An important jade representative in Neolithic culture is the Heilongjiang River Basin, which is distributed in Hongshan Culture, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia. There are many kinds of jades found in Hongshan Culture at present, which reflect the connection with social life at that time, especially the worship of witchcraft. It has high scientific and historical value.
Most jades in Hongshan Culture are uranium rock jade (serpentine), with hardness of 4-6, hot money luster, yellow-green or light yellow. A small amount of jet, sapphire, chalcedony, agate and coal jade.
There are jade rings, string ornaments, Yu Pei in the shape of a hook cloud, Yu Pei in the shape of a horseshoe and jade ornaments made of bamboo. The most animal images are jade and artworks: jade dragon, eagle, mandarin fish, swallow, silkworm, fish, turtle, pig-headed beast, pig-dragon beast and so on. Generally, the shape of utensils is small, but the shape is generalized, concise and simplified by using the method of large surface modeling. Decorative patterns are simple and sparse, mostly abstract patterns. Generally, the main surface is polished a lot, and only fine carving is done at the mouth of the eye. The shapes of utensils are mostly flat, and the thickness varies whether they are carved on one side or on both sides, and the outer contour of utensils is often cut into a thin and blunt knife shape. The cutting process is good at making grooves with scraping effect similar to clay sculpture by grinding, such as the pattern of groove cloud-shaped Yu Pei; The convex lines and oblique ridges hidden in the ground, such as the decorative ridges of Yulong and Yugui fish, feel something to the touch, but they are ignored, indicating that the thinking is very thin. In the later period, the hidden lines are engraved with negative lines. Gravure engraving has no starting and ending traces, and it is shallow into the "knife". If it is broken, it can have the effect of smooth curve, smooth turn and straight line. Because most of them are hung and worn, almost all objects have holes. Generally, drilling holes are single-sided, with different pore sizes and inverted trapezoidal cross section, commonly known as horseshoe-shaped holes. Perhaps, in order to reduce the difficulty of drilling, some holes have a groove, and some holes have a thin plane. A large object with a certain thickness is perforated on both sides, with large holes at both ends and small holes in the middle, commonly known as the peak waist eye. Some holes have errors in butt joint, so the aperture has stepped marks. Then these two drilling methods were still used in Shang and Zhou Dynasties. There are also three kinds of jade articles unique to Hongshan Culture. One is to make two holes at the same time and enter the "knife" obliquely, commonly known as elephant nose eye. This punching method was adopted only after the Tang Dynasty. One is the oblique knife puncture on the edge of the super-high ridge, and the other is the oblique knife puncture in two horizontal grooves milled in advance. These three perforation methods can be collectively called binocular perforation and single-sided perforation, which is the unique feature of Hongshan Culture cutting technology.
Jade Culture in Neolithic Age —— Liangzhu Culture
There are Hemudu culture, Majiabang culture, Songze culture and Liangzhu culture in the famous Neolithic age in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The first three cultures unearthed a small number of jade articles, mainly headdresses and decorations, such as yellow, pearls and rings, as well as small jade articles, such as jade knives.
Liangzhu culture jade is about 5000-4300 years ago. The important places where jade articles are found are Qianshanyang in Jiangsu, Caoxie Mountain and Zhangling Mountain in Wuxian, Fuquan Mountain in Qingpu, Shanghai, Miaodun in Wujin, Jiangsu, Fanshan and Yaoshan in Yuyao, Zhejiang. There are a large number of jade articles in Liangzhu culture, which were circulated in the world before liberation and were mistaken for jade articles during the Warring States Period. In Liangzhu culture, jade symbols, bracelets, ornaments, pearls, tubes and ornaments are the most numerous. There are jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade, jade. Generally, jade materials used in jade articles are all kinds of original stone jade produced in Taihu Lake area. The colors (tremolite, actinolite and serpentine) are mainly green, or blue or yellow. The transparency and hardness of jade materials are not high (about 4 degrees Celsius), and they are relatively light to the touch. Some jade materials are relatively loose and absorb water. Fine and smooth jade materials are selected as the best ancient jade weights, with smooth and delicate touch, and the surface of the objects has gem luster, which is close to the brightness of bronze mirrors (commonly known as colored paste shells), which is different from the luster of artificial waxing and machine polishing. The colors are mostly yellow and green. The exquisite jade wall is smooth, with regular edges and gaps, leaving few traces of rotary drilling. Yuzong, Yuhuan, jade bracelet and other three-dimensional shapes are rigorous and standardized. Among the jade articles of Liangzhu culture, the most exquisite ones are Yuzong, Yu Yue and the crown ornaments. Not only the specifications are strict, but also the patterns are very fine. In particular, the symbol of Liangzhu culture-the god emblem of the unity of man and beast, carved with fine intaglio lines. Extremely complex images are only concentrated on the embossed surface of the nail cover, which is difficult to see with the help of a magnifying glass. The shape of Yuzong is an outer circle and an inner circle, and the facade is divided into several parts. There is only one short body, and there are fifteen at most (ten fourteen are not found). The four corners of each square column take the corner edge as the center line, and are carved with symmetrical deformed animal faces. The excavation technology of Yuzong's central radius is superb. The height of Dayu Sect is more than 30 cm, and the aperture is mostly only 1-2 cm. The gap is regular along the edges and corners, and the hole wall is smooth, indicating that the error of up-and-down docking is very small. Among the jade articles in Liangzhu culture, there are some decorative techniques such as hollowed-out carved jade carving, jade crown and inlaid turquoise.
Jade wares of Liangzhu culture were unearthed in succession at least during the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. Due to informal archaeological excavations, they were mistaken for cultural relics of the Warring States period until the 1940s. Many Liangzhu jades lost abroad have many mistakes in dating when they are collected in museums in Britain and the United States. Since 1950s, with the deepening of archaeology in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the face of Liangzhu culture has gradually become clear. Liangzhu jade has become the collection target of world antique collectors for a time, and there are imitations. The most reliable way to identify ancient jade in Liangzhu is to determine it by scientific means. General visual inspection can start with the texture of Liangzhu jade; Liangzhu real high-quality ancient jade, delicate and tough texture, the surface is full of gem luster and crystal luster. It feels smooth, which is different from the gloss of manual waxing and machine polishing. The color of jadeite is mainly yellow-green, with a small amount of light Chu red. Unearthed jade, rings and other surfaces often have white, dark green or dark green ribs, which are complex in color and impure in texture. There are two kinds of techniques: extensive and meticulous. Exquisite production, smooth surface, tall and straight outline, round turn, and few traces of drilling are seen; The extensive type has uneven thickness, worn edges and obvious cutting and rotary drilling scratches. The most important thing to identify Liangzhu jade is to investigate the cutting process. Liangzhu culture jade is very good at using fine intaglio carving technology. Under the magnifying glass, those lines as thin as hair show traces of short-term cutting and linking, which are extremely accurate and neat. In addition, exquisite polishing technology is also the characteristic of Liangzhu ancient jade. Liangzhu ancient jade table is smooth and bright, but you can still feel the traces of manual polishing and long-term sharpening. When cutting and polishing quickly with modern machines, the surface and outline of the machine are relatively stiff, and the processing is often not in place in the nuances. The pattern is also thick and stiff, and the pattern structure is loose and clumsy.