Song Dynasty is an era of unprecedented development and prosperity of handicrafts and industry and commerce. The country is rich and the people are strong, the culture is developed, block printing is common, and neo-Confucianism, calligraphy, silver making and porcelain making have made great progress. Jade articles in this period are at a turning point. Jade in Song Dynasty inherited the painting style of Song Dynasty. Usually, the picture composition is complex, multi-level, with both form and spirit, and there is a strong interest in painting. Completed the transformation from Tang Yu's emphasis on craftsmanship and sculpture to Song Yu's emphasis on painting and artistry. Evonne, Song Huizong, loves jade like life. Although he is not a good emperor, he is an excellent artist and loves art, so there are many kinds of royal jade at this time, including jade belt and Yu Pei as accessories, jade twips and jade qing as ornaments, and jade GUI and jade books as ritual vessels. There is a jade work in the palace, and the jade material is a tribute from western countries.
Folk jade articles are also more prosperous than previous generations, and a large number of jade ornaments and jade articles appear. At the same time, the number of ancient jade unearthed in the Song Dynasty increased, which bred the wind of antique jade. A large number of antiques were unearthed in the Zhou and Han Dynasties, and the imperial court and scholar-officials were keen on collecting, sorting out and studying antiques, forming a new science, namely epigraphy.
With the formation of epigraphy, the upsurge of collecting ancient jade rose. In order to meet the needs of society, a large number of antique jade articles appeared in Song Dynasty. Royal, bureaucratic and folk collections of ancient jade prevailed, and antique shops began to forge or imitate ancient jade. Therefore, Song jade can be divided into ancient jade, contemporary jade, fake ancient jade and antique jade.
With the rise of antique jade articles in Song Dynasty, jade articles imitating Warring States and Han Dynasty began to appear, but there were some differences in carving methods. Most of the carving tools in the Song Dynasty were made of heavy objects, so there were traces of heavy objects.
Although the jade articles in this period were imitated from ancient times, they also reflected many practices of cutting jade at that time. Jade is round with rounded edges and no sharp edges. Imitation spikes are dense and vague, and animal patterns and shapes are often obviously different in details.