be synonymous
The beauty of jade has five virtues, tenderness and kindness ... ―― Shuo Wen.
You can't go for no reason. -Book of Rites? Qu Ji Shu: "Jade calls."
Wu Yu. Yu Shu. Zheng Note: "Holding it is called Rui, and exhibition is called jade."
Wang Jize eats jade. -Zhou Li? Wang Fu
Only jade food. -"book? Hong fan
Sacrifice jade and silk, dare to add, will believe. Seven or eight thousand years ago, the earliest real jade articles in China were unearthed in Xinglongwa Site in Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia, Chahai Site in Fuxin, Liaoning, Xinle Site in Shenyang and Hemudu Site in Zhejiang in the middle and late Neolithic Age. The cultural, religious and political attributes of jade have been gradually improved in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties.
In the late Neolithic period, about 7,000 to 4,000 years ago, people who had the power to sacrifice made "ritual vessels" out of precious jade, which were only used to sacrifice ancestors. They believe that the sky is round, so they chisel round walls and squares to worship God and the earth. They believe that the life of clan ancestors originated from God through sacred objects, so they carved the imaginary ancestors of God on jade articles and even carved symbols with profound meanings to worship them. It is hoped that the unique texture, shape, pattern and symbol of jade will produce the power of induction, communicate with the ancestors of God, learn from their wisdom and be blessed.
In ancient society, the status of an individual depends on the close relationship between man and God. The "ritual" of serving God establishes the communication channel between people and God, and also maintains the harmonious relationship between people. "Ruiqi" is a jade symbolizing status. Both "ritual vessels" and "Rui vessels" originated in the late Neolithic period and continued to develop in the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties to adapt to different political systems and social structures. In the worship of the ancestral temple and the enjoyment of the alliance, it played its metaphysical function to maintain the ritual system, so it has always been called "the ritual vessel of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the rise of humanism, the Confucian enlightenment and flexible use of some cultural elements inherited from primitive religions, and advocated the concept that" a gentleman is better than jade ". "Therefore, the wind of wearing jade is prosperous and the carving is exquisite. It is difficult for future generations to show that the emperor worships jade in the Han Dynasty, and the living wears jade to eat jade; The deceased was wrapped in jade and filled with jade. Even silk paintings and tomb bricks are decorated with jade statues. At this time, the concept that the round wall helps the soul reach the sky was fully brought into play. As early as nearly ten thousand years ago in the late Paleolithic period, the ancestors of China people discovered and began to use jade. It is generally believed that ancient people discovered jade when they made and used stone tools. It is harder than ordinary stone, so people use it to process other stone products. It has a distinctive color, crystal clear and lovely, so people slowly regard it as an ornament. Moreover, because the number of jade articles is small and it is difficult to process, only the leading figures in a few ethnic groups, such as heads of families and priests, are qualified to wear and use them, which makes them gradually evolve into ritual vessels, sacrificial vessels or totems. It is in this long and slow evolution process that jade has changed from a stone with special properties to a symbol representing power, status, wealth and theocracy.