Zhenping Jade Carving

Zhenping Jade Carving

　　Zhenping County is located in the southwest of Henan Province, on the northwest side of the Nanyang Basin and at the southern foot of the Funiu Mountains. It governs 12 towns and 11 townships, with a total population of 930,000 and a total area of 1,500 square kilometers. It is one of the “Provincial Comprehensive Reform Pilot Counties” and “National Model Counties for Rural and Village Civilization Construction,” and is officially recognized by the state as the “Hometown of Chinese Jade Carving.” The ancestors of Zhenping County began polishing jade as early as the Neolithic Age over 4,000 years ago, and the jade carving industry gradually took shape during the Song and Yuan dynasties. Since the reform and opening up, Zhenping County has transformed this traditional technical advantage into an industrial one, leading to the vigorous development of the jade carving sector. In March 1995, it was jointly named the “Hometown of Chinese Jade Carving” by five departments including the Ministry of Agriculture of China.

In traditional Chinese culture, jade has always held a very important position. Jade culture can be said to be a distinct symbol of Chinese culture. Confucius said, “A gentleman compares his virtues to those of jade.” Hence, there has long been a saying in Chinese history that “a gentleman never parts with jade.” In the eyes of the Chinese, the character of jade can be summarized in two words: “warm” and “smooth.” These are also precisely the qualities that traditional Chinese culture demands of one’s character.

Historically, the “Four Famous Jades” of China are commonly considered to be “Hetian Jade” from Xinjiang, “Xiuyu (Jadeite-Albite Jade)” from Xiuyan County in Liaoning, “Dushan Jade” from Nanyang in Henan, and “Turquoise” from Yunxian and other areas in Hubei.

The history of Nanyang’s jade culture is long, dating back to the Neolithic Age. The oldest jade artifacts discovered to date are a Duyu (Dushan Jade) shovel and a jade bead unearthed from the Yangshao Culture site at Huangshan (now Wulong District, Nanyang), which are 5,000 years old. During this period, jade artifacts mostly featured three series of shapes: straight and square, round and curved, and composite, such as the axe symbolizing royal authority, the cong used in rituals to worship deities, and the bi symbolizing the sky. Ritual objects like the cong, bi, and bead also bear “ritual symbols” resembling craft marks. This profound prehistoric jade culture laid the first foundation stone for Chinese civilization.

In March 1975, two perforated jade shovels were unearthed at Anguo City, located three li northeast of Zhenping County town. After appraisal, they were determined to be works from the early Xia Dynasty and are likely the earliest jade artifacts left behind by the Chu people. Subsequently, jade bi and jade zhang were also unearthed in some areas of the Nanyang Basin. The “Rites of Zhou · Da Yu Bo” records: “Jade is used to make ritual objects to pay homage to the four directions of heaven and earth — the blue bi is used to honor heaven, the yellow cong to honor earth, and the red zhang to honor the south...” The blue bi, red zhang, and yellow cong mentioned above are actually part of a ritual object system, indicating that the jade culture during the Xia, Shang, and Zhou periods was in a ritualized era. The creative styles and artistic techniques of this period employed symbolic methods that exaggerated certain features, did not seek realistic forms, and highlighted spiritual essence, resulting in a flowing and graceful rhythmic beauty.

During the Eastern Zhou period, jade culture had developed far beyond the natural attributes of jade, transforming it into the embodiment of a gentleman and endowing it with moral and humanistic connotations, thereby liberating it from the control of divine and royal authority. The so-called “eleven virtues of jade” clearly personified jade.

During the Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties periods, jade culture was imbued with a layer of mysterious feudal color. A large number of burial jades were discovered in Han tombs excavated in Nanyang. These burial jades mainly included jade plugs for bodily orifices, jade mouthpieces, and jade hand-holders, which the ancients believed could prevent the body from decaying.

By the Han Dynasty, Nanyang jade had been extensively mined and carved, reaching a remarkable scale, with concentrated areas for processing and carving jade artifacts. Shops lined both sides of the streets, workshops stood in great numbers, and the sound of jade carving could be heard incessantly. At least by the Western Han period, Nanyang jade carving had already achieved considerable scale. Today, the site of the Han Dynasty “Jade Street Temple” still remains at Shagangdian at the foot of Dushan Mountain. After the Tang and Song dynasties, Nanyang jade carving gradually evolved from being purely tribute items for the enjoyment of nobility to include both decorative pieces and daily-use utensils.

