The level of jade making in ancient China was very high. How did the ancients cut jade without high technology?

Jade is an important work of art in Chinese history. Their shapes are very exquisite, which makes people feel the technical level of craftsmen. However, people have doubts about the processing method of jade. There was no cutting equipment in ancient times. How do they cut jade and make such beautiful works of art?

The ancients began to cut jade articles in the Neolithic Age. There are two cutting methods, one is wire cutting, and the other is weight cutting.

As the name implies, wire cutting is cutting with wire. The method is to hold both ends of the rope with both hands, and then pull it back and forth hard to put the jade and the rope together, and finally achieve the purpose of cutting.

Of course, ordinary thread can't cut jade, and some things must be added, such as jade-removing sand, which is a very important tool in jade cutting, and its hardness is above Mohs hardness 7. Driven by cowhide rope or hemp rope, the jade sand is constantly worn away, and finally the effect of cutting and decomposing jade material is achieved.

The earliest cutting time probably appeared in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The mound cutting at that time was actually very similar to the modern electric cutting machine. A flaky object is used to cut jade. This kind of flaky object is called "mound", but there was no electricity in ancient times, so the ancients used manpower to turn the mound.

Like the line cutting method, it is also necessary to add jade-removing sand in the heavy cutting. This thing is harder than jade. Under its action, it will wear jade. But line cutting and re-cutting are just two different forces, and their efficiency will be different, and the latter will be more efficient!