论玉 - mauriceling/mauriceling.github.io GitHub Wiki

石之美者就是玉，玉含上品有九德。
仁者温润光泽。智者清晰纹理。
义者坚硬不屈。节者清正不伤。
纯者清明不垢。勇者可折不屈。
诚者优缺表外。容者美光不犯。
理者音纯不乱。

九为极数道之顶。自古帝王君子命。
玺仗斧钺示权贵。国胜君主惜玉之。
国到顶胜玉也细，从此国运山水流。
日升高清步春秋。

商有武丁伐玉门，千里行兵占石坑。
妇好为武丁之后，妇好坟出玉七百。
一件器皿一年工，四十工匠一身劳，
只为妇好作遗裳。武丁之后汤商衰。

唐胜官配和田带，一品高官十二块。
李柷登宣汉白石，可怜不及汉白玉。
比起高宗李世明，官级三品带和田。
可想景宗谥为哀。

明代宫廷皆和田，神宗万历无好玉。
和田运输三千里，城城守吏窃皇玉。
治国何以治到此，守国变成盗国者。
重八孝陵内哭泣。

清弘历爱玉无限，后人封他为玉痴。
乾隆自犯乾上爻，又玩田黄又玩玉。
大禹治水图玉山，五吨青白新疆来。
劈山开路又建桥，三年运石两年雕。
大清运衰乾隆起。

射箭玉谍免指伤，后代看指权贵寒。
久用手把玉包浆，包浆班指价值高。
骑射带指谍必伤，无缺班指包浆厚。
只因盘玩废骑射，防守武技逐日退。
亡国之日不久已，败衰预言在班指。

颗颗玉石章章文，件件玉器篇篇论。
考玉可见胜与衰。
虽有德但也有九，乾卦谨慎必须考。
九五不该盼上爻，飞龙在天上有悔。
玉中之意在于此。
虽有德而不可极，玉劝一切行中庸。
— 24/12/17

Commentary: In nearly all imperial Chinese dynasties, jade is one of the ultimate luxury items. It is said that jade has 9 qualities which reflects the 9 qualities of a gentleman. The number 9 signifies the peak – peak of power, peak of achievements, and so on – because of that, all emperors, nobilities, and gentlemen loves jade. The rise and decline of dynasties can be seen from jade use. Jade-wear are artifacts with no real added purpose. For example, a jade sword cannot be used for war and a jade axe will shatter if used like an axe. The finest jade-wear originates at the peak of a dynasty; from then on, decline happens.

I listed 5 examples of such heights and decline of dynasties. Firstly, the 22nd king of Shang dynasty, 武丁, started a 3-year war in the northwest to secure jade; specifically, nephrite from Xinjiang (和田玉). 755 jade objects were excavated from his queen’s tomb; his queen is by the name of 妇好. It is estimated that it will take a year for a craftsman to make a jade-wear. Hence, the lives of at least 40 craftsmen were spent on making jade-wear for her burial. Shang dynasty started to decline after 武丁.

Secondly, in the early part of Tang dynasty, many officials have pieces of nephrite on official belts as a sign of rank. Yet, the coronation tablet of the last Tang dynasty emperor (李柷) is not even jade but marble. Compared to perhaps just a hundred years before that a 3rd level official would have nephrite on his belt, no wonder 李柷 is the “Pitious Emperor of the Tang” (唐哀帝).

Thirdly, Ming dynasty emperors used lots of jade-wear. By the time it reaches to 明神宗万历皇, 朱翊鈞 lamented that none of the jade that was shipped to Beijing was any good but he still had to use them. The reason was that it took 3000 kilometres journey to ship nephrite from Xinjiang to Beijing and along the way, guards and officials stole the good pieces from the imperial shipment. Instead of protecting the country, they stole from the country. Given that the first Ming emperor (朱元璋, original name was 朱重八) abhors corruption, he would have been crying in his tomb (孝陵) at the state of affairs.

Fourthly, Emperor Qianlong of Qing dynasty loves jade and a pretty rare type of stone called 田黄. He ordered to have a large piece of nephrite to carve into a sculpture. This piece of nephrite weighs 5 tons. It took 3 years to transport back to Beijing – roads were built, and forests were cleared just to transport this piece of jade. After which, it took 2 years to carve this sculpture, which is currently housed in Beijing Museum. Till today, nobody knows how this sculpture can be carved. Qing dynasty started to decline from Qianlong’s reign.

Lastly, nobilities on horseback tend to wear a thick jade ring (玉扳指) to protect their thumb during archery. Hence, this ring has been used to symbolize status. When an animate object (be it stone or wood) is constantly handled, it will have a polished finish with a layer of waxy oxidation, formed from layers after layers of sebum coating and oxidation. This results in a unique polish known as 包浆, which increases the value of the artifact. As a protective ring, parts of the ring would be worn out from cuts and burns by the arrows. Hence, a good sebum polish on a perfect jade ring means that the owner had neglected his archery and his duty to carry arms for the country. Therefore, this ring foretold the decline of the dynasty.

Every piece of jade tells a story and often, the story of rise and decline. The number 9 is the peak and in Book of Change (易经), the hexagram of only nines represents heaven (乾卦). Even the emperor can only be at the 5th of 6 levels. Maybe this is the meaning of jade – to remind us that there is a seed of decline even in the best object.