Chapter 1498 Jade Sword
This is the first time for Yang Honghui to come here. Sui Huaxuan’s path is not the splendid one that is popular today, but a low-key and restrained path. However, good things can speak for themselves, and there are many things It’s worth a fortune just by looking at it.
Now there is a small jade exhibition hall in the underground exhibition room, which displays several sets of award-winning jades that Zhou Zhi bought in northern Xinjiang before, as well as the first batch of finished products customized by the Suzhou Jade Carving Company.
“It’s so beautiful.” Liang Hong looked at a Han sword in the showroom and couldn’t take her eyes away: “Is this new or old?”
“New.” Zhou Zhi opened the cabinet and took out the sword from inside: "You can pull it away and take a look."
This is the work of Zhu Qinghong, a female master of antique carving from the Suzhou Jade Carving Company. At that time, Zhou Zhi bought a set of Han sword jade equipment with the animal-faced waist buckle and ringed pepper picture.
This thing really existed in history, but because of its long history, except for the jade equipment, the gems on the sword, and the gold and silver accessories, the rest such as sword strips, ropes, and wooden lacquer scabbards, They have all decayed and cannot be restored to their former glory.
Zhou Zhi had previously customized several swords with craftsmen from Longquan through an arts and crafts company, and gave them to Li Qiyan and Mr. Gu. He was also blackmailed by Liang Hong and gave one to Yang Honghui.
Yang Honghui once thought it was the pinnacle of swordsmanship, and he couldn't put it down for a long time.
Can't put it down is usually an adjective, but in his case it became realism.
But now that sword is no longer fragrant, and the one in front of me is the real pinnacle.
"Actually, jade armor has no actual combat value. It is mainly for ceremonial purposes." Zhou Zhi explained: "The jade ornaments inlaid on the hilt and scabbard of the sword are called jade sword ornaments; Swords decorated with jade are called jade swords in ancient books."
“A complete jade sword is composed of four jade ornaments, which are the sword head, the sword grid, the sword 璏 and the sword 珌.”
The jade sword head is actually the bottom of the sword hilt. The earliest physical objects of circular ornaments were unearthed from tombs in the late Spring and Autumn Period. During the Warring States Period, the sword's head was round and thin, with a scroll pattern in the center and string patterns, cloud patterns, lying silkworm patterns and other decorations on the outer edge. The sword head of the Han Dynasty is thinner than that of the Warring States Period. The front is concave and there is a ring groove on the back. There are two or three oblique perforations in the ring. It is plain and smooth. The front is slightly larger in diameter than the back, forming a slope shape.
The sword grid is a jade ornament inlaid at the junction of the hilt and the sword body. It is slightly rectangular when viewed from the front, with a gradually convex ridge in the middle. It has a rhombus cross-section when viewed from the side. The perforations are rectangular, oval and rhombus-shaped.
Both sides of the sword grid are decorated with patterns, usually animal face patterns, curling cloud patterns, geometric patterns, relief chi patterns, etc. On this set of equipment, the masters imitated the chi patterns.
Jianjuan is inlaid on the scabbard and is used to wear belts. It is commonly known as Wendai.
Juan accounts for the largest proportion among several types of sword ornaments, with the largest number unearthed and passed down from generation to generation in the Han Dynasty. The jade is embedded in the center of the scabbard and is rectangular when viewed from the front. It is engraved with cloud patterns, animal face patterns, chi tiger patterns and other patterns. There is a frame at the bottom for the leather belt to pass through and to fix the sword on the belt.
The size of the Han Dynasty Jianjuan is larger than that of the Warring States Period. The hole below is larger than that of the previous generation, and the upper wall of the hole is thicker than the lower wall. The surface of the jianjuan is carved out with a frame using the hook and pull method, which is delicately made and polished smoothly.
Jianju is a jade product placed at the end of the scabbard. It was popular in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties. The Warring States period swords were straight, round and thick. In the early period, they were plain and without lines. In the later period, swords with animal face patterns and cirrus patterns appeared.
