more light colors and less strong colors. There are chicken yellow, dense wax yellow, chestnut color, osmanthus yellow and so on. And the output is very small.
Ruby varies in color from light red to deep red, and is generally soft and thick white jade leather, so the material is extremely small, and only flaky products have been seen. Ruby is bright red and moist, which is extremely rare.
3. Other traditional jade
Nanyang jade is produced in Dushan, Nanyang, Henan Province, also known as dushan jade. The composition of Nanyang jade is "altered gabbro", which is mainly composed of calcium aluminosilicate and contains many mineral elements. Its hardness is 6 ~ 6.5, which is equivalent to jadeite, and its specific gravity is 3.29. The quality of Nanyang jade is mainly determined by color and transparency, and the best is a slightly transparent blank in white and green.
Lantian jade and lantian jade are nephrite, which are produced in Yuquan Mountain, Lantian County, Shaanxi Province. It belongs to serpentine diopside mineral. Its composition is mainly silicon and phosphorus, and the color of jade is white and gray-blue. White is the best, and it has glass luster after polishing, with a specific gravity of 2.98.
Xiuyan jade is produced in Xiuyan County, Liaoning Province. The main mineral is serpentine with hardness of 2.5 ~ 5.5 and specific gravity of 2.5 ~ 2.8. The texture is even and delicate, and the water head is sufficient, but it is soft. Xiuyan jade is currently mined the most, and its color is the same as nephrite, including white, cyan, yellow, light yellow, pink, light green and emerald green. And it is translucent to opaque.
Jiuquan jade is produced in the mountainous area near Jiuquan, Gansu, also known as Qilian jade. Emerald is dark green with many black spots. The mineral is serpentine, which is the same as xiuyan jade, but the color of jade is obviously different from that of xiuyan jade. Local people make small wine glasses with Jiuquan jade, which are called "luminous cups".
Agate is named for its color and beautiful pattern like horse brain. Its minerals are mainly aphanitic, with hardness of 6.5 ~ 7 and specific gravity of 2.65. Modern agate has large output and low price. Agate has various names because of its different colors and patterns. The colors should be bright, bright and pure, mainly red, with red, silk red, scarlet and orange as colors. Water bile agate refers to the hollow agate with water, which has better water gall, and some are top grade.
There are also some jadeites, such as pine otolith, lapis lazuli, malachite, crystal, amber, coral and so on, so I won't go into details.
Second, the carving, modeling and decoration of ancient jade articles.
"Jade is not cut, it is not a tool", which is divided into two stages: primitive jade carving and ancient jade carving. The primitive stage was from the Neolithic Age to the early Shang Dynasty, and the ancient jade carving workers were born from metal jade tools, that is, from the middle Shang Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty. Cutting in different times is closely related to the use of tools and technologies at that time, and has distinct characteristics of the times. Modern jade processing uses high-speed jade carving machine and artificial diamond powder. In ancient times, the general process of jade processing was: selecting and cutting materials, then drilling, painting, cutting patterns, and finally polishing. Jade carving techniques can generally be divided into intaglio carving, positive carving, relief carving, round carving, engraving and inlaying.
Ancient jade has many shapes, including jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade. There are also jade clothes, jade plugs, jade, jade and other table burial jade articles; Pei jade, furnishings jade and utensils jade are even more colorful and are most cherished by people.
The charm of ancient jade patterns is endless, which makes jade carving art look exquisite and luxurious, and people can't put it down. There are many kinds of decorative patterns on ancient jade, including Yun Leiwen, Ru Ding, Circle, Valley, Puwen, Scale, Vortex, Animal Face, Silkworm, Goose, Cicada and Kuiwen. They all have profound meanings or some symbolic meanings, such as auspiciousness and blessing.
Third, the identification of ancient jade
The identification of ancient jade depends on the shape, decoration, workmanship and color of the vessel.
Generally speaking, the shape, decoration and craft of vessels are a comprehensive reflection of human social life, aesthetic taste and craft level in an era, which not only has inheritance and reference, but also has development and innovation, thus forming different shape, decoration and craft characteristics in different times. To identify ancient jade, we must understand and master the development status and characteristics of these aspects in various historical periods. This is a process of continuous learning and accumulation.
