Mr. Shen Congwen once wrote a book called "Research on Ancient Chinese Costumes", which conducted a systematic study of ancient Chinese costumes, which shows that costume culture can also represent Chinese characteristics.
Nowadays, in this era of globalization, China needs to wait for itself in the trend of the world, and it must protect the cultural characteristics of China, and the ancient costume culture is just a good entry point. Although many of China's ancient costumes have been scattered in the era of cultural turmoil, folk treasures can also be collected in many treasure hunting programs.
Two years ago, when the treasure hunting program was at its most popular, there was an extremely interesting thing, a middle-aged woman with a somewhat rich appearance sent the ancestral phoenix crown from her home to the program for experts to distinguish between true and false. The crown on the head of this treasure bearer is dazzling, roughly looking like there are more than 400 gemstones shining together, the mink style is made into a base, covered with red weft, the red weft is embellished with seven golden phoenixes, three golden phoenixes tremble at the top of the hat, each golden phoenix has a pearl on the top of the head, and the back of this phoenix crown is embellished with a golden zhai, and several rows of pearls hang from the tail, which is very eye-catching.
The expert hurried to the front of the stage, asked the treasure holder to remove the phoenix crown on his head, hold it in his hand and look at it carefully, wear white gloves and hold a magnifying glass to carefully examine it one by one, as if he was afraid of missing some incredible details. The audience on the field could not help but be a little curious, some of the audience also stood up, the host even forgot to communicate with the treasure holder, the eyes were attracted by the glorious phoenix crown, it was the treasure holder who reminded him to say sorry. While waiting for the experts to inspect the treasure, they chatted about the origin of this phoenix crown.
"This phoenix crown was seen when I once went on a trip to accompany my wife to visit the treasure street, and the shop said that this phoenix crown is the treasure of its own town hall and is very valuable," the aunt looked proud. "Then why did you agree to transfer it to you?" The host asked the doubts in the hearts of everyone at the scene, "Because the owner of the shop urgently needs money, the children in the family are sick, and I really like it, so I decided to buy it." The eldest aunt thought about it carefully, "If it is true, I will keep it for my son's daughter-in-law." ”
Big Mama does not seem to have thought that this phoenix crown has the possibility of fake, to know that in the Ming Dynasty imperial tombs excavated by archaeologists today, only four ancient phoenix crowns have been found, and the craftsmanship of each piece is exquisite and complex, gorgeous and dazzling. If the phoenix crown taken by this aunt is a real cultural relic, then its value is immeasurable.
After a while, the expert walked out of the treasure room and said: "The pearl inlaid with this phoenix crown seems to be brilliant, but carefully examining the roundness and luster of this pearl is not up to the level used by the royal family, and the carved pattern on it is rough, which can be dazzling at a cursory look, but it is not worth mentioning when you look closely." ”
"But overall, this phoenix crown is a more careful fake." You can use it as an ornament, and the craftsmanship is decent. The expert said with a serious face. After hearing this announcement, the big aunt just swept away a proud look, full of frustration, but it was not easy to show too obviously in front of the camera.
The eldest aunt suddenly asked, "The seller told me that this was worn by the most favored palace maid around Empress Dowager Cixi when she was married, and he also explained to me the relevant stories and the symbolic meaning of the pattern on the phoenix crown. ”
Experts said: "The predecessor of the phoenix crown is the phoenix-shaped first dress such as the phoenix, the phoenix lord, etc., in the qin shi huang period, the concubines in the palace had the tradition of inserting the phoenix, but the phoenix crown at that time did not develop a lot of pattern styles, and when the han dynasty came, the empress dowager and the empress would embroider the phoenix bird on the dress and the phoenix crown, implying that the dragon and phoenix were auspicious, to show the dignity of their mother's world." ”
Another expert added: "When the phoenix crown evolved into the Wei and Jin dynasties, the decorations of various nobles in the palace had already evolved, such as the phoenix bird image of the bu shake and the phoenix with the mouth beads. By the time of the Tang Dynasty, because the Tang Dynasty was rich and the folk customs were relatively open, the phoenix crown was no longer a symbol unique to the imperial family, and generally the richer gentry and clans could also wear the phoenix crown when they married their daughters, and even the palace women in the palace had their own tops. ”
"Then will I be a Palace Lady of the Tang Dynasty?" Big Mom looked lucky. "Don't worry, the phoenix crown worn by the palace maid is natural and simple, and the phoenix crown you sent is sparkling and complicated at first glance, and it will definitely not be the top of the Tang Dynasty palace girl!" Experts explained, "Although the Ming Dynasty had more rules, since Empress Ma, civilian women were also allowed to wear phoenix crowns when they married. ”
"However, the marriage of civilian women in the Ming Dynasty was mostly a little green phoenix crown, and was regarded as an indispensable ornament for marriage, and later wearing the phoenix crown not only became a decorative need, but also considered a heartfelt blessing for newlyweds, representing the hope that the husband and wife's feelings were harmonious and harmonious." The experts recounted it carefully.
"But your top, you look closely at this trimmed gold and its connected craftsmanship, very neat and tidy is made of modern tools, pearls are real, but in fact, the value is not high, as a craft is very good, but there is no particularly large collection value." 」
After listening to the big mother, the face was suddenly dark, and the expert comforted the big mother and said: "You don't get too frustrated, spend money to buy a lesson, this phoenix crown was most popular in the Song Dynasty, at that time the girl popular all kinds of crowns, such as white horn crown, tuan crown and other shoulder crowns, big mother, you know a little more about the phoenix crown after you will no longer be deceived." ”
Big Mom nodded lightly, and the host walked up to the round field and said: "Big Mom, in fact, this is not necessarily a completely bad thing, eat a long and wise ah!" ”
In fact, there is a very key clue to the phoenix crown worn by the aunt is that the phoenix crown she presents has a dragon pattern, even if it is the phoenix crown of the Qing Dynasty, it cannot have the figure of the dragon, because the ancients believed that the dragon was an ornament that the son of heaven could only be worthy of. It can be seen that the ornaments on the crown of the phoenix are also very exquisite.
There are many parts of a phoenix crown that need to be completed individually, such as jewel flowers, green clouds, green leaves and sideburns. At present, the phoenix crowns excavated by the museum are mainly from the Ming Dynasty, such as "Nine Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crowns", "Six Dragons and Three Phoenix Crowns" and "Three Dragons and Two Phoenix Crowns", which pay attention to symmetry, but they will not appear very dull.
The existence of the phoenix crown is not only a symbol of China's imperial power, but also the best embodiment of the empress's mother's world. China's feudal system of more than two thousand years is largely necessary for this kind of clothing symbol to remain, and the role of utensils is not only symbolized by preciousness, it is also the memory of a certain era.
Of course, the structure of the phoenix crown and the exquisite craftsmanship also make its own contribution to Modern Chinese Art, its unique structural shape makes Chinese design have a new source of ideas, and good art must settle from the source of culture to diverge innovation.
The concept of many modern ornaments comes from the West, but in fact, china's original jewelry technology is also extremely valuable, and the practice of processing gold and silver into silk on the crown of the phoenix is now little known. Nowadays, China's economic development has reached a height, and the profession of "craftsman" has a new meaning, and people no longer regard the profession of "craftsman" that has been passed down from generation to generation as a shame, but because of its artistry and irreplaceable professionalism, they pay a high degree of respect to the craftsmen. Therefore, now the state advocates the spirit of craftsmanship and hopes to pass on the Chinese craftsmanship.