wenwuchina.com

The reporter learned from the Jingzhou museum yesterday (May 2) that in order to strengthen the cultural exchange between the two places, the "golden and silver brilliance-gold and silver ware exhibition of Jingzhou Museum collection" organized jointly by Jingzhou Museum and Zhoushan museum was held in Zhoushan Museum, Zhejiang Province during May 1. The exquisite and luxurious gold and silver ornaments attracted many tourists to visit.

It is understood that the cultural relics on display are mainly gold and silver wares of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, most of which are jewelry, clothing accessories and household utensils. There are 148 cultural relics, including 6 first-class cultural relics. Although these gold and silver wares are small in size, most of them are chic in shape, rich in patterns and exquisite in workmanship. They have reached a more sophisticated level in terms of shape, material and production technology.

It is reported that the cultural relics on display include gold, hairpins, gold hairpins, necklaces, earrings, armbands, bracelets, rings, flat squares, hanging boxes, wine cups, etc., showing the local conditions and customs of the ancient Jianghan Plain and the elegant aesthetic taste of Jingchu ancestors, which are also valuable materials for studying the history of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The exhibition will last for three months and will end on August 5.

郢爰 (yǐng yuán): these two seemingly simple words are easily misinterpreted as "showing love". Ying yuan, from the Nanjing Museum, is an ancient gold coin. It is displayed in the display cabinet of Chengdu Jinsha Museum. It looks like a snack "gold coin chocolate".

"Ying" is an ancient place name, the former capital of Chu state, also known as Jiadu; "Yuan" is a Huiyi word, the original meaning is to pull, quoted, in the word Jiayuan specifically refers to the unit of currency weight . Ying yuan is a gold coin of the state of Chu in the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period. It has two styles: one is a square gold plate, the other is an oval gold cake. The gold plate is made up of several small squares, just like tortoise shells in ancient times, and more like chocolate now.

Just as chocolate can be eaten by breaking, it can also be divided into small pieces and then weighed according to the need.

Yang Haitao, deputy director of the collection department of the Nanjing Museum, said "miraculous".

In the spring of 1982, villagers in Mahu brigade of mudian commune in Xuyi county, Jiangsu Province dredged ditches to prepare for spring ploughing. Wan Yiquan, who was taking care of his pregnant wife, arrived at the construction site the latest, so he was assigned to a section of ditch with the highest terrain and the most silt. As soon as he went down, he found a broken copper basin, and a large lump of mud was thrown onto the bank. He picked up the mud and examined it carefully . He found a heavy gold beast buried in it.

I don't dare to ask brother Wan Zhang for help. The two brothers continued to dig hard under the golden beast and dug out a bronze pot filled with glittering gold coins.

The two brothers ran home with a bunch of golden pimples in their arms. They closed the door, cleaned them carefully, and put them into boxes for safekeeping. However, neighbors found that they were in a hurry, and the news that they had dug up the gold spread quickly. Villagers came from all directions to watch, and thousands of people surrounded their homes, clamoring to see the golden pimples and divide the treasures. In the panic, the windows of Wanjia collapsed and the chicken coop collapsed. The old father of ten thousand families was lying on the box to protect his treasure. He would not open the door.

Qian Yonghua, then deputy director of Xuyi county public security bureau, immediately drove to nanyaozhuang, 35 kilometers away. In the face of the villagers on the third floor and the third floor outside, he had an idea. After he squeezed into Wanjia, he came out with a bronze pot, which was the only way to solve the siege for Wanjia. Later, they quickly carried the cultural relics back to the county and hid them in the bank vault. Experts in the bank to identify and count, the bronze pot contains 11 pieces of gold plate, weighing 3260g. The total weight of gold beast, gold cake, horseshoe and gold yuan is more than 20kg, which is shocking.

Among the numerous coins, the Warring States Jin Yuan on display in Jinsha museum is rectangular in plane, slightly curved, with irregular edge at one end and oblique straight at the other end. There are 35 complete and 11 half seals in seal script.

"Ying" is the capital city of Chu state in the pre Qin period. It was founded in 689 BC. It was located in Ji Nan City, Jingzhou District, Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, and then moved several times. In 278 BC, the Qin Dynasty broke down Baiqi, and the king of Chu moved to Chencheng, which is now Huai'an. In 241 BC, King kaolie established his capital in Shouchun (now Shouxian county), still known as Ying.

