Chapter 116 The three treasures in the hands of Lord Belle
Paul accepted it without hesitation. He only knew that what Lin Yuan gave him must be valuable.
He now admires Lin Yuan more deeply than Henry. After these days of study, he can already communicate with Lin Yuan simply in Chinese.
In fact, it was not just studying, but also Lin Yuan, Henry and others chatting with him in Chinese on a daily basis.
This kind of daily chat is an important way for him to improve his Chinese. When you are in a Chinese-speaking environment, you can quickly learn to speak it.
It was enough to be able to speak and listen, and he did not expect to be able to write.
Chinese characters are relatively complex.
Henry chose it himself, picked a jade ring, and asked Lin Yuan: "Brother Lin, what do you think of this?"
When he was studying in China, he had seen this kind of traditional Chinese handicraft.
Lin Yuan nodded to him: "Not bad."
Many people may not know that the jade ring finger, also called the jade ring, is a tool used to buckle the string when drawing a bow and shooting arrows. It is a special instrument that is placed on the shooter's right thumb to protect the shooter's right thumb from being strangled by the bow string.
Speaking of jade ring rings, everyone may involuntarily think of the three treasures in Lord Belle's hands: walnuts, ring rings, and caged birds.
In fact, he was just an ordinary Eight Banners disciple, although he could barely be called a Lord Baylor. The real Lord Belle has many treasures in his hands!
Walnuts, wrenches and caged birds count as a ball!
But there is a saying that finger pulls were indeed very popular in the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, some people will have the illusion that the jade finger ring was created by the Qing Dynasty.
In fact, the existence of wrench fingers has been discovered as early as the late Neolithic Age and the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Initially, there may be wrenches made of softer materials such as leather, and better ones will use harder materials.
With the passage of time and gradual evolution, the materials and shapes of jade wrench fingers have varied in each dynasty.
For example, the jade wrench finger of the Shang Dynasty also had the function of bow-drawing and finger protection. It was not only longer than the later wrench fingers, but also had grooves on it. By the Warring States Period, it began to become shorter; the wrench finger of the Han Dynasty had the shape of a jade piece, similar to a jade pendant, with a There are small hooks for pulling the strings.
In the Song Dynasty, some finger levers imitating the Han Dynasty appeared, and their styles were even more diverse, ranging from flaky to short cylindrical ones.
By the Qing Dynasty, the wrench finger was cylindrical, with one end edge concave inward and one end edge convex forward. Because its material was more rounded and smooth, it was more difficult to use for archery, and it became a symbol of decoration, status and fashion trends. .
It was originally a thumb ring to assist in martial arts. Due to the admiration and imitation of the majority of men of the Manchu and Han ethnic groups, it has become an extremely fashionable accessory, from the emperor and princes to ministers of Manchu and Han banners and wealthy businessmen. , although everyone has different status, they all like to wear it.
"It's a Wen Wan finger." Lin Yuan added.
Henry was surprised: "Is there a distinction between civil and military finger-twisting?"
"Yes! The Wu pull finger is mostly plain, and the Wen pull finger has more verses or patterns cast on the outer wall. The Wu pull finger is more practical, while the Wen pull finger is more ornamental, so the Wen pull finger has more artistic value and collection value.
However, its level is not very high. It is a ring ring used to celebrate birthdays. ”
In the Qing Dynasty, there was a clear hierarchy among finger ringers. There was a particular emphasis on who wore which finger ring. If the etiquette was exceeded, there might be big trouble.
The old uncle said: "I saw an imperial ring ring at Uncle De's place."
Lin Yuan: "The level of the Imperial Ring Ring is very high, second only to the Royal Ring Ring."
Even though there is only one word difference, it is already an item of two levels. The imperial ring finger was used by the emperor himself, while the imperial ring ring was given to ministers and others by the emperor, so it was naturally different.
The finger triggers used by the emperor have strict conventions and regulations.
In accordance with the emperor's decree, the Qing Palace Manufacturing Office first asked professional institutions such as jade craftsmen and ivory craftsmen to create patterns for use in accordance with the emperor's wishes and preferences, and then made them after the emperor himself revised and confirmed them.
It is said that in order to make a suitable wrench, Emperor Qianlong could send orders and the actual wrench back and forth seven times in a row while he was away for summer vacation, asking the craftsmen to modify it.
On the imperial wrenches, there are often carvings with a strong humanistic atmosphere such as imperial poems, poetic paintings and special palace decorations.
This type of finger pull was the work of the most skilled craftsmen at that time. It was also a concentrated expression of the court culture at that time and the emperor's temperament, hobbies, cultural ideals and aesthetic tastes.
However, the number of pull fingers of this type is very limited.
For many ring rings that were paid tribute by high-ranking officials from various places, subordinate countries, or were ordered by the court in Jiangnan, the emperor often did not wear them himself, but rewarded them to high-ranking officials, favorite ministers, and royal family members.
In addition to the imperial rings and imperial-gifted rings, the "Tanhua" ring rings are those made by royal families such as princes, county kings, Baylor, and Beizi, and are often engraved with the family's personal seal.
Rings given by princes to domestic servants, subordinates or as gifts to relatives and friends also fall into this category.
There is no mistake in every song, one post, one content, one 6 one, one book, one book, take a look!
The hierarchy in the Qing Dynasty was extremely strict, and even princes could not exceed the system, so they seldom wrote poems or engraved pictures on them. The craftsmanship and materials did not dare to exceed the emperor's preferences, so the value was naturally slightly lower.
Next, there are the thumb rings of General Wang, General Fuyuan and their subordinate generals, birthday rings, dowry rings, commemorative or divination rings, commercial rings, etc.
The jade ring Henry found himself was worth a little less than the round ring that Lin Yuan gave Paul just now.
However, even if Henry knew that this jade ring was inferior to a round ring, he was still happy. After all, it was his own choice and it was more meaningful.
Lin Yuan's hand did not stop and he picked up another item, also jade, cylindrical.
He handed it to Tony.
Lin Yuan thought to himself, did these three people stabbed the old man's nest in the Qing Dynasty? These things seem to be standard equipment for the Manchu survivors!
Tony paid the thousand dollars without thinking much and played with the thing happily. Sure enough, it's good to just follow the boss. If something slips through the boss's fingers, they can make a fortune.
"Is this a feather tube?" the old uncle asked.
Lin Yuan nodded and said: "That's right!"
The feather tube is a unique product of the Qing Dynasty and was born with the reform of the crown system. To put it bluntly, it is the tube used to place feather branches under the crown of an official's hat as we saw in Qing operas. It is generally as thick and thin as a dry tobacco pipe and about two inches long.
The plume tube is mostly cylindrical, with a nose at the main end, and is hollow downward. The hollow part at the lower end is as big as a cigarette holder, through which the plume is inserted. The materials of the feather tube include jade, white jade, tourmaline, amber, lapis lazuli, crystal, colored glaze, porcelain, copper, etc.
According to the regulations of the Qing Dynasty, civil servants up to the first rank of Zhen Guogong and Fu Guogong can use jade feathers; military attachés up to the first rank of Zhen Guojun and Fuguo General can use white jade feathers. Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty, wearing jade plume tubes and white jade plume tubes was often a symbol of high-ranking civil and military officials.
This quill is more expensive than Paul's round quill and Henry's jade ring finger.
(End of chapter)