The swords of the Han Dynasty are irregular rectangular or trapezoidal in shape. The decorations are mainly chi patterns. They are carved using relief or openwork techniques. They are finely ground and extremely polished. The masters strictly recreated the jade armor of Han swords in accordance with the actual objects. In addition to the chi pattern on both sides of the sword grid, there is also a high-relief chi dragon entrenched on the sword and the sword. The lines are beautiful and the posture is agile. After a long time, it became like a living thing.
The scabbard is made of wood and ramie lacquer, using the typical Jingchu lacquer style.
First make a wooden tire, then tie it with fine linen cloth, and then apply gray paint made of old tiles, clam shell ash, and lacquer on the wooden tire, and then Keep polishing until smooth, then paint layer by layer to smooth it.
After painting to about ten layers, start adding mother-of-pearl decoration to the surface of the scabbard, using beautiful lines to form the sun, moon, starry sky and phoenix bird cloud pattern decoration.
After that, the surface was painted again, and from now on, every time it was painted, it was accompanied by a polishing process. After nine layers of paint, the height of the paint layer was flush with the mother-of-pearl, and the mother-of-pearl pattern seemed to grow in the scabbard. , the whole becomes extremely smooth, and the scabbard is completed.
Finally, a red silk rope must be used to wrap the sword in the center of the scabbard and around the hilt for easy holding. Only then can the jade sword be considered completely completed.
All the craftsmanship is based on the prototype of cultural relics. The scabbard uses the lacquer art drum base and mother-of-pearl lacquer art bronze mirror craftsmanship of the Han Dynasty. The rope is imitated from the remaining sword decorations in Chu tombs. The largest The jade sword has been restored to a certain extent as it should have been in ancient times.
The sword blade is made of iron, which is the "Songwen Ancient Sword" commonly seen in ancient classics. The pattern on the sword blade can be clearly seen on the surface of the pine tree. This is the result of repeated folding and forging. characteristics below.
"So beautiful..." Liang Hong pulled out the sword, holding the scabbard in one hand and the sword in the other. She looked at it repeatedly, feeling that the adjectives in her mind became extremely scarce.
"I also have records in "Old Stories from the East Palace": "The Prince's instrument was decorated with jade and a sword." "Historical Records: Biography of Uncle Tian" said: "The general wanted to choose the richest among the people, so he ordered him to wear a saddle, horse, crimson clothes, and a jade sword, and he wanted to play it. '"
"Judging from archaeological discoveries, in the late Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, all four items were Jade sword ornaments gradually took shape, and in the Han Dynasty, this trend became more popular. This kind of jade sword ornaments became an important decoration on the swords of princes and nobles. It also became a status symbol in the society at that time, and became a mutual gift and reward. ”
“Even ethnic minorities such as the Huns. Affected by this, the "Book of Han·Biography of the Xiongnu" records: "In the first month of the first month of the lunar month, the emperor came to the Ganquan Palace and was given a jade sword."
"The Book of Han·Biography of Wang Mang" also records: It can be seen that in the Western Han Dynasty, it was still as popular as in the Warring States Period. The masters of the world all regard pearls and jade swords as their treasures'"
"This custom still existed until the Eastern Han Dynasty. Emperor Guangwu once rewarded General Feng Yicheng with a seven-foot jade sword. The pattern on the sword is this. Feng Wen ordered him to attack the Red Eyebrow Army who rebelled against Sanfu."
"There is also a story recorded in "Shuoyuan·Quizhi", which also reflects the preciousness of jade swords from the side. The story is that Marquis Jing went to visit Wei State and paid a visit to the Crown Prince of Wei. Before going to see the Crown Prince, he dressed up and left his jade With a sword, with a ring on the right and a ring on the left The treasure light illuminated the left side of his body, and the treasure light on the right side illuminated the right side of his body. "Isn't that the whole person is a big light bulb?" Liang Hong laughed so hard that everyone quickly retreated. Taking two steps forward, what was dangling in her hand was a real thing.
Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "The original text in the book says this: 'The Marquis of Jing passed by the Crown Prince of Wei, wearing a jade sword on his left, a ring on his right, his left shining on the left, and his right shining on the right.'"
(End of this chapter)