Since the Tang and Song dynasties, under the influence of painting art, jade artisans skillfully handled the relationship between form and spirit, bone and flesh, giving rise to new jade artifacts featuring Buddhist, figure, and flower-and-bird themes. This propelled jade artifacts into the realm of art, presenting new trends toward secularization and everyday life. During the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, jade carving techniques improved significantly. The imperial court established a “Jade Bureau,” while the folk jade industry flourished, making jade artifacts widely popular.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the variety of Nanyang jade carvings had become extremely rich. After the Qing Dynasty, Nanyang jade carving had grown into a major industry, with the development and utilization of Dushan Jade receiving significant attention. Major progress was made in mine bed research, mining, carving and processing, and market sales. Especially since the reform and opening up, the long-renowned Nanyang jade carving industry has attracted many outsiders, allowing Dushan Jade to be better known, appreciated, and accepted by more people.

Nanyang Dushan Jade comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns, with over thirty types of hues including red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. It boasts bright colors, high hardness, good luster, fine texture, and high transparency, making it an excellent raw material for carving jade artifacts. It can rival jadeite and has been called “Nanyang Jadeite” by the world.

Jade carving products can be divided into four main categories: figures, flowers and birds, beasts, and utensils. Figure carvings often draw inspiration from mythological legends and ancient opera stories. Flower and bird designs include Twenty-Three types such as “A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix,” “Magpies Celebrating the Plum Blossom,” “Phoenix and Peony,” and “Long-Tailed Bird Screens.” Beast designs include Sixteen types such as lions, elephants, tigers, oxen, and tethered horses. Utensil designs include jade city, jade rings, revolving furnaces, birds, beasts, and human figures, all showcasing exquisite carving skills, complex knife techniques, and profound symbolism. Plain carvings include rings, bracelets, and earrings. Modern artisans, in addition to inheriting traditional carving techniques, have also incorporated styles from Chinese painting such as landscapes, figures, and flowers and birds, further enriching the patterns of jade carvings and enhancing their ornamental value. Through the dedicated research of generations of jade carving artists, the characteristics of “floral carvings excelling in technique, plain carvings shining in color” have gradually taken shape.

The millennia-old, ever-thriving jade carving industry has nurtured generations of highly skilled Nanyang jade carving artisans. While inheriting traditional craftsmanship, Nanyang’s jade carving masters continuously introduce, absorb, and innovate in artistic design and carving techniques. It is the combination of a long history, profound cultural heritage, and unique fine jade resources that has enabled the artistic treasure of Nanyang jade carving to be passed down through generations, flourishing and producing ever more stunning masterpieces. To date, over forty exquisite works designed and carved by Nanyang jade carving masters, such as “Crouching Dragon Emerging from the Mountain,” “Nine Dragons Rotating Floral Incense Burner,” “Deer and Crane in Spring,” “The Great Wall,” and “Nine Dragons Sundial,” have won national and provincial awards. Many pieces have been collected as rare treasures by the Palace Museum, art galleries, and private collectors.

Known as the “National Treasure” and weighing 3,500 kilograms, the jade artifact “Dushan Huge Jade Sea” is the earliest and largest giant jade carving in Chinese history. It is an epoch-making artistic treasure in China and a rare masterpiece in the history of world jade carving. However, for over seven hundred years, the origin of its jade material has been widely debated and never confirmed. Recently, the China Traditional Culture Promotion Association under the Ministry of Culture, the Asia Jewelry Federation, and other organizations hosted the China Precious Stones and Jade Culture High-Level Forum at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. At the forum, after careful observation and research by more than twenty well-known domestic jade archaeology and collection experts, and repeated comparison and appraisal with samples from Nanyang’s Dushan Jade mines, it was determined that the jade material used for the “Dushan Huge Jade Sea,” created during the Yuan Dynasty and now displayed at Tuancheng in Beihai Park, Beijing, is Nanyang Dushan Jade. Thus, a “millennial mystery” has finally been solved.

Currently, Nanyang’s Zhenping has become a world-famous hometown of jade carving. Countless people in the region are engaged in jade carving, and Zhenping people dealing in jade carving products can be found all over the world.