Besides wearing and enjoying, what are the deeper meanings of the ancient jade horse carving?

Horse culture is an irreplaceable spirit in China traditional culture. In the eyes of the ancients, horse culture and dragon culture are neck and neck. Through the cultural pursuit of Buddhism, we can know that the earliest story about horses was the Fuxi cultural period 7,000 years ago. This story is closely related to Fuxi's innate eight diagrams.

dragon

Many people should have heard this story. This story tells that Fuxi saw a dragon horse emerge from the Yellow River 7000 years ago (the dragon horse here is a beast on the dragon horse), and the river map was painted on its back. The appearance of the river map directly inspired Tai Hao sages to draw innate gossip. As for the historical significance of the innate eight diagrams, I won't go into details here (it is said that the innate eight diagrams show the truth of heaven and earth).

River map Luo Shu unearthed in Lingjiatan

Dragon and Horse eventually became the representative of the important spirit in Chinese civilization and an important embodiment of Chinese cultural legend. Among them, the self-improvement of Heaven is its spiritual essence, and it is precisely from this that the spirit of Dragon and Horse has evolved into the virtue of taking human nature as a gentleman. The use of dragons and horses to inspire people and inspire people to flaunt people shows the importance of the nature of dragons and horses to human nature education. Therefore, both the emperor and the palace use dragons as totems. Dragons can ascend to heaven or fall out of the water, and it will be more beautiful if they can't see the end. In the market, the spirit of the horse has become a symbol of enterprising spirit, and idioms such as success in the horse are very useful in the market. The so-called "Longteng Jing Tian" and "Ma Yue prospering the land" are just different manifestations of the spirit of dragon and horse between the government and the people.

River map Luo Shu unearthed in Lingjiatan

Whether from the legend of the dragon horse river map in Fuxi, the practice of the royal family symbolizing the dragon, or the custom of loving horses in the streets and alleys, it shows that horse culture has always been a part of the essence of Chinese culture, and it has gone through a historical process of 5,000 years with the Chinese nation. There are many stories about horses in history, for example, Zhou Muwang's Eight Horses Journey to the West, Liang Wudi's desire to raise fine horses and seek famous horses, Xiang Yu and Hou Ma, Guan Gong and Red Rabbit Horse, Liu Bei and Lu Ma, Emperor Taizong's Six Horses in Zhaoling, Bole and Maxima in Li Shimin, and even Xiang Ma have become specialized academic books. Throughout the world, no nation can love horses as much as the Chinese nation! Next, we will focus on the story of celebrities and horses.

Painting and calligraphy works

The first story of a celebrity and a horse was undoubtedly Zhou Muwang. Zhou Muwang was the fifth emperor of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which made Da Zhou more brilliant under the governance of Zhou Muwang. On the basis of his ancestors, Zhou was able to enlist good warfare, defeat enemies who were strong outside but weak inside, mend domestic politics (defeat dogs, Rong and Chu, and quell the chaos of domestic governors), expand the territory and stabilize the country. On such a civil and military basis, the Mu Eighth Army traveled westward, making the Queen Mother, the leader of western powers, pay homage. However, this warrior son of heaven is a son of heaven who loves horses. Although history has obliterated the achievements of his life, it has passed on the story of his journey to the west from generation to generation!

A trip to western Zhou Muwang.

Followed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty-Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty likes horses, but his good horses are not entirely out of personal interest, and a large part of the reason comes from the enemy's deterrence. He is different from his parents, or he is tired of his parents' humility to the Huns. In the history of the Western Han Dynasty, when the Huns were feared for nearly a hundred years, the heroic Emperor Wudi broke out. He used the strength of the whole country to train horses and appoint people on their merits, thus reversing the repeated attacks of the Huns. At this time, the horse culture in China culture is the embodiment of national prosperity.

Xi Liang Wudi sculpture

For more than 2,000 years, military commanders have been inseparable from horses, such as the warrior Xiang Yu who can carry the tripod, the dark horse on his legs, the warrior Guan Yu, his red rabbit horse, Li Shimin, the king of Qin who has not yet ascended the throne, and Liu Jun, Liu Bei and Lu Ma who saved his life. Such stories, such war horses, such heroes, combined into a wonderful chapter in history, in that cold weapon era, I don't know how many. These amazing achievements.

Cavalry in modern warfare

Painting and calligraphy works

Painting and calligraphy works

Under the influence of such a culture, it will naturally appear that "everyone who has heroic dreams almost loves horses". Of course, no matter in ancient times or today, a good horse is not a luxury, but it is definitely a luxury! Therefore, the horse culture has another inheritance. This is our theme today. Jade articles with horses as the theme were first seen in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, but rarely seen in past dynasties.