Gold coins were used in China from the late Warring States period to the early Eastern Han Dynasty, which lasted for more than 300 years. The state of Chu first used gold coins, which can be traced back to King Qingxiang or King Huai of Chu. Shen Kuo's Meng Xi Bi Tan, the earliest record of Chu Yuan Jin's excavation, was called "yinzijin" by Shen Kuo in the Northern Song Dynasty. Shen Kuo called it "yinzijin", or "Huainan King's medicinal gold". The seal on it was misread as "Liu Zhu".

During the Warring States period, Ying Yuan of Chu state has a history of about 2500 years, which is the earliest gold currency found in China. At that time, the circulation of gold was limited to the upper class, and it was mostly used in international recruitment, lobbying princes, King's reward and large-scale trading. One yuan is a Jin made of Chu, about 250 grams. As a primitive gold coin, the gold content of Ying Yuan is more than 90%, and the quality of it can reach 99%.

When using the cover, people can cut it into small pieces according to the needs, and then weigh it with a special equal arm balance. Therefore, most of the unearthed Chu gold coins are fragmentary pieces, with great difference in size and weight. After circulation of "Ying Yuan", we can clearly see the traces that have been cut.

As an important economic town in the southeast of the Song Dynasty and the capital of the early Ming Dynasty, Nanjing was once a national political, economic and cultural center. Many of the founding officials, Royal relatives, nobles and scholars died here. Since the founding of the people's Republic of China, archaeologists have found many family tombs of famous families in the Song Dynasty, princes and nobles in the Ming Dynasty and meritorious officials in the founding of the people's Republic of China. A large number of precious gold, silver and jade wares have been unearthed here, ranging from daily utensils and women's ornaments to furnishings and auspicious coins. They are exquisite in shape and versatile in use. These funerary objects are of noble materials, exquisite workmanship, unique shapes and varied styles. From bowls and plates to cups, from golden hairpins to jade belts, they are all gorgeous and beautiful, full of luxury. They reflect the elegant, exquisite and magnificent life style of the princes and nobles of the song and Ming Dynasties.

Recently, sponsored by Changsha Municipal Bureau of culture, radio, television, press and publication, Changsha Municipal Bureau of cultural relics, and hosted by Changsha Museum and Nanjing Museum of Museum, the exhibition of "gold, silver and jade unearthed from song and Ming Dynasties in Nanjing" was opened to the public free of charge in the second special exhibition hall of Changsha Museum. A total of 120 pieces (sets) of gold, silver and jade articles collected by Nanjing Museum of museum were exhibited. It is reported that the exhibition will last until March 31, 2019.

The exhibition is divided into three units, namely, "dancing with pearls", "using luxurious and elegant utensils" and "winning with lucky money". Among the 120 pieces (sets) of gold, silver and jade on display, a large part of them are from the tombs with a clear chronology of the tomb owner. Among them, there are some classic works, which reflect the high level of craftsmanship at that time, and have high artistic appreciation and academic research value.

For example, a set of gold face inlaid with precious stones in Ming Dynasty is very attractive. This set of headpieces consists of six pieces in different shapes. They are inlaid with red and sapphire. They are exquisite and gorgeous, with gorgeous colors. The view is brilliant and beautiful. This set of head faces was unearthed from the tomb of Madame mubin, general mountain, Jiangning, Nanjing. Mubin is the grandson of muying, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. He was granted the Duke of Guizhou. The Mei family was the wife of mubin. The gold bracelets inlaid with gems and gold chains and incense boxes with jewels and gold chains, which appeared together with this set of headpieces, were all unearthed from the tomb of Mrs. Mu bin.

Another example is a silver slag bucket unearthed from Zhang Tong's Tomb of Song Dynasty in huangyeling, Jiangpu, Nanjing. The diameter of the silver slag hopper is 5.8 cm and the height is 8 cm. The upper part of the slag hopper is a bowl, and the lower part is a small pot, which is welded from the bottom of the bowl and the mouth of the pot. In our impression, the function of the slag bucket may be used to store mouthwash, or it may be used to spit out residue or pour tea residue on the dining table. The unearthed silver slag bucket can reflect the luxurious life of princes and nobles in Song Dynasty.

In addition, there are also precious cultural relics, such as the gold crown and gold Ming coin unearthed from Muzan tomb in Jiangjunshan, Jiangning, Nanjing; the gold inlaid jade belt unearthed from Xu Qin tomb in Bancang, Nanjing; the gold bowl unearthed from Kang maocai tomb outside the central gate of Nanjing; and the round carved baby opera octagonal jade cup unearthed from the Ming Tomb of Nanjing Bancang occupational disease prevention and Control Institute.

