The history of Lantian Jade

The name "Lantian Jade" comes from the Lantian Mountain in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.

Liters and poets have praised Lantian jade a lot. There are records of the beautiful jade produced in Lantian in many ancient books in the Tang Dynasty and before. A poem by Li Shangyin, a poet of the Tang Dynasty: "The moon in the sea has tears, and the sun in Lantian has tears." Warm jade produces smoke", which has made Lantian jade famous throughout the ages. The poem contains a touching legend. In the distant past, the Taibai Gold Star entrusted a dream to Yang Boyong, a scholar who helped the poor and did good deeds: "On a sunny day, I go in and out of Nanshan, and the jade is hidden in the light smoke." From then on, gems can be found in the mountains of Lantian. .

Lantian jade mining has a long history, but because the output is not large, it cannot meet social needs. With the depletion of ancient jade mines and the opening of the Silk Road, other jade species are used as jade materials in various places. The mining and application of Lantian jade was gradually lost. After the earthquake in Yushan, no one knew the specific location of the ancient deposit. So much so that Song Yingxing of the Ming Dynasty stated in "Tiangong Kaiwu" that Lantian was also known as Congling (Kunlun Mountain), and Lantian was for storage and transportation. Inferences such as the place where jade is processed. Lantian jade is one of the earliest types of jade developed and utilized in China, with a history of more than 5,000 years.

As early as the Neolithic Age, ancestors began to wear crafted Lantian jade. In the Yangshao Culture and Longshan Culture sites in Lantian County, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, the jade articles unearthed were polished by the ancestors. jade jade jade and so on. In March 2011, while excavating the Lantian New Street site southwest of Bianjiazhai Village, Huaxu Town, Lantian County, archaeologists for the first time systematically discovered precious information on the use of Lantian jade by the Chinese more than 5,000 years ago.

Archaeologists have discovered many jade materials of different sizes, such as jade strips, jade blocks, jade-making tools, stone drills, stone drill caps, stone drill bits and stone drill cores, as well as some used as decorations. Jade hairpins, jade rings, etc. Archaeological experts believe that the unearthing of these jade products and jade-treating tools provides physical evidence for the development and utilization of Lantian jade during the Yangshao Culture period, and also adds important specimens to the study of jade-treating techniques in prehistoric times.

Shao Jing, an associate researcher at the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology, said that Lantian has produced beautiful jade since ancient times. According to research, the famous "He's Bi" during the Warring States Period was Lantian jade. The Chinese began to produce more mature jade artworks more than 5,000 years ago. However, archaeological discoveries have found that jade articles from the Yangshao Culture period have always been very rare. The jade-related cultural relics discovered at the Lantian Xinjie site, such as blanks, finished products, waste products, and waste materials, were systematically unearthed. , the first time in the history of early jade.

Among the 125 pieces of jade from the Shenmu Shimao site of the Longshan Culture period collected by the Shaanxi History Museum, there is a vegetable jade shovel made of Lantian jade. The shovel is grass green, with a light brown edge on the edge. It is long and trapezoidal. The body is flat and thin, with a straight back and one corner. The blade is slightly slanted, and the circle is pierced to one side. It is 16.8 cm long and 7.5 cm wide. It is extremely thin and sharp, and is only about 2 inches thick. 0.2 cm. After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries and initially established the world, he ordered Prime Minister Li Si to pick a jade seal made of Lantian jade and inscribe on it: "If you are ordered by heaven, you will live forever." Since then, the jade seal has been used as a symbol of imperial power and has been circulated in China's autocratic monarchy society for more than a thousand years. .

"Taiping Yulan" quoted from "Jade Seal Genealogy": "The imperial seal of the Qin Dynasty is made of Lantian water beryl, and is engraved with fish, insects, cranes, snakes, and dragons, all of which are aquatic animals. This meaning is roughly taken. , to support the virtue of water. Qin obtained Lantian jade and made it into a seal with eight square sides. It was carved with fish and birds. If you receive orders from Heaven, you will live a long and prosperous life." "History of the Song Dynasty, Volume 444, Biography 233, Wenyuan Sixth, Biography of Li Gonglu", "History of the Ming Dynasty, Yufu Zhi, Emperor's Seal", "Yun Shi Zhai Bi Tan, Zhongzhou Jade Seal" and other literature and classics are also recorded The imperial seal of the First Emperor of Qin was made of Lantian jade.

