Chinese jade culture has been formed since the late Neolithic Age, and it is almost inseparable from jade in major historical events. Jade has a long history. The number and distribution of jades handed down from ancient China and excavated underground are amazing.
Collecting ancient jade has a long history in China. Like the jade unearthed from Fu Hao's tomb in Anyang Yin Ruins, it is a witness to the collection of ancient jade by the royal family in Shang Dynasty. Scholars in previous dynasties favored ancient jade, which reached its climax in the Song Dynasty. Ancient jade was an important category of epigraphy in antique collection at that time. Li, who is known as the first painter in Song Dynasty, once appraised and appraised Qin Dynasty ancient jade in court, and he himself collected more than ten pieces of Qin Dynasty ancient jade. Since then, collecting ancient jade has become a common practice. Ancient jade is one of the oldest cultural relics in China, which has long been concerned by collectors, academics and cultural circles. It has developed into a prosperous and self-contained discipline of jade science and jade culture.
However, because the counterfeiting of ancient jade is relatively simple, especially the myth of the sky-high price of jade clothes and jade stools in the Han Dynasty made a big joke. Nowadays, when many people talk about ancient jade, the first sentence is that the water is too deep, so that there is often an embarrassment that ancient jade cannot sell new jade.
Talking about appreciation: ancient jade will bear a certain imprint of the times
Xie: To play ancient jade, we must first distinguish the first three generations from the last three generations. Accurately speaking, ancient jade can be divided into upper ancient jade in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, middle ancient jade in Qin and Han Dynasties and lower ancient jade in Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Neolithic jade unearthed areas are mostly concentrated in Northeast China, Shandong, Jianghuai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, including Hongshan Culture in Liaohe River basin, Dawenkou culture in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, Qijia culture in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, Hemudu culture and Liangzhu culture in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Among them, the jades of Hongshan Culture and Liangzhu culture have the greatest influence.
Qiu Zhili: Every era and dynasty has its own specific level of productivity, relations of production and cultural development background, so there will be jades with different properties and uses, and there will be differences in materials, shapes, patterns and techniques (some dynasties may be very close to the characteristics of the previous generation). It should be said that ancient jade in different periods will bear certain marks of the times, but not every piece of ancient jade has distinctive dynasty characteristics.
In ancient times, due to the scarcity of jade materials, jade was mainly made into ritual vessels to worship the gods of heaven and earth. However, with the development of society and the improvement of productivity, the tools and etiquette functions of jade are gradually abandoned, while the functions of religion, symbol, appreciation, playing and display are gradually strengthened. The level of social productivity is the key to determine people's ability to use and process jade materials. Therefore, we can grasp the age and cultural characteristics of ancient jade from the aspects of the use of ancient jade materials, the types and shapes of utensils, and the techniques and types of ornamentation.
Li Lihua: For example, the overall style of jade articles in Ming Dynasty is rough and bold, which is said to be rough and clear. The Qing Dynasty was the heyday in the history of jade in China, with a large influx of jade in Xinjiang, and the craft level became more and more mature. The jade features of these two dynasties are very obvious.
Compared with modern jade, ancient jade in Ming and Qing dynasties pursues three-dimensional sense in carving. The Ming Dynasty continued the craft style of the Yuan Dynasty, and the center of the bead pattern was dug into a circular groove, which highlighted the three-dimensional effect. This technology has been lost. At present, our jade carvings and ornaments are very flat, and jade ornaments are mainly based on Buddha statues, jade melons and other themes. It is also a pendant for carving butterflies. Now, it can only carve a flat butterfly, but in the past, it will be very three-dimensional, realistic and realistic, and its eyes are very particular about charm.