The so-called color quality is the natural attribute of jade, color is Qin color, and quality refers to jade. Jade is a living substance, which is good at absorbing other substances. After the ancient jade is buried underground, on the one hand, it will suck the adjacent substances into its own body, on the other hand, the original substances in its own body will also play an acidification role; In particular, underground mercury will penetrate into jade, and nearby colored substances such as rosin and lime will also penetrate into it. Therefore, any unearthed ancient jade will be dyed with various colors and colorful, which is the "Qin color". Qin color is an important symbol to identify unearthed ancient jade.
The important basis for identifying jade handed down from ancient times is "color paste". Ancient jade handed down from ancient times, after people's long-term play, over time, people's spiritual qi and blood condensed on the surface of jade, forming a layer of warm and shiny oil, commonly known as "patina." At the same time, human essence and qi and blood will enter the texture of jade, making the surface of jade bloodshot, like cow hair, looming, commonly known as "cow hair pattern." This kind of color paste and cow hair pattern are two major factors to identify ancient jade handed down from generation to generation.
Another important aspect of identifying ancient jade is identifying fakes. Ancient jade works are generally dominated by false colors and fragmentation.
Fourth, the restoration and maintenance of ancient jade.
If the ancient jade is damaged and its value is greatly reduced, it must be repaired. The common repair methods include re-trimming, splitting into two parts, embedding gold and jade, carving, filling gaps, breaking and bonding, etc.
Emerald needs maintenance. The ancients believed that jade is a living substance, and raising jade is raising it.
First, it is necessary to avoid collision between hard objects; Avoid dust as much as possible; Put away the pendant when not in use; Try to avoid contact with perfume, chemicals, soap and human sweat; Avoid long-term direct sunlight; Accessories should be wiped with clean and soft white cloth, not with colored cloth or fibrous hard cloth; Jade should be kept at a suitable temperature.
Second, the "four fears" and "three taboos" of ancient jade. First of all, I am afraid of ice. Ancient jade often comes into contact with ice, and the earth door is damaged. Jed is gloomy now. If you can't show your brilliance, you can't live and become a "dead color." The second is fear of fire. If the ancient jade is often near the fire, the color paste will fade. Third, I am afraid of Jiang Shui. Some people think that soaking ancient jade in Jiang Shui can remove fishy smell, but it is not. When the ancient jade comes into contact with Jiang Shui, its original color will be dull. Contact for too long will make Gu Yu numb all over. Although it will be fun in the future, it is difficult to remedy it. The fourth is fear of falling.
Ancient jade three avoid fishy, greasy and dirty. Salty, fishy, greasy and dirty things are easily hurt by jade. Regular washing with hot water or hot tea, degreasing, descaling and maintenance can make ancient jade moist.
Playing with ancient jade plates is full of fun and is also the need to raise jade. Jade articles, especially unearthed jade articles, are mostly buried in the ground for a long time, and the earth and gas have eroded deeply into jade bone, so it is difficult to show off jade articles without playing with them. Ancient jade plate can be divided into urgent plate, slow plate and Italian plate.
Urgent food, you must take ancient jade with you every day and keep it with others. In a few months, the texture of jade will become a little harder, and then it can be wiped with old cotton cloth. After a while, the color of jade will become brighter. At this time, you can use new cotton cloth, and cotton cloth should choose white coarse cloth. The more you rub it, the hotter it gets, and you can't stop. Soon, the dust, turbidity and dryness on the jade will naturally recede and be colored.
Slow down, jade must always be tied around your waist, so as to remain popular. After two or three years, the color of jadeite will change slightly, and after a few years, the color will be bright. After wearing it for more than ten years or decades, it may recover.
I want to play with jade in my hand and rub it when I have time. I want the virtue of jade to melt my temperament, cultivate my temperament, make me pure and not be blinded by selfish desires. I really feel that jade can only be restored to its original state when the stone is opened.
Finally, remind everyone that people who play with jade should abstain from greed. They should play jade calmly, keep the integrity of jade, learn the morality and connotation of jade, and don't blindly pursue their own desires and hobbies, so playing things will be discouraged. If you want to play with jade, you will get it if you have virtue. As the Book of Songs says, "Only when you are happy but not lewd can you be a scholar".