It is widely rumored that the "Chuan Guo Seal" is made of "He's Bi", not Lantian jade. It may be that it is suitable to carve the priceless He's Bi for the most important weapon of the country. However, there is no solid evidence for this theory. There is no historical data to support it, and it is unreasonable.

"Han Feizi He Shi" is recognized as the earliest, most detailed and reliable historical material about He Shi Bi. And offer it. The meaning of the word "Feng" is "to raise the height to the limit". The ancients used the height of the eyebrows as the limit. There is the word "Mei Shou" in the bronze inscriptions of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which means extremely long life. "Han Feizi Heshi" contains the word "dedication", which refers to "raising the tribute with both hands to eyebrow level and presenting it to the king", which reflects the incomparable awe and respect for the king. It can be seen that Chushan jade cannot be very heavy, otherwise Bian He would not be able to raise his eyebrows and present it to the king of Zhou.

The words "Feng Bi" and "Zhi Bi" in "Historical Records·Biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru" also prove that He's Bi cannot be too heavy, especially the three words "Huai Qi Bi" clearly tell that He's Bi is The size can be carried in your arms without being easily discovered.

There is almost no objection to the academic research on the size of the national seal, which is "four inches square and three and six inches high". Each foot in the Qin Dynasty is equivalent to 23.1 centimeters in modern times. Therefore, it is said that the size of the national seal is equivalent to 9.24 cm square and about 8.3 cm high. If you want to use a round flat jade with a hole in the middle to make it, you can cut out the material for the national seal of the same size in all four directions. Then the round diameter of this jade must be at least 30 cm and the thickness should be 8.5 cm. He's jade is as big as a millstone and weighs dozens of kilograms. Not only is it inconsistent with the unearthed War Han jade (a large jade of 30 cm, with a thickness of about 2 cm), but it is also inconsistent with the text details in the historical materials. In the classics, the name of Lantian Jade was first seen in "Hanshu Geography": "Lantian, beautiful jade comes from the mountains, and there is a temple for tigers waiting on the mountain. Qin Xiaogong built it." Later, "Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Biography of Wife's Wife" and Zhang Heng's " "Xijing Fu", "Guangya", "Shui Jing Zhu" and "Yuanhe County Map" and other historical books and classics all have records of jade produced in Lantian, which can be referenced. During the Han Dynasty, Lantian jade was widely used. Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty used Lantian jade to make dove sticks and gave them to respected senior ministers. He also used Lantian jade to make the large jade pavement in his tomb path. The tomb of the eldest princess unearthed in Xuejiahe Village, Xiehu Town, Lantian County, Shaanxi Province, is a copper-engraved jade garment made of Lantian jade. The jade sticks unearthed in Xinzhuang Village, Lihou Township, are all evidence of the early processing of Lantian jade. .

The development of Lantian jade has a long history, but it is rare to see intact ancient Lantian jade. At the Xi'an Collection and Research Institute, there is a Han Dynasty Lantian jade turtle top lamp with a history of more than 2,000 years, a height of 10 centimeters, and a basically intact shape. Judging from the texture at the bottom, although the turtle top lamp has experienced thousands of years of weathering and corrosion, the material characteristics of Lantian Jade are still very obvious.

According to research by Yi Bing'ao, vice president of the Gemological Association, the large-scale "animal-faced jade auxiliary head" unearthed near Maoling in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province was made of Lantian jade, which shows the origin of Lantian jade that was highly praised by the Han and Tang Dynasties. The place of origin is near Chang'an, the imperial capital. The Han Dynasty jade pendant collected by the Palace Museum has been identified as serpentinized marble, also known as Lantian jade.

The Han Yuefu "Yu Linlang" has the sentence "Lantian jade on the head, Daqin beads behind the ears", which shows that Lantian jade was widely used in jewelry during the Han Dynasty. A jade pendant unearthed in Tianshui City is the image of a dancing girl made of blue field jade. It is long in shape and 9.5 cm high. The jade pendant has a large head, a slim waist, long sleeves, and a skirt that touches the floor. She raises her arms and swings her sleeves in a dancing manner.

