The so-called five virtues refer to the five characteristics of jade. Any beautiful stone with tough texture, crystal luster, brilliant color, dense and transparent organization, and a pleasant and far-reaching sound is considered to be jade. According to this standard, jade in the minds of the ancients includes not only real jade (amphibole jade) but also colored stone jade such as serpentine, turquoise, malachite, agate, crystal, amber, red emerald, etc. Therefore, when appreciating ancient jade, At this time, we can't just use modern scientific knowledge to identify the pros and cons, we must also have a historical perspective.

China is the world's major jade-producing country. Not only does it have a long history of mining, but it is also widely distributed and rich in reserves. There is a wise saying in China that says that rocks from other mountains can be used to attack jade, which illustrates the true meaning of carving jade. In fact, skillful grabbing may involve carving jade, grinding jade, or carving jade. The skill of carving jade is superb, but the tools for treating jade are indeed simple. Until modern times, Chinese jade was not carved. Instead, jade was made from emery, quartz, garnet, etc., which were harder than jade, and jade sand was spread with water to grind the jade and carve it into the designed finished product. Therefore, in jargon, making jade is not called carved jade, but called cured jade. Traditional tools such as wire saws, discs made of steel and wrought iron, round wheels, drill presses, half discs and lathes with wooden frames have been used to make jade. In the Neolithic Age and Bronze Age before the invention of iron tools, most tools were simply made of wood, bamboo, and bone sandstone. It is truly a miracle on earth that such primitive tools can produce such wonderful jade objects. Chinese jade has a long history and has a glorious history of seven thousand years. Seven thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Hemudu culture in the south consciously turned the beautiful stones they picked into decorations and dressed themselves up during the process of selecting stones to make utensils. Beautifying life opened the prelude to Chinese jade culture. In the middle and late Neolithic Age four to five thousand years ago, in the Liaohe River Basin, the upper and lower Yellow Rivers, and the north and south of the Yangtze River, the dawn of Chinese jade culture shone everywhere. At that time, carved jade had already been produced. The stone industry was separated and became an independent handicraft industry department. The jade articles unearthed from the Liangzhu Culture in the Taihu Lake Basin and the Hongshan Culture in the Liaohe River Basin are the most eye-catching.

There are many types of jade articles in the Liangzhu Culture, and the typical ones are from Jade congs, jade bis, jade axes, three-dimensional utensils and strings of jade ornaments, etc. Liangzhu jade wares pride themselves on their large size, appear deep and rigorous, and make full use of symmetry and balance. They are particularly good at the decorative techniques of bas-relief, especially the line carving technique, which has reached a level that is almost unmatched by later generations. What initially reflected the level of jade carving in Liangzhu were the jade congs and the depictions of animal-faced and feather-human patterns that were diverse in form, numerous in number, and unpredictable. Compared with Liangzhu jades, the Hongshan Culture rarely has rigid square jades, but is characterized by animal-shaped jades and round jades. Typical utensils include jade dragons and jade animal-shaped decorations. The biggest feature of Hongshan Culture's jade-cutting skills, such as jade hoop-shaped objects, is that jade craftsmen can skillfully use jade materials, grasp the shape characteristics of objects, and use only a few knives to depict the image of the objects lifelike and expressive. Spiritual resemblance is the biggest feature of Hongshan ancient jade. Hongshan ancient jade is not distinguished by its bigness, but by its exquisiteness.

Analysis of ancient jades from Congliangzhu and Hongshan mostly come from large and medium-sized tombs. In addition to offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, and accompanying corpses for burial, the Neolithic jades also served to ward off evil spirits and symbolize power and wealth. , Gui* etc. Chinese jade has always been mysterious from the beginning. The legendary Xia Dynasty was the first society in China. With the continuous accumulation of archaeological data, legends are gradually turning into reality, and the culture of the Xia Dynasty is constantly being revealed. The style of jade wares of the Xia Dynasty should be the transitional form from the jade wares of the Liangzhu Culture, Longshan Culture, and Hongshan Culture to the jade wares of the Yin and Shang Dynasties. This can be seen from the jade wares unearthed from the Erlitou site in Yanshi, Henan. The shape of the seven-hole jade knife unearthed in Erli is derived from the porous stone knife of the late Neolithic Age, and the engraving has the origin of the double-line outline of the jade of the Shang Dynasty, so it should be the jade of the Xia Dynasty.