The development of commodity economy in song and Ming Dynasties led to the prosperity of gold and silver ware manufacturing industry. The gold and silver wares in Song Dynasty changed from the elegant style of Tang Dynasty, and the shapes tended to be delicate and small, showing elegant and beautiful. With a large number of gold and silver articles flowing into the folk, their types and decoration have got rid of the influence of foreign culture, and have more life flavor, showing a localized style. On the basis of previous dynasties, the production technology of gold and silver wares in the Ming Dynasty had new development, with beautiful appearance, fine production and complicated decoration. At this time, it was popular to inlay pearls and gemstones on gold and silver wares, which produced a series of combined products, which made the gold and silver wares of this period show the characteristics of rich and gorgeous and magnificent.

These exquisite, elegant and gorgeous gold, silver and jade articles exhibited this time are not only precious material materials for the study of Arts and crafts in song and Ming Dynasties, but also provide us with imagination space for the daily life of princes and nobles of that era.

Marx once said: gold and silver are naturally not money, but money is naturally gold and silver. Gold has been regarded as a symbol of power and wealth since ancient times. Although it is only a precious metal, it is regarded as a general equivalent logistics link by human beings, and then it is endowed with the basic attributes of money. As early as 2500 years ago, the state of Chu in China began to circulate gold coins, namely "Yinzi gold", which was also the earliest primitive gold coins in China.

"Ying" is the name of the capital of the ancient state of Chu. There is no clear definition of "Yuan". Experts believe that it is a unit of currency weight. Because the gold coins of the state of Chu are all printed with the word "Jiayuan", it is named. The gold content is more than 90%, and even 99% in good quality. When used, the gold plate or gold cake can be cut into small pieces according to the needs, and then weighed and used by a special equal arm balance.

In 2007, in Youyi village, Dafeng City, Jiangsu Province, four teenagers were playing in the wild. One of them ran to the pond to wash his hands. Suddenly, a shining stone at the bottom of the river was glared by the sun. Out of curiosity, the child called three partners of the same trade to salvage it and wash it. It turned out that it was a piece of metal block engraved with incomprehensible patterns.

A few children did not know that they were holding the gold coin of Chu state 2500 years ago. Out of curiosity, several children found three gold coins nearby, so they went home one by one. After returning home, some children told the adults about their experiences today and gave them to the adults. As a result, news of gold nuggets in the pond spread all over the village.

Many people who heard of the news ran to the river for gold. They even drained the pond water and sifted through the land inch by inch with a sieve. As a result, more than 20 pieces of the same gold were really fished out.

The news of gold nuggets in the pond spread behind, alerting the police and the local bureau of cultural relics. The Bureau of cultural relics sent people over to take a look at it. This is not the gold coin of Chu state, it belongs to the national first-class cultural relics. So since they are cultural relics, naturally they are not privately owned. After reading the "cultural relics law" for many times, the local bureau of cultural relics and the police finally recovered all the 21 pieces after one week's efforts and awarded them with certificates of honor.

Through the modern technical composition test, it is found that the lowest gold content is 86%, the average is 90%, and the highest is 99%. This purity may not be difficult for us now, but for the ancients more than 2000 years ago, they did not have our smelting equipment or modern smelting technology, so it was extremely high to achieve such purity.

Gold, with a magnificent yellow luster; silver, with a dignified white luster.

Ancient Chinese gold and silverware not only has various types and a wide range, but also has complex and fine craftsmanship.

It's very technical.

Gold and silver are the earliest precious metals discovered and used by human beings.

They not only have brilliant, noble and beautiful color and luster, but also have very stable chemical properties, low hardness, excellent ductility and easy processing.

This property of gold and silver is very suitable for making utensils and ornaments with fine craftsmanship, as well as for decorating the surfaces of other textures.

Therefore, for a long time, people began to use gold and silver to make all kinds of utensils and ornaments.

It can be said that the history of human use of gold and silver is much earlier than that of copper, iron, tin and lead, almost synchronized with the history of human civilization.

Most of the gold used in making gold and silverware exists in the form of free and elemental in nature, but silver is generally symbiotic with other minerals, and the technical difficulty of mining and smelting is much greater than gold. Therefore, the use of gold by human beings is about 1000 years earlier than that of silver, and the level of technology is also higher.

Gold and silverware is made of precious metal, and the material itself has high collection and preservation value. In addition, the manufacture of gold and silverware requires higher craftsmanship and technology. Therefore, compared with other materials, the phenomenon of counterfeiting of gold and silverware is much less.

In general, the most common way to forge gold and silverware is to fake the material texture, such as copper, lead, tin and so on, so as to make high profits.

The technical means a few days ago have been able to make a more accurate determination of the texture of gold and silverware.