A jade shop head with four gods pattern was unearthed from the Maoling Mausoleum of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It is the most exquisite piece of Lantian jade carvings in the Han Dynasty. It is 36.5 cm wide, gray green, with convex buttons at the bottom and slightly rounded corners. , respectively polishing the images of the four gods popular at that time: Qinglong, White Tiger, Suzaku and Xuanwu. A ring is used as the bridge of the nose at the bottom of the surface, and the thick eyebrows and bulging eyes are connected to form a large animal face. Eight vertical lines on the lower edge outline a wide row of teeth. The patterned image is solemn and dignified, the craftsmanship is exquisite, and the lines use hard and soft lines.

The large round jade evil-proof socket collected in the Baoji Bronze Museum has a residual height of 18.5 cm, a length of 18 cm, a width of 6.7 cm, and a weight of 1972 grams. In 1978, it was unearthed from the tomb of Lu Ren in the early Eastern Han Dynasty at the Jinhe Brick Factory in the northern suburbs of Baoji City. The jade to ward off evil spirits is made of sapphire, with obvious black stripes. Some scholars believe that the material should be Lantian jade. In the Tang Dynasty, China's feudal society reached its peak, and the processing and utilization of Lantian jade also reached its peak. Princes and dignitaries used Lantian jade to decorate their crowns, court clothes, hairpin jewelry and sword scabbard handles.

It is said that the love token given to Yang Yuhuan by Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, was Lantian jade. Because its texture and structure resembled tearing ice cubes, people later named it after Yang Yuhuan’s nickname, Furong. "Ice Flower Hibiscus Jade". Concubine Yang's jade belt and jade bag are both made of Lantian jade. The most beautiful lady Yang Guifei also fell in love with Lantian jade. "The Biography of Concubine Yang" records: "She was so truthful and kind that she made a lot of it, so she ordered it to be made of Lantian green jade, which was extremely skillful."

In the Tang Dynasty, Lantian was the land of Jinei, and Yushan (today's Wangshun Mountain) became the official mine. The imperial court's mining of Lantian jade reached its peak. There was even a trend of eating jade in Chang'an. Officials and civilians flocked to Lantian Jade Mountain to pick up broken jade, pound it into powder and consume it. It is said that if you take it for a long time, you can live longer and become an immortal. Lantian jade not only became the main tribute to the imperial court, but also set up a special official organization to direct craftsmen to mine jade, driving a large number of farmers to carve out the rocks on the back of the mountain.

From the descriptions of Tang Dynasty poet Li He in "Old Man's Song of Picking Jade" and Wei Yingwu's "Jade Picking Journey", we can see not only the grand occasion of jade picking at that time, but also that the poor common people were motivated by this prosperity. The blood, tears and bitterness paid. Li Shangyin's poems such as "The bright moon in the sea has tears, the warm sun in the Lantian creates smoke" and Qian Qi's poems such as "Deep sleep is better than the clear water, and a piece of new ice is clear", etc., describe the exquisite translucency, luster and gentleness of Lantian jade in the Tang Dynasty from different angles. .

The jade carving craftsmanship of the Tang Dynasty has made great progress. The Lantian jade carvings at that time included Gui, Bi, Huang, Cong, Mao, Rui, Ji, Hu, San, Dun, Heng, Qi, Jue and Zhang. , pedals, rings, bracelets, tubes, tubes, jade belts, chimes, hairpins and other rituals, music, funerals, ornaments, utensils, etc. The most eye-catching ones are jade belts and jade steps: "New Tang Book·Volume 24·Zhi 14·Car Clothes" records that jade was used extensively to make jade belts, and the use showed strict class dignity and Authority and majesty. It is clearly stipulated that in the hierarchy of items worn by officials, jade belts rank above gold and silver; jade belts are made of gold and silver inlaid with jade and are extremely valuable, which shows the degree of worship of Lantian jade at that time.

The Tang Dynasty was the most prosperous dynasty in Chinese history, and the city of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty was an international economic and cultural exchange center. There was a huge demand for luxury goods such as jade. Lantian is adjacent to Chang'an City. With years of large-scale mining by the government and the private sector, Yushan has been riddled with holes and almost completely dug up.

In April of the 17th year of Kaiyuan (729) of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Yushan suffered an earthquake, "the mountain was destroyed by more than a hundred steps." The jade mine collapsed and the jade seedlings were all covered up. The ancient Lantian jade, which had been flourishing ever since, disappeared for nearly a thousand years. In the early Qing Dynasty, Lantian jade was rediscovered.