The Shang Dynasty was the first country in my country to have a written slave system. The Shang Dynasty civilization is not only famous for its solemn bronze ware civilization, but also for its numerous jades. Not many jade articles have been found in the early Shang Dynasty, and their craftsmanship is also said to be rough. The jade wares of the late Shang Dynasty are represented by the jade wares unearthed from Fuhao's tomb in Yinxu, Anyang. At first, there were 755 jade wares, and their uses could be divided into six categories: ritual vessels, ceremonial guards, tools, daily utensils, decorations and miscellaneous wares. Jade craftsmen in the Shang Dynasty began to use Hetian jade in large quantities. In the Shang Dynasty, jasper Gui (gui ghost) and clear jade Gui were used as practical utensils imitating bronze Yi Yi vessels. Animal and human jades greatly exceed geometric jades. Jade dragons, jade phoenixes, and jade parrots have different expressions and similar shapes and spirits. The jade figures stand, kneel, or sit in various postures; it is difficult to tell whether they are masters, slaves, or captives. In the Shang Dynasty, my country's earliest beautiful jade article, the jade turtle, appeared. The most impressive and successful thing is that the Shang Dynasty began to produce a large number of round carvings. In addition, jade craftsmen also used double parallel incised lines (commonly known as double hook lines) to consciously present a positive character on two lines. In the middle of the Yin line, the Yin and Yang lines play a strong and powerful role at the same time, changing the entire pattern as fast as possible. It not only eliminates the monotony of completely using negative lines, but also enhances the three-dimensional effect of the Chinese pattern lines.

While inheriting the double-line outlining technique of the Yin Shang jades, Western Zhou jades also created the original jade-cutting technology of engraving thick lines or thin negative lines on one side, which was greatly demonstrated on the bird-shaped jade knives and jade ornaments with animal face patterns. Brilliant. But overall, the jade wares of the Western Zhou Dynasty are not as lively and diverse as the jade wares of the Shang Dynasty, but appear a bit dull and too regular. This is also related to the strict patriarchal clan system and etiquette system of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, political princes competed for hegemony, hundreds of academic schools contended, and culture and art flourished. The art of jade carving was splendid, comparable to the Greek and Roman stone carving art in the Mediterranean basin at that time. Since the Neolithic Age, jade as an important material cultural relic has formed an enduring jade cultural tradition in the history of Chinese civilization. The research, appreciation, counterfeiting and collection of jade articles are complementary to each other. It is an elegant and cultural activity with a strong academic atmosphere. It is the enduring nature of this activity that continuously pushes the research on jade articles and jade culture in my country to a higher level. Advanced stage.

Jade cultural tourism resources are an important part of the development of jade cultural tourism. Culture is the soul of tourism development, and cultural tourism is the key to improving the quality and taste of local tourism. Among the historical inheritance of Chinese cultures, jade culture has been passed down from generation to generation without interruption since the birth of civilization. For thousands of years, the Chinese nation has lived and multiplied in this vast land in eastern Asia. In the prehistoric period, it used the crystallization of its hard work to build China's own "Jade Age" and its extensive and profound jade culture, forming an outstanding jade culture while transforming nature. ethnic style. What belongs to the nation belongs to the world. The distinctive personality and rich heritage of jade culture have laid a profound material and cultural foundation for the development of jade culture tourism resources. Characteristics are the soul of tourism, and the characteristics of tourism resources are the basis for developing characteristic tourism and are the key factors that constitute tourism attraction.

Developing jade cultural tourism resources is conducive to promoting Chinese jade culture. Jade culture is an important part of my country's national culture. It is the sum of material wealth and spiritual wealth with jade as the main content created by my country's working people in long-term social practice. After being carefully carved by countless skilled craftsmen and interpreted and beautified by Neo-Confucianists, jade has become a symbol of noble personality and a representative of beautiful images. It is integrated into traditional culture and etiquette and can more systematically and completely reflect local style and life. Customs, etc., have extremely high historical, cultural and artistic value. Promoting jade culture is a need to inherit and carry forward China's excellent traditional culture, and it is also a need to boost local economic development.