For example, the determination of the content of gold and silver in objects, the determination of other metal components and their contents in gold and silverware, and even the content of gold and silver in different parts of a piece of gold and silver can be determined respectively.

For example, gold utensils such as calendars, spoons and cups unearthed in Zeng Houyi's tomb in Suixian County, Hubei Province, contain more than 85% gold and a small amount of silver and trace copper. The gold cup of the Ming Dynasty unearthed in Longyou County, Zhejiang Province, contains 73% gold in the upper part, but only 60% gold content in the foot and handle. It is empty enough to prevent the center of gravity from being unstable after the wine is placed in the gold cup, and iron is added to the empty foot to counterweight it.

With regard to the identification of the age, it is relatively easy to judge the age or period of the gold and silver objects unearthed scientifically because of the clear age and stratigraphic relationship of the tombs and other accompanying objects.

On the other hand, the age of gold and silverware found in informal archaeological excavation can only be inferred indirectly through the comprehensive analysis of inscriptions, modeling and decoration, manufacturing technology and so on.

Inscription is one of the most direct and important bases for dating.

From the perspective of the development of Chinese gold and silverware, the inscriptions on gold and silverware before the middle of the Tang Dynasty were rare.

After the middle of the Tang Dynasty, there was a significant increase in the number of gold and silverware with inscriptions.

With the help of the inscription, we can easily determine the age of the object and understand the name, use, production organization and other related information.

Although some gold and silver wares do not have inscriptions, they can be inferred indirectly by inscriptions on other gold and silver wares of similar shape or in comparison with the characteristics of known similar objects.

The shapes and types of ancient gold and silverware are extremely rich and varied.

Each era has its own popular utensils and styles.

The gold and silverware before the Tang Dynasty were mainly ornaments, and a large number of utensils such as cups, bowls, plates and pots began to appear in the Tang Dynasty.

Among all kinds of utensils, plates are more common in the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, while peach-shaped and double-peach-shaped ones are only seen in the Tang Dynasty. Banana leaf-shaped bowls and chicken crown pots are unique to Song and Liao respectively.

Such as the cup, it is more common from the Wei and Jin dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, but the Baqu long Cup is mainly popular from the Wei and Jin dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, and then it is very rare.

The high foot cup and handle cup with a relatively obvious foreign style were mainly popular from the Wei and Jin dynasties to the middle and early Tang Dynasty.

The gold and silver utensils of the same shape also show different styles in different times.

For example, the shape of the utensils in the Song Dynasty is light and thin, delicate and elegant, and the decoration pursues poetic and picturesque, while the utensils in the Tang Dynasty are generally tall, thick and rich in shape.

In addition, the artifacts of each era also have their own unique features of the times, such as the simplicity and dexterity of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the freshness and liveliness of the Spring and Autumn and warring States, the extensive and tidy of the Han dynasties, the exotic atmosphere of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties, the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty, the elegance and elegance of the Song and Yuan dynasties, and the splendor of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

As long as we grasp the characteristics of these times, the utensils of different ages can be easily distinguished.

Ornamentation is the image portrayal of ideology and culture in various historical periods, and it often shows obvious characteristics of the times.

According to the dating of ornamentation, three main points should be mastered: first, some kind of ornamentation unique to each era or region.

For example, Capricorn patterns are only seen in the Tang Dynasty and are not seen in other times.

All kinds of gold medal ornaments with animal patterns as the theme only appeared in the northern Xiongnu area from the warring States period to the Han Dynasty.

Second, the characteristics of the same decoration in different times.

For example, the dragon and Phoenix patterns in different periods are obviously different, the dragon in the Tang Dynasty generally appears as a single, three claws, the image is more simple.

Most of the dragons in the Ming Dynasty appeared in pairs, either playing with pearls for two dragons or driving beads for dragons, with five claws, which is full of miraculous colors.

Some of the fengs in the Tang Dynasty were like long-tailed birds and some were like peacocks, which were not much different from birds.

The Phoenix in the Ming Dynasty was curled up with a ferocious image.

Third, refer to the ornamentation on other texture objects.

Due to the limitation of the atmosphere of a particular era, all kinds of objects with different textures in the same era often show similar or the same characteristics in the decorative theme.

For example, the flat pattern and cloud and thunder pattern on the Jinzhan of the warring States period appeared in large quantities on the bronze wares of the same period.

The patterns of Baoxiang flowers, group flowers and ribbons on gold and silverware in the Tang Dynasty also exist in a large number of bronze mirrors and silk fabrics.