In addition to the different aesthetics of each era, this has a lot to do with the cost of jade materials. In the past, transportation was limited, and craftsmen always conceived first and then looked for suitable jade materials. Jade is so expensive now, and craftsmen use it to create because of the material. If it is a three-dimensional sculpture, it will definitely waste a lot of jade, and the plane is very material-saving. Moreover, three-dimensional carving not only consumes materials, but also takes time. Modern people don't have that kind of patience. Many people pursue the increase of production quantity and efficiency.
Qiu Zhili: It should be said that religion, theocracy, political power, sacrifice, totem and auspicious spirit are indeed the key points of many ancient jade expressions, so some scholars have summarized them as ancient jade culture and ritual jade culture. The characteristics of Shenyu culture are the most prominent among Shang jade, while the cultural characteristics of Shenyu originated in the Zhou Dynasty. It can be said that jade is used as a tool in social etiquette and ceremonies, laws and regulations, and the expression of kinship and rank. But these characteristics are not equally typical on every piece of jade, and can also be reflected in some imitations through imitation. Therefore, the identification of ancient jade can not only be based on the symbolic meaning contained in jade, but more importantly, it needs to be comprehensively judged by combining various characteristics such as material, decoration, craft and Qin color characteristics, so as to get the real answer.
Li Lihua: Indeed, ancient jade can't sell new jade now. An ancient jade from the Tang Dynasty only sells for several thousand yuan, while a better one only sells for tens of thousands. Now the price of many new jade is several hundred thousand yuan. Modern people play with jade in pursuit of color, not quality. Buying hetian jade requires the whiter the better, regardless of density and oiliness. So many people don't like ancient jade. They think that the ancient jade is bluish white, the jade color is not good, and it is a bit dull, but in fact it mainly depends on the craftsmanship.
Qiu Zhili: Jade material is an important factor that determines the value of jade. However, when appreciating ancient jade, the material is not the most important factor (except jade in Qing dynasty), and the sociological, cultural and aesthetic significance of jade can represent the social development at that time, which may be the most important. For example, some jade articles in ancient times may be simple in material (not even Hetian jade), small in shape, simple in shape, simple in body and simple in decoration. If only measured by the material or the general standard of modern jade, its value will be lower; But if these jades are the jades that can be seen so far and represent the artistic style of this era, then their historical and cultural values and economic values will not be low. Obviously, the appreciation of ancient jade needs to be able to fully grasp the characteristics of ancient jade in many aspects, not just based on the characteristics of materials.
Xie: First of all, I must emphasize that I don't agree that ancient jade can't sell new jade. I started my business in ancient jade from 1976. In the past 36 years, the price of ancient jade should have increased by 1000 times. In the past, an ancient jade was only sold in 5 yuan 10 yuan. However, the antique market definitely has ups and downs. 1997 and 2002, the price of ancient jade dropped a lot, similar to this year's situation. The price of ancient jade rose sharply in the past two years, especially at the beginning of last year, and the price of ancient jade rose by at least 50% a year. But this year, the price of ancient jade has dropped.
Li Lihua: Compared with Xinyu, the price of ancient jade is relatively stable. However, in recent years, the price of new jade has soared, and the price gap between new jade and ancient jade is getting bigger and bigger. In fact, the urgent sale of ancient jade may not necessarily make a lot of money. I have a friend who sold a lot of ancient jade in a hurry a few years ago, but there was not much money to sell jade at that time. On the contrary, those who couldn't sell in those years have made a lot of money in recent years, and collecting is to exchange time for space.
Li Lihua: In the south, the cultural value of ancient jade has been underestimated. Ancient jade is cheaper in the south than in the north, so some northern Renye Fang went to Guangzhou for Taobao.
However, it is really hard to say whether the price of ancient jade can be made up in the future, or it depends on the preferences of consumers. If in a few years, consumers realize that things are scarce, there are fewer and fewer ancient jade lovers, then the price of ancient jade may rise sharply.
