In ancient times, how to make Liangzhu jade with magical power?

1986, Zhejiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology excavated 1 1 Liangzhu cultural tombs in the anti-mountain cemetery on the west side of Liangzhu site in Yuhang, Zhejiang Province, and unearthed more than 200 jade articles1group. The following year, the tomb of 1 1 Liangzhu was found in Yaoshan cemetery, about 5 kilometers northeast of Fanshan cemetery. The total amount of jades unearthed in these two cemeteries greatly exceeds the sum of all the jades found in Liangzhu culture in the past. The excavation of anti-mountain and Yaoshan cemeteries has raised people's overall understanding of Liangzhu culture and its jade articles to a new level.

According to the current data, there are more than 30 kinds of jade articles in Liangzhu culture, and the main objects are jade, jade, crown, trident, bracelet, tube, pearl, pendant, tube, cone, hook and ring.

Emerald Emerald is a round pancake-shaped object with a round hole in the middle. The jade jade in Liangzhu culture is almost plain, with opposite holes, a large body and a large number of unearthed jade jade. In Liangzhu cultural tombs, some jade articles are concentrated on the legs and feet of the tomb owner, while others are laid flat around or under the deceased, showing obvious differences in production. At the same time, there are also phenomena of no jade, no jade and no jade. Accordingly, people think that jade jade is not only a popular ritual jade in Liangzhu culture period, but also has other functions, such as representing some kind of wealth or valuable gifts.

Jade cong is the largest and most exquisite jade in Liangzhu culture. All the unearthed jade cong of Liangzhu culture have different and simple carving patterns, and their themes are the images of gods, people and animals composed of animal faces and gods. The shape of the cong is mostly cylindrical, and the body of the cong is large or small, and some are layered and segmented. The shortest jade cong has only one segment, and the longest one has more than 10 segments. The specimen called "King Yu Cong" comes from the tomb of Fanshan 12 in Zhejiang Province. This "Cong Wang" is a rectangular short cylinder with a round hole in the middle, which runs through from top to bottom. The middle of the four sides is divided into two by a straight groove about 5 cm, and the horizontal groove is divided into four sections. Yan is 8.8 cm tall, with a shooting diameter of17.1~17.6 cm and an aperture of 4.9 cm. This is the first time that facial images of gods, people and beasts have been found in four straight grooves. The main body of the image is a man of God with an inverted trapezoidal face, round eyes, a wide nose and a flat mouth. 65,438+06 teeth are hooked out by long horizontal lines and short vertical lines, and worn on the head. There are 8 groups of fine moiré in the inner layer, 22 groups of radial feathers with wide crown in the outer layer, single line as stem, double line as edge and short line as root. The face and crown are slightly convex bas-reliefs. The lower half is a limb, the upper limb shrugs, the arms are flat and bent, the five fingers are flat and fork to the waist, the lower limbs crouch, and the three claws curl. The limbs are cirrus lines, arcs and short straight lines carved by yinxian, and the chest and abdomen of the god man are embossed with majestic animal faces. At the four corners of the fan, it is spread to both sides with the corner as the central axis, which is symmetrical left and right. 1 and 3 are simplified images of the faces of gods, people and animals, and 2 and 4 are "animal face lines" between the chest and abdomen of the faces of gods, people and animals, but the nose and fine ornamentation are omitted, and a group of bird pattern images are added on both sides. This "Wang Cong" is the first jade cong of Liangzhu culture, and it is also a precious example to fully understand the jade cong of Liangzhu culture. The evolution and function of jade cong in Liangzhu culture are still being discussed in academic circles. Some scholars believe that Yu Cong may be a deformation of something related to totem worship. The shape of the jade cong and its inner and outer circles symbolize the harmony between heaven and earth. This jade ritual vessel is not only a device that runs through heaven and earth, but also a symbol of some kind of power. The images of gods, people and animals on jade cong and their combination with bird images are symbols of gods worshipped by people in Liangzhu culture period. Birds, beasts and people symbolize heaven, earth and gods, which is the final and highest form of "merger" of the ancestors of Liangzhu culture in the evolution of primitive religion.

In Liangzhu jade, the shape of the jade crown is very similar to that of the crown with feathers inserted in the upper part of the face of gods, people and animals. There are many plain faces, and only a few are engraved with exquisite images of gods, people and animals. Most of the crown-shaped vessels unearthed in Fanshan and Yaoshan are located on the side of the head of the deceased, and it seems unrealistic to often put jade emperors with jade pipes strung or connected nearby. At present, the purpose of the device is not clear. Some people think that it has the meaning of praying to God and is an essential vessel in witchcraft activities.

The trident is only available in the anti-mountain and Yaoshan cemeteries. There are three parallel branches at the upper end of the utensil, all of which have holes that can pass through from top to bottom. They are usually connected by a long jade tube, adjacent to or stacked with groups of cones. Some devices have three square protrusions, with vertical holes in the back or drilling holes in branches on both sides. This device has only been unearthed in Fanshan and Yaoshan, about half of which have exquisite images of gods, people and animals, and some of them are engraved with patterns on the front and back, so the technology is very excellent. String ornaments are decorations with tubes, beads and pendants as the main body. There are a large number of jade tubes, and each string generally has more than or dozens of pieces of 10. The cross section of the tubes is circular, and adjacent jade tubes in the same string can be butted and merged. The number of beads is very small, some are shaped like short tubes, some are round at both ends, some are spherical, and some are flush at one side. The shape of the pendant is similar to that of a cone, but it is short and short, with a circular cross section, and there are often one or a pair in each tomb.

There are also some cones with different lengths in jade articles, ranging from a few centimeters short to nearly 40 centimeters long, some are conical and some are square cylindrical. Some parts are square, decorated with simplified images of faces of gods, people and animals, and their functions remain to be studied. There are many flat and round decorations. The round decoration has a hole in the center, which is very small in shape, and often has a small hole on one side for passing through. The device has many plain faces, and there are three or four dragon heads carved with several outlines. Unearthed breasts, often accompanied by yellow, should be decorative items.

How did the variety of jade come from? Jade carving technology of Liangzhu culture has always been a subject of great concern and keen research. It is indeed a miracle that our ancestors can carve such a beautiful and colorful jade world before the use of metal tools.

The production process of Liangzhu culture jade is roughly divided into several processes, such as material selection, cutting, grinding, sketching, drilling, carving and polishing.

The reason why the jade articles of Liangzhu culture are neat and beautiful is inseparable from the polishing process. After the jade material is cut, the surface of the tire material will inevitably appear uneven. Before carving, the surface must be leveled. Craftsmen may use the method of grinding stone tools to grind tire materials repeatedly on flat sand or a platform covered with fine sand. Although this treatment will eventually leave traces on the surface of jade, the traces left after polishing are very shallow and will disappear in the subsequent polishing process. Leather and linen fabrics can be used for the polishing of jade articles. When jade rubs these objects back and forth, it will produce a mirror-like effect.

Drilling technology is widely used in jade articles of Liangzhu culture. Some large-diameter holes are made of wooden sticks or bamboo tubes dipped in sand and rhinestones, such as those on jade articles such as Yan and Bi. Some small-diameter perforations, some as small as 1 ~ 2mm or even smaller, are made of stone tools.

During the Liangzhu culture period, hollowing-out technology has appeared. Judging from the club head, mountain lifter and Yaoshanhuang, some people drill a single hole first, while others drill a connecting hole first, and then outline the outline with tools such as bows and rods. Although the hollowing-out process at that time was rough and simple in shape, the appearance of this process was a breakthrough in jade production, which laid the foundation for the popularization and improvement of jade hollowing-out carving later.