玉之初曜：兴隆洼与红山First Radiance: Xinglongwa & Hongshan
内蒙古兴隆洼遗址出土的玉玦，将中国用玉史推至八千年前。红山文化的C形玉龙与玉猪龙，造型浑朴神异，被誉为"中华第一龙"，确立了玉在原始信仰中沟通天地的地位。Jade slit-rings from Xinglongwa in Inner Mongolia carry China's jade record back eight thousand years. The C-shaped dragons and pig-dragons of the Hongshan culture — hailed as the "first dragons of China" — fixed jade's role as the medium between heaven and humankind.
琮璧之制：神权与礼序Cong & Bi: Theocracy in Stone
环太湖流域的良渚文明以琮、璧、钺构建玉礼器体系，"琮王"重达六点五千克，神人兽面纹细逾毫发。良渚古城已列入《世界遗产名录》，实证中华五千年文明史。Around Lake Tai the Liangzhu civilisation built a liturgy of cong tubes, bi discs and yue axes; the "Cong King" weighs 6.5 kilograms, its man-and-beast emblem engraved finer than a hair. Liangzhu, now a World Heritage site, stands as proof of five thousand years of Chinese civilisation.
礼玉时代：六器与和氏璧The Ritual Age: Six Implements & the Heshibi
《周礼》定"以玉作六器，以礼天地四方"，玉成为王权与礼制的物质纲领。妇好墓出土玉器七百五十五件；及至战国，和氏璧"价值连城"、蔺相如"完璧归赵"，一玉之重，系于邦国。秦并六国，相传琢和氏璧为传国玉玺，李斯篆"受命于天，既寿永昌"八字，历朝奉为天命之信物；辗转千年，五代后下落成谜，世无真影；其印文摹本见于本站首页。The Rites of Zhou decreed six jade implements "to honour Heaven, Earth and the four quarters", making jade the material charter of kingship. Fu Hao's tomb held 755 jades; by the Warring States the Heshibi disc was "worth a string of cities", and its safe return to Zhao became the proverb of statecraft itself. When Qin united the realm, tradition holds, that very stone was carved into the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, inscribed by Li Si — "Mandated by Heaven: long life and eternal glory" — token of the Mandate for a thousand years until it vanished after the Five Dynasties, leaving no true likeness; a tracing of its legend appears on this archive's front page.
金缕玉衣：事死如生Suits of Jade and Gold Wire
汉人信玉能护形魄、致不朽，葬玉之制臻于极盛。满城汉墓中山靖王刘胜之玉衣，用玉两千四百九十八片、金丝约一千一百克。丧葬之外，佩玉之风亦盛，"君子无故，玉不去身"。The Han believed jade preserved the body incorrupt, and funerary jade reached its zenith: the suit of Prince Liu Sheng at Mancheng joins 2,498 plaques with some 1,100 grams of gold thread. In life no less than death, "the gentleman, without due cause, does not part with his jade."
由庙堂入书斋From Temple to Scholar's Desk
唐宋以降，玉走下神坛：玉带銙定品秩，花鸟炉瓶入文房，玉成为士大夫审美生活的一部分。晚明苏州陆子冈以"子冈牌"名动天下，琢玉与书画金石合流，工匠之名始与士人并传。From Tang and Song onward jade descended from the altar: belt plaques ranked officials, censers and bird-and-flower carvings entered the studio, and jade joined the scholar's aesthetic life. In late Ming Suzhou, Lu Zigang's signed plaques fused lapidary art with calligraphy and painting — the first carver whose name passed down beside the literati's.
乾隆工：中国玉作之巅The Qianlong Workshop: Apex of the Craft
平定回部后和田玉贡道大开，宫廷玉作臻于化境，世称"乾隆工"。《大禹治水图》玉山重逾五吨，琢制历十余年；痕都斯坦薄胎玉器"莹薄如纸"，帝王亲题诗文以志。With the Hotan tribute road secured, the palace workshops attained a finish posterity calls "Qianlong work". The jade mountain "Yu the Great Taming the Waters" exceeds five tonnes and took a decade to carve; Hindustan-style vessels were ground "thin as paper", and the emperor inscribed poems upon them in his own hand.
旧藏散聚 · 新章方启Collections Scattered and Regathered
清社既屋，宫藏流散，玉入市肆与海外公私诸馆，反促玉学研究之兴。当代以国家标准立鉴定之规，以拍卖市场定流通之价，以科学考古续写源流；玉雕列入国家级非物质文化遗产，八千年玉脉，于斯为盛。With the fall of the Qing the palace collections dispersed — into the market and into museums at home and abroad — and modern jade scholarship rose in their wake. Today national standards govern authentication, the auction room sets the price of circulation, and scientific archaeology keeps extending the record; jade carving is inscribed as national intangible heritage, and the eight-thousand-year vein runs as full as ever.