The "Continuation of Lantian County Chronicles" recorded in the Republic of China: "There is Yushan in the east of the county, which was known as the place where jade was produced in ancient times. Today its ore seedlings are rare. However, Caiyuchuan in Wangchuan River produces jade of various colors, which are hard and fine in quality. Township People and masons in Xi'an often collect it and make it into small utensils and decorations, commonly known as vegetable jade. In the 1970s, geologists discovered Lantian jade in Lantian County. On November 23, 1978, "People's Daily" published: In recent years, Shaanxi geologists have discovered serpentinized marble jade in Lantian and believe that it is the Lantian jade recorded in ancient times.

This discovery not only attracted the attention of the geological community looking for raw materials for pearls and jade, but also aroused the interest of archaeologists. In 1982, the Geological Museum of the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources exhibited the original blue field jade. When this kind of serpentinization is intense, parts of it have turned into the same jade as Xiuyu. In appearance, jade has uneven tones such as yellow and light green, accompanied by light white marble. Although this kind of jade is not very beautiful, because Lantian is located near the ancient city of Xi'an, the jade hardness is about 4 and is easy to process, so the ancients may have used it as decoration. Among the jade articles of the Han Dynasty, there are two pieces that are very similar to today's Lantian jade. One is a jade head with four gods pattern embedded in the door of an ancient tomb unearthed near Maoling of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in Shaanxi; the other is a jade pendant from the Han Dynasty collected by the Palace Museum. Judging from the quality and color of these two jades, many geologists believe that they are similar to today's Lantian jade.

In 1982, Zhou Nanquan compared the "Lantian Jade" collected by the Beijing Geological Museum with the Han jade pendant collected by the Palace Museum and the Han Dynasty Jade Prime Minister with Four Gods Pattern unearthed in Maoling. The two are very similar. Lantian jade is really produced in Lantian.

In 2002, the Shaanxi Provincial Geological Bureau conducted a survey on Lantian Jade and found 4 jade mineral belts and 5 jade ore bodies. The mineral belts have a direction of 1280 meters to 8865 meters and a thickness of 8 meters to 31 meters. The body is 615 meters to 4747.5 meters long, 1 meter to 18.81 meters thick, and the ore body is 245 meters to 715 meters deep. It is distributed in Yuchuan, Gepai, Caoping, Jiaodai and other areas in Lantian County, as well as Hetaogou Valley in Yuchuan Township—— Qijia River and eight acres of land-Lengshuigou area have the largest reserves and the best quality. Although jade reserves are 10 million cubic meters, only one-tenth can actually be mined.

The latest reference basis is that the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine issued Announcement No. 15 on February 3, 2004 in accordance with the "Regulations on the Protection of Products from Regions of Origin": "According to the "Regulations on the Protection of Products from Regions of Origin" Regulations", our bureau passed the review of the application for product protection of the origin of Lantian Jade, and now approves the implementation of product protection of the origin of Lantian Jade from now on. The scope of the origin of Lantian Jade is determined in accordance with the "About Determination of the People's Government of Lantian County, Shaanxi Province" The geographical scope proposed in "Request for Instructions on the Protection Scope of Products from the Origin of Lantian Jade" (Lan Zheng Zi [2004] No. 7) shall prevail, which is the current administrative area of ??Lantian County, Shaanxi Province.

”

Following the discovery of the Lantian Jade Mine in Lantian, Shaanxi Province in the late 1970s, Jiangsu geological experts discovered the Lantian Jade Mine while investigating the Xuzhou Pizhou Stone Provincial Geopark. This was the first discovery in Jiangsu Province. Lantian jade has filled the gap in the types of mines in Jiangsu.

Before establishing the Pizhou Stone Provincial Geopark, Xuzhou City invited geological expert Zou Songmei to explore the scientific connotation of the park. Zou Songmei discovered some of the stones in the geopark. The color is very strange, the surface is emerald green, and it is very beautiful. Compared with other stones, these emerald green "stones" are more delicate, soft and translucent. After sampling, they were sent to the Nanjing Mineral Resources Supervision and Inspection Center of the Ministry of Land and Resources for testing. Testing experts believe that the scientific name of the ore discovered in Pizhou is serpentine marble jade, which is also commonly known as Lantian jade.