Jade carving horse

Jade articles with the theme of horses first appeared in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. Jade carved horses in Yin Dynasty are rare, but each has its own characteristics. Jade carved horses in Yin and Shang Dynasties are the same as deer and rabbits in Yin and Shang Dynasties. Their bodies are small and flat, and there are no ornamentation on horses. The jade materials used are all flaky and engraved with intaglio patterns. The shape of a horse is generally open-eyed, and the eyes are unique in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. The tail hangs down, and the middle of the horse will be engraved with ridges and the neck will be engraved with bristles. Belonging to ornamental jade, it is perforated and generally located at the back of the horse's head.

Jade horse in Shang dynasty

Compared with the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the number of jade horses in the two-week period was even rarer, but great progress was made in carving technology, and in the Shang Dynasty, it had developed from piece carving to round carving. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, Jade Horse was generally standing. At present, its eyes and nose are elongated. The neck is engraved with mane. The abdominal muscles are slightly bulging, and the buttocks and abdomen are tight and round. On the surface of the horse body, cirrus moire will be carved as decoration with double hook intaglio technology.

The jade carving will be sealed immediately.

Only one jade horse from the Warring States period was unearthed. The jade horse is carved from a round carving. Its mouth is slightly open, its nose is exposed at present, its ears stand forward as a warning sign, its tail droops and is knotted at the end, its mane is represented by a strip ridge at the back of its neck, full of light, its front foot is upright and its rear foot is slightly bent. A rectangular flat seat at its foot supports four feet and connects them into a device.

Snow-covered mountains

Han Dynasty is an important period in the history of ancient jade horse production, with a large number of jade horses and various shapes. There are mainly two kinds of shapes, one is full prone posture, and the other is fairy galloping horse. During this period, influenced by the culture of "Dragon Horse" and "Tianma", Jade Horse will have feathered wings. On the horse's head, the five senses will be expressed in bas-reliefs, which are lifelike, and the sense of shuttle angle formed by carving will be felt by touching with hands. Most of them hold their heads high, their mouths open wide, and their teeth are exposed (this image is very similar to the "copper galloping horse" unearthed from the Han tomb in Leitai, Wuwei). In the neck of a horse, a number of parallel short lines will be used to represent the mane, the ponytail will be tilted and the tail tip will droop. Some of the four legs are kneeling or squatting, and some are running.

Jade carving beast

From the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang and Song Dynasties, the expression of imperial horse has not changed much, so we take the Song Dynasty as an example. Song dynasty is another prosperous period after the imperial horse in Han dynasty, with a large number and exquisite production. The prosperous period of Yuma accords with history and has a lot to do with the invasion threat of the Han regime, such as Han and Song, to the nomadic people in the north.

Jade rabbit in Shang dynasty

The style of jade horse in the whole Song Dynasty is very realistic, so the biggest feature of jade horse in the Song Dynasty is realism. In the Song Dynasty, jade horses were usually carved with olive eyes and a slightly open mouth, and many fine parallel arcs were used to represent the hair between the mane and the tail. In addition, the jade horses in the Song Dynasty are all round carvings, and their shapes are relatively docile. There are very few jade horses jumping around, mainly kneeling and lying down (the author speculates that this has a lot to do with the cultural prosperity of the Song Dynasty, because in the Song Dynasty, literati were the main rulers of society, so horses that originally represented force and military power were also literate, and this phenomenon was manifested in the carving of jade horses, which became kneeling and lying down). Therefore, the overall style of imperial horse in Song Dynasty is naive, very cute and full of delicate warmth of literati.

Yuwoma

The jade horse in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties basically followed the style of the Song Dynasty. The only change was that in addition to vertical carving and piece carving, a brand-new carving technique-three-dimensional carving was applied. In addition, the jade horse in the Yuan Dynasty is more abundant in carving content, such as "shepherd" and "immediate seal". In concrete form, the mane evolved from a parallel arc into multiple bundles, and the horse's head began to look back and forward. The shape of jade horse in Ming dynasty inherited the traditional practice of Yuan dynasty, and there was no obvious change.

Jade carving horse

Among the jade horses in the Qing Dynasty, besides the theme of independent horses, jade carvings of people riding horses to enjoy the scenery began to appear, and the jade horses in the Qing Dynasty were fine and vivid. The focus of carving has changed from horse to carving of human or horse ornaments. Jade horses and round carved horses in Qing Dynasty were mostly fat horses. The auspiciousness implied in the container shape has become the main mission of horses. The most common themes are "setting an example first" and "success in one fell swoop".

water a horse

In a word, horse culture is very important in China culture. Although jade carved horses are rare in the Tang Dynasty, the "tricolor horse" in the Tang Dynasty is definitely the best in horse culture and art! Therefore, we can know that horses are not only synonymous with ancient advanced productive forces and means of transportation, but also the embodiment of the enterprising spirit and martial spirit of the Chinese nation!