Jade carving is one of the oldest Chinese carving varieties. As early as the late Neolithic period, Chinese have a jade tools. In Shang and Zhou dynasties, jade has become a profession and a ritual jade utensils and decorative pieces to wear. Jade has always been as a treasure and it is treated as a symbol and a sign of better materials of a gentleman demeanor in ancient China.
The actual quality of jade is stone. Jade has a large varieties, including white jade, topaz, jasper, jade and agate, turquoise, rose quartz and so on. Processed jade was carved into exquisite handicrafts and was known as jade carving. In the production process, according to different natural colors and natural shapes jade material, craftsmen carefully designed, repeatedly refined in order to carve exquisite handicrafts to make jade carving.
Jade carving has a variety of species, there are characters, appliances, birds, flowers and other large works. There are pins, rings, seals, jewelry and other small works. Beijing's Palace Museum collection of large jade "King Yu tamed the flood” shows the skill of Chinese jade.
The main origin of Chinese jade is Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Xinjiang, as well as the modern appearance of Qinghai. China's jade works enjoy a high reputation in the world. Jade carving is an irreplaceable part of Chinese culture.
Schools of Chinese Jade Carving
Chinese contemporary jade carving, from the big genre, it can be divided into north school and south school. Beijing is the representative of the north school which covers Liaoning, Tianjin, Hebei, and part of Henan, Xinjiang and other northern provinces. The south school covers the Yangtze River and its Southern regions, and is divided into several tribes.
Beijing Jade Carving
Beijing has a long history of jade carving skills. In the production of jade carving, the craftsmen do their work based on the volume and quality of materials. When we recognize Beijing jade, usually from jade character, color, and texture to start carving. First of all, Beijing jade is hard with fine crystal, while the south is generally used nephrite jade. Secondly, Beijing jade is colorful and exquisitely carved while the south jade is delicate and soft. Third, Beijing attaches great importance to the shape of jade carving with palace art style while the South jade generally has more casual style and more rugged style. In general, Beijing jade not only has form beauty but also save thousands of years thus making it the favorite of collectors. Chinese people have been put jade as a status symbol and ancient wealthy people often worn jade. Thus, a large number of artists have gathered in Beijing Jade Chongwenmen Flower Market area. Beijing has become the center of Chinese jade.
Shanghai Jade Carving
Jade carving of Shanghai is one of the four major schools of Chinese jade, formed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It has a strong influence on contemporary jade art. A number of outstanding Shanghai jade carving master come to fore, creating a lot of valuable collections of art, injecting of fresh blood for jade art.
Yangzhou Jade Carving
Yangzhou jade is not local, but the convenient transportation and rich people in ancient Yangzhou has created favorable conditions for the formation and development of jade carving. Precious jade from across the country are processed and gained their value here. Each piece of jade ingredients, color, shape, size are not the same, good jade master first conceived jade shape, then carefully crafted in accordance with their different characteristics. Sometimes a large jade carving works need a man for more than a decade to finish. Yangzhou jade has hard texture and used carefully and its Mohs hardness is 4-8 degrees. Hand-crafted technology is more complex, and its technical characteristics are wondering, the "jade carving" and "grind jade." Yangzhou jade materials have Xinjiang white jade, grey jade, jasper, Liaoning xiuyan jade, agate and topaz, Jiangsu crystal, Hubei green jade, Guangdong southern jade, Brazil jade, Burmese jade, Afghanistan's green gold, Canada's Jasper and Japan corals.
Nanyang Jade Carving
After jade artists and scientists’ mining, sorting traditional skills and learning foreign experience, Nanyang jade carving gained continuous improvement, and gradually formed its own unique artistic style, known to the world for its flexibility and color techniques. Indeed, after years without failure, the jade industry flourished, forming a rich, profound Nanyang jade culture, bred endless skilled Nanyang jade carving artists from generation to generation. Nanyang jade art masters not only inherit the craft tradition, but also the introduced, absorbed and innovated art and design sculptures. It is a long history, rich cultural heritage and unique combination of jade resources, which makes the Nanyang jade art treasures to be handed down and great works also been published.
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