Qiu Zhili: The transaction price of ancient jade market is related to consumers' cognition of the value of ancient jade, social purchasing power and advertising. Generally speaking, the auction price of ancient jade in the auction market in recent years is really low (with a few exceptions, such as some jade seals), and the price of some ancient jade after the Ming Dynasty or with vague information is relatively low (compared with the fiery modern jade market). The reason why the ancient jade market is relatively depressed may be related to the fact that consumers like to invest in popular works of art and have insufficient understanding of the historical and cultural value of ancient jade; On the other hand, it may be that the research level of scientific appraisal technology of ancient jade is not high enough, many fake ancient jade are difficult to distinguish between true and false, the market is chaotic, and there is no authoritative scientific appraisal.
X: Of course, I succeeded. The biggest time I bought ancient jade 1984 in Hangzhou, dozens of pieces I bought were fake. The most serious fraud now is to transform the damaged ancient jade, and a rotten jade can be made into several accessories.
Li Lihua: The jade quality of each dynasty is different. We can judge whether Qin color and ash mouth are reasonable by dating. Natural seepage is natural, it will be more uniform and seamless, and artificial seepage is always uneven.
There were also Qin-colored fakes in ancient times. According to Wang Xinyao's Jade Ji Bu, objects are made of nephrite and then boiled in ebony water. After a long time, nephrite was evacuated by ebony water, and then colored with oil, posing as puddle jade, but the Qin color of this jade is unnatural. Now Qin color fraud is more severe, and it is very convenient and fast to use chemical means directly. In fact, the added value of Qin color to ancient jade depends on personal preferences. Some people like Qin, while others don't.
Xie Wenzhong: There is a kind of jade in ancient jade, commonly known as chicken bone white. Someone burned the new jade and the fake chicken bone, but the jade quality of the fake chicken bone was different from that of that era. The real chicken bone white is white from the inside out, which is different from some jade articles that have turned white after corrosion, but the jade color is still inside. There are also some ancient jade whose surfaces turn white, which we call ash mouth. It looks a bit like a thin layer of white ash. If that layer of white ash is thick, it may be fake.
X: It should be in ancient times. Because ancient jade has low requirements for materials, and many jade materials are mixed with stones, such materials are easy to find and cheap, and the cost of counterfeiting is too low. However, if it is an imitation of ancient jade in the Qing Dynasty, because the pursuit of jade quality has already begun at that time, it is necessary to find white jade with sheep fat to fake it, and the cost is too high. But whether it is ancient jade or ancient jade, as long as it is fake, experts can usually see it in a few eyes, and it is not difficult.
Qiu Zhili: The traditional epigraphy appraisal of ancient jade was formed in the Song Dynasty, and has been passed down since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, including literature research and physical experience. However, this judgment based on external experience is seriously challenged by modern high-tech imitation technology. With the help of computer scanning technology, counterfeiters can imitate shapes and decorations by studying patterns and unearthed products, which are almost real imitations. Therefore, it can be said without hesitation that the authenticity of ancient jade can be truly judged scientifically with the help of scientific instruments (the role of experience and literature familiarity in judging ancient jade is not excluded).
At present, most of the appraisal is based on experience and expert's eyesight, but science and technology have penetrated into the research and appraisal of ancient jade and gradually become an important basis. The scientific identification methods of ancient jade include: observing the structure, micro-marks and color depth of ancient jade materials at high magnification (up to 1000 times) with optical microscope and scanning electron microscope, and identifying the material types and micro-area characteristics with infrared spectrum and laser Raman spectrum. Proton-excited X-ray fluorescence analysis (PIXE), laser ablation inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (LA-ICPMS), laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and other technologies are used for micro-area composition analysis and even isotope analysis (some of which are micro-loss analysis). Based on the scientific excavation of unearthed jade, combined with the systematic research results of ancient jade history and art history, the ancient jade was identified.
Li Lihua: But in actual operation, the identification of ancient jade mainly depends on eyesight, Qin color, dating, ornamentation, jade quality and technology. You can see the origin of jade with instruments, but dating depends on your eyesight.