The tiger, in the eyes of human beings, is a very majestic, dangerous and domineering, cold-blooded and fierce animal. Since ancient times, people's ambivalence about things and emotions has all been applied to this animal, and they love and hate, which is both very afraid and resistant, but also incomparably admired and worshipped. Looking back at the history of human civilization for thousands of years, people have always had a mixed love for tigers, such ancient and mysterious cats.
▲ Henan Anyang Xiaomin Tun unearthed tiger-shaped jade pendant
In ancient jade, jade with tiger stripes has an important position, compared with other animal-type jade, tiger stripes appear more frequently, and the development of tiger striped jade is more continuous.
▲Henan Museum collection of tiger-shaped jade pendants
For the jade amber, han Confucians all believe that it is a jade with tiger stripes or the shape of a tiger. In the "Ancient Jade Tu kao", Qing Wu Da Li recognized some similar jade as amber, and even considered a piece of jade to be a fuhu, and mistakenly called it amber. Archaeologist Xia Nai pointed out in "Classification, Naming and Use of Shang Dynasty Jade": "I think that jade with tiger stripes engraved on the surface should be named according to the shape of the instrument, and the word 'tiger stripe' should be added before it. As for tiger-shaped jade, the hole-shaped one can be called tiger-shaped jade, and the non-hole can be called a plaything or display, which can be called jade amber. ”
The tiger-shaped jade excavated and handed down in archaeological excavations includes round carvings, reliefs and tiger patterns carved in plane lines, mostly used for ornamentation. Jade amber is located at the end of the 6 kinds of jade, and the Zhou Li says, "Take jade as six instruments, and worship the heavens and the earth in all directions." With Cangbi liturgy to the heavens, with Huang Zhen liturgy, with Qing Gui li to the east, with Chi Zhang li to the south, with Bai Hu to the west, with Xuan Huang li to the north. "White amber is one of the important ceremonial vessels of the ancients. The "Shuowen" explains Yuhu: "Sending troops to Ruiyu, for the tiger text", Yuhu became a relic of the prince's dispatch of troops, but from the current excavations, the actual object of the amber has not yet been seen.
▲Shanxi Museum collection of tiger-shaped jade pendants
Neolithic jade amber
At present, the earliest tiger jade is found in the Lingjiatan site in Hanshan County, Anhui Province, more than 5,000 years ago, where three pieces of tiger-shaped jade have been excavated and collected. Neolithic jade workers used yin line, drilling and other jade techniques to carve out the tiger head of the image, with obvious characteristics and vivid images.
▲Anhui Hanshan Lingjiatan site unearthed Tiger head jade huang
Shang Dynasty Jade Amber
Many tiger-shaped jades appeared in the shang dynasty jade, ranging from three-dimensional round carved jade amber to tiger-shaped jade pieces. In the Shang Dynasty, the shape of yuhu was mostly made of a head-up, round eyes or the word "subject", open mouth and teeth, bent feet for walking, and long tails rolled back. The tail of the Shang Dynasty round carved jade amber is thick and long, the body is similar to a square cylindrical shape, the tiger's back to the sides of the tiger's body has obvious turns, the tiger's hips and shoulders are slightly convex, the middle of the tiger's back is slightly concave, and the tiger's body tattoos are abstract and exaggerated.
▲ The tomb of the woman hao was unearthed jade amber
Some of the Shang Dynasty carved jade amber were made of fragments of jade bi, so the tiger's body was slightly curved and took the shape of Huang. The carved jade amber is generally a long tail with an upturned tail and an open mouth. The hollowing out of the mouth is multi-pointed star-shaped, the mouth seems to have fangs, the decoration of the tiger body is generally more concise, and several yin carved lines are often used to draw the front and back limbs, and the eyes are often round eyes made by the squeeze method.
▲ Liujiazhuang in Anyang, Henan Province unearthed tiger-shaped jade pendant
Western Zhou Yuhu
Unlike the tigers on the Tiger-shaped Jade Pendants of the Shang Dynasty, which were mostly standing or lying in a static posture, the tigers on the Tiger-shaped Jade Pendants of the Western Zhou Dynasty were mostly running and creeping dynamics. Western Zhou Yuhu is mostly flattened, with a round mouth, a slender body, and a simple decoration of the tiger body.
▲Tomb No. 8 of the Jinhou Cemetery in Shanxi was excavated in the shape of a tiger-shaped jade pendant
The tiger-shaped jade pendant excavated from the Tomb No. 1 of The Western Zhou in Baoji Rujiazhuang, Shaanxi Province, has a flat body, a high head, a short neck, small ears standing upright, a round hole in the mouth, a roaring and running shape with exposed sharp teeth, a long tail rolling back, and the front and back limbs are bent and planed, and the image is fierce and impressive. Each front and back thighs are carved with a yin line, the ear sockets are sunken, and the back and abdomen are cut and edged to form an arc, although it is a relief, it has a circular carving effect.
▲ Shaanxi Baoji Rujiazhuang No. 1 tomb unearthed tiger-shaped jade pendant
Spring and Autumn Warring States Jade Amber
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the early Warring States jade, there were many pieces of carved jade amber, with abstract shapes and tight limbs as if they wanted to rush. The tiger's head is small and square, the eyes are shaded, the tiger's mouth is open, and the upper lip is rolled upwards. The ornamentation of the tiger body is very complex, with a right-angle "S" pattern and other commonly used ornaments in jade in the Spring and Autumn Period, and some of them have a double arc of the inscription that seems to be the word "ren".
▲Collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei Jade Crouching Tiger
Warring States jade amber basically inherits the shape of Spring and Autumn jade amber, but the carving is more exquisite. The jade amber of the Warring States period was also mostly a piece of carving, and there were also round carvings, but it was not as abstract as the works of the Spring and Autumn Period, with a clear tiger shape. The head of the tiger is not large, but the neck is slightly thinner, and some tigers have a mouth similar to the dragon's mouth, and the lips are shaped like axes. The body of the tiger is recumbent, often decorated with arc patterns and valley patterns, which may be used for runes.
Han Dynasty Jade Amber
There are many mythical beasts in the jade of the Han Dynasty, generally with horns and wings, and the style is extremely obvious. In the Han Dynasty, jade amber appeared in a pattern of ornamentation, decorated in the four spirit patterns such as the jade shop head, and the head of the separate amber pendant resembled a dragon head, and the contour line was also decorated with a rope pattern.
▲Collection of the Jumei Art Museum in Paris, France Han Dynasty Jade Amber
As the king of the forest, the tiger, with jade, comes to life, and gives it a profound cultural connotation, jade amber, in the splendid ancient jade culture and history of the long river of pivotal position.