Therefore, when dating with patterns, we should refer to cultural relics of other textures as much as possible.

From the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, each era continued to push through the old and bring forth the new on the basis of inheriting the previous generation of technology, thus forming the technological characteristics of its own era.

Before the Han Dynasty, due to the influence of bronze technology, the mold casting process was mainly adopted.

During the Han Dynasty, in addition to the mold casting technology, gold wire drawing and fried bead welding were introduced from the West.

After the Wei and Jin dynasties, the influence of bronze technology has been basically eliminated, and the shaping and decoration of utensils are mainly made by hammering and chiseling.

Sandwich techniques were popular in the Song and Yuan dynasties, but the techniques of pinch wire mosaic and welding gold beads that have been common since the Qin and Han dynasties are almost invisible.

Filament and mosaic were mainly popular in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the process of burning transparent enamel was only available in the Qing Dynasty.

For the gold and silverware excavated by archaeology, the age of tombs, sites or other artifacts also has important reference value for determining the age of gold and silverware.

However, it should be noted that because the gold and silverware itself is inheritable, it can go through the years and be handed down from generation to generation, even if the artifacts unearthed in the same tomb or site may not have the same age.

Other evidence is still needed to determine whether the manufacture of gold and silverware belongs to the same era as the time of burial.

For example, the gold and silverware unearthed in the tomb of the Tang Dynasty may not be made in the Tang Dynasty, but probably in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties before the Tang Dynasty.

For this situation, it is not difficult to make a correct judgment as long as we master the main characteristics of the artifacts of each era.

In order to appreciate and collect gold and silver wares, we must not only master and be familiar with the shape characteristics, decoration style and manufacturing technology of objects of various ages, as well as the comprehensive knowledge of history and culture related to it, but also have some general knowledge of maintenance. especially for those who already have gold and silverware collections, maintenance knowledge is indispensable.

Compared with other metal objects, the texture of gold and silver is soft. In the process of appreciating the handle, you should try to avoid squeezing, colliding or touching hard objects to prevent erosion of the surface or deformation and damage of the objects.

Although the texture of gold and silver is soft, its chemical properties are very stable, especially gold, which is not easy to oxidize and has strong corrosion resistance. if you put it alone in hydrochloric acid, nitric acid or sulfuric acid, it can be safe and sound and keep the color unchanged. this point can not be compared with other metal materials, such as copper products will lose their luster as long as they touch nitric acid.

It is precisely because of this that many gold and silver products can go through thousands of years and remain as bright as ever and become treasures handed down from generation to generation.

Of course, when ancient gold and silverware were unearthed, some of the surfaces were covered with copper rust, especially silverware.

This is due to the fact that the gold and silver wares were stained with copper rust before they were unearthed and came into contact with other corroded copper, such as buried with the bronze wares.

Another reason is that the purity of ancient silverware silver is not high, containing a certain composition of copper-silver alloy, when copper oxidation corrosion, the formation of copper rust coating on the silverware surface.

However, after rust removal treatment, most of the utensils can be restored to their true colors.

Compared with gold, the anti-corrosion performance of silver is slightly worse, which makes the maintenance of silverware more difficult than that of gold.

Moist environment, hydrogen sulfide and sulfide will oxidize the silverware surface and change its color from white to gray or black. Therefore, the focus of silverware maintenance is to prevent oxidation and keep bright.

In this regard, people have summed up some effective methods.

First of all, the utensils should be kept dry and stored in a room free of sulfur and smoke (away from heating) to prevent vulcanization (commonly known as oxidation) from blackening.

Secondly, gold and silver products are regularly wiped with silver powder after long-term display, which can also prevent oxidation.

Third, if the surface of the silverware is oxidized, the washed gold and silverware can be immersed in salt water or soda water with aluminum foil or aluminum sheet at a temperature of about 78 degrees for 1 minute, or dry wipe with a sponge or cotton cloth to form a transparent protective film on the surface.

Fourth, clean regularly.

Can be washed with warm water and ordinary detergent (all gold and silver products can not be rinsed with bleach, strong acid decontamination powder and other chemicals), and rinsed with clean water, and after drying, wipe the stains clean with a little silver powder with a dry cloth, which can not only keep smooth and clean, but also prevent oxidation.

In addition, some gold-plated silverware will also fall off and lose luster due to careless use, frequent collision or scraping.

In this regard, you can try an egg white, beat it with an egg beater to cause slight blistering, then clean it with warm water, wipe it dry, dip it in a little egg whites with a brush, and gently wipe it on the gilded part, so that the gilded part can remain glossy and won't fall off easily.