Some time ago, the Beijing Winter Olympic medal debuted, Beijing as the first to host the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games "Double Olympic City", the Winter Olympic medals announced this time by the ring and the center of the circle to form the card body.
The medal face is set up with five rings, five rings of concentricity, concentric circles, expressing the Chinese cultural connotation of "heaven and earth, people's hearts and minds", and its image design comes from the double jade bi excavated from Lingjiatan, which echoes the 2008 Beijing Olympic Medal "Gold inlaid Jade", showing the inheritance of Chinese culture.
The back of the Medal at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics contrasts with the jade bi unearthed at Lingjiatan
2008 Beijing Olympic Games Medal "Gold inlaid Jade"
Bi is a kind of flat round jade with perforations in the center, the perforation is called "good", the edge of the body is called "meat", "Erya Shi" explains that bi is "meat times better", that is, the sum of the jade parts on both sides of the bi is equal to twice the central aperture of the bi, and in the traditional Chinese cultural concept, the jade bi symbolizes good will and noble quality. On April 22, 2021, Sotheby's Hong Kong auctioned a piece of "Eastern Han/Qing Qianlong Imperial Award Embedded "Yannian" Dragon and Phoenix Pattern Rosewood Interstitial Screen", which was auctioned for HK$53.771 million with its exquisite craftsmanship.
Eastern Han/Qing Qianlong Imperial Reward embedded with "Yannian" dragon and phoenix pattern rosewood interstitial screen
But the real protagonist of this interstitial screen is the Eastern Han Dynasty "Yannian" jade bi inlaid on it. Jade bi is white and yellow-brown, the texture is very warm, bi divided into two circles inside and outside, the inner circle is neatly arranged milk nail pattern, from the decorative meaning of the jade bi strong ornamentation and carved inscriptions can be seen that this bi is the jade of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and by its volume and carving can be determined as the royal object of the Eastern Han court.
How jade is step by step,
Become Chinese spiritual totem?
In primitive tribes, the ancestors processed jade into various forms, such as yugui, yuqing, jade bi, etc., and the wizards used it to build a passage for the soul to ascend to heaven.
"Make six vessels of jade, and honor the heavens and the earth in all directions." With Cang Bi to pay tribute to the heavens, with Huang Zhen to pay tribute to the land, with Qing Gui to the east, with chi zhang to the south, with the white amber to the west, with Xuan Huang to the north. "A set of religious beliefs and the distribution of power represented by jade constitute the earliest cultural core of human civilization, which is a symbol of the supremacy of theocracy.
Neolithic Jade Bi
Collection of Hunan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Neolithic Fangs statue jade plaque ornament
With the development of society, the rise of royal power, theocracy is driven by royal power, and jade is also included in the scope of etiquette by those in power. During the Western Zhou Dynasty and the subsequent Spring and Autumn Warring States period, jade became a symbol of aristocratic status and rank, and was gradually accepted by all strata of society.
Shang Dynasty Yu ge
Collection of Nanyang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
The Book of Rites and The Book of Rites records: "The gentleman of the past, the gentleman is better than yu yan... 'Words and gentleness are like jade', so the gentleman is also noble." Since then, the jade civilization that has been inherited for thousands of years in the land of China has been established, a new concept of jade serving the moral system has been established, the decorative function and spiritual connotation of jade have been further strengthened, and the era of "tibetan jade for the whole people" has begun.
Western Zhou Jade Owl ( xiāo )
Collection of Luoyang Museum
The higher the social status, the more jade pendants worn, the more exquisite and more complex.
The Book of Rites and Jade Algae records: "The Heavenly Son's Jade Algae, ten of which are two, before and after, and the tornado is sacrificed." The "jade algae" hanging on the crown of the emperor is a jade ornament that runs through the silk rope of miscellaneous picking; the national seals used by the dynasties are also made of beautiful jade, and the most famous of them is the "ordered by heaven, both Shou Yongchang" created by Qin Shi Huang with Heshi Bi to pass on the national jade seal.
In the Han Dynasty, under the thick burial jade system, many princes and courtiers wrapped their bodies with jade pieces embellished with gold silk after death, in the hope that the corpses would be immortal, called "golden jade clothes".
Stroll 9000 years "jade" to see you!
There are stones in the mountains, echoing in the flood, wrapped in recklessness once!
Changsha Museum New Museum 6th Anniversary Annual Exhibition "Jade Soul - Ancient Chinese Jade Culture Exhibition" was launched on December 28, bringing together 8 cultural institutions 410 pieces / set of jade for free, taking you from the ancient ancestors 9,000 years ago to discover jade, the use of jade, walk together in the long river of history, feel China's unique jade culture, Yujian will take you together "jade" to see, stay tuned!
Warring States Lixian Xinzhou M1 Group Jade Pendant