Nie Zhen took a shower and changed his clothes, and immediately felt refreshed, and when he heard Zhang Tianyuan call him to see the jade carving, he went downstairs with great excitement.

On the table, there was a bowl of lotus seed porridge, which Kurban had finally gotten over, because Kurban knew that Nie Zhen hadn't eaten well in the past few days, and now he didn't dare to eat anything too difficult to digest, and it was good to drink lotus seed porridge.

Next to this bowl of lotus seed porridge, there was a thing covered with a red cloth, that is, the jade carving that Zhang Tianyuan wanted Nie Zhen to see.

Nie Zhen drank all the lotus seed porridge in one go, and he couldn't bear it anymore, so he untied the red cloth.

At that moment, he seemed to see seven colorful dragons rushing towards him, dancing and flying with joy, so frightened that he almost fell to the ground.

"Hey, it's just a jade carving, as for it? Ye Gong is a good dragon, at least he saw a real dragon, you're good, I'm scared when I see a jade carving." Zhang Tianyuan said with a smile.

"No, no, your carving is too amazing, I heard Wang Siyuan say that your jade carving skills are first-class, definitely a master-level level, but your reputation is relatively small, but I never thought that it would be so amazing. Nie Zhen rubbed his eyes, calmed down and looked at it again, and it was clear that the seven colored dragons seemed to be swimming among the jade.

"That's what I made by using color aberration and visual misunderstandings of the human eye, if you cover one eye, you'll be fine. Zhang Tianyuan said with a smile.

Nie Zhen covered one eye and looked at it again, and sure enough, the dragon didn't move, but even so, the lifelike carving still amazed him.

The seven jade dragons are powerful and powerful, with their bodies curled in an S or C shape, and their beards are bared. The eyes are wide open, and the mane is curled to the sides. The forelimbs are tortuous, and the claws and toes are sharp. The dragon's tail is rolled up and flattened, and the whole body is decorated with tadpole-like swirls. The jade workers use the techniques of Yin line carving, relief carving and partial openwork to express the meaning of the dragon diving into the abyss and waiting for the time to be lurking vividly.

Although Nie Zhen didn't understand the beauty of these carvings, he understood that this thing looked really shocking.

In China, the symbol of the dragon first appeared in the hieroglyphic period, or carved on the bones of animals and the shell of turtles, or carved into magnificent jade, which has lasted for thousands of years. It has permeated all aspects of society and become a cultural cohesion. It is a symbol, a mood, and a national emotion connected by blood!

A large number of dragon patterns are carved on ancient jade objects, which allows us to learn more about the development and evolution of dragons, and to discuss and study dragon-shaped jade artifacts in the past dynasties, which is a very important basis for the identification and dating of ancient jade.

The deep relationship between the dragon and the jade is the admiration and love of the Chinese people for the dragon and jade since ancient times. Splendid phoenix, good omen, happy heart", so the ancients used the fashion of jade carved dragon-shaped ornaments for a long time.

The world-famous Silk Road. The predecessor was a "jade road" that transported Hetian jade from Xinjiang to the east and west, which has been said before.

Archaeological finds show that as early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties. That is, more than 1,000 years ago when the Silk Road was opened, Hejiang and Tian jade were sent to the Central Plains through the Guò Jade Road. Become a treasure for the princes and nobles. Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, jade has been used in royal and noble sacrifices, pilgrimages and daily life. And there are provisions for complicated mattresses, and jade has become an important symbol of etiquette. The symbol of the Xucheng Museum, the dragon-shaped jade pendant unearthed from the tomb of King Chu of Lion Mountain, is such a cultural treasure.

The dragon is a collection of many animals and natural phenomena, with extraordinary abilities of the gods, created by the ancestors of the Chinese nation, and is the idol of the entire Chinese nation for thousands of years. Since primitive society, it has been used in jade carving as a unique plastic art. From the early Jade Pig Dragon, the C-shaped dragon, to the dragon style we commonly see today, it has undergone thousands of years of evolution.

In the history of jade in China, the Warring States period to the Western Han Dynasty is a peak of craftsmanship. The cultural prosperity of a hundred schools of thought, as well as the use of iron and stone machines, brought about a revolution in jade craftsmanship, which changed the simplicity of thousands of years of jade to become finely carved.

In this regard, some experts have summed up the "five-character formula": sharp, the edge is cut straight down, sharp enough to cut the hand; bright, the polished jade is smooth and bright; fierce, the animal image is fierce; fine, the pattern is twisted and turned, finer than the hair, known as the "gossamer hair carving"; empty, a large number of openwork hollowing, more flexible.

The seven jade dragons carved by Zhang Tianyuan are definitely in line with these five words, and they are more delicate and expressive.

……

"I said what are you doing mysteriously, it turns out that you have been carving this colorful jade for the past few days. Kurban didn't know when he had appeared at the door, he looked at the jade carving, and he was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses.

"Hey, hey, I'm smiling. ”

"No, no, no, no, you have a jade carving skill, I don't even dare to say that I know how to carve jade. Kurban was a little helpless on his face, although he was not a master of jade carving, but he was also good at jade carving, which was also a way for him to cultivate his sentiments, thinking that his jade carving skills were not as good as the master, but they were not far away, but when he saw Zhang Tianyuan's colorful jade dragon today, he was directly dumbfounded.

Zhang Tianyuan was a little embarrassed, after all, he was cheating.

Nie Zhen thought that he didn't understand jade carving, so he looked at Zhang Tianyuan's jade carving and looked good, but he didn't expect that even Kurban, who knew jade carving, said so at this time, it didn't seem to be wrong.

"Can I touch it?" Kurban asked, as he stepped closer.

"Of course, Lord Kurban, please. "For Kurban, Zhang Tianyuan is respectful, although this old man extracted five percent of the net profit from his own mine, but he also helped himself a lot, not to mention that the profit was given by him willingly, and it was not forced by others, so there was nothing to mind.

Kurban gently stroked the colorful jade dragon carving, and only after a while did he say, "Your dragon is imitating the style of the Tang and Song dynasties?"

"Master Kurban really has good eyesight, my jade carving combines the characteristics of the Tang and Song dragons, and makes a dragon-shaped jade carving that is more in line with the aesthetics of modern people. Zhang Tianyuan nodded.

"Why, aren't all dragons the same?" Nie Zhen asked with some confusion.

"You would be wrong, the dragons of the Tang Dynasty and the dragons of the Han Dynasty are completely different. In the Tang Dynasty, the dragon completely got rid of the style of the Han Dynasty. The body of the dragon resembles a long, thick snake, with four legs and four claws. The head is longer. It has antlers, cloud-shaped ears, and hair on its head. Horns grow from the bridge of the nose, red phoenix eyes. The mouth is wide open, the mouth is very large, the corners of the mouth extend back through the corners of the eyes, and the mouth is open and the tongue is out. Hair appears in the lower jaw. The limbs are slender, the front legs have banded wings, the hind legs are extra-long, and one foot is intertwined with the tail. There is hair at the joints of the legs. The joints are prominent, thick and powerful, and the claws are three-clawed. The claws are sharp and powerful. The dragon's body is no longer decorated with other ornaments, or plain, or engraved with a net-like fish scale pattern. Bald tail, unadorned tail, individual dragons with spinal fins on their backs. The overall image is dynamic, majestic, brave and powerful!"

"What about the Song Dynasty dragon? Didn't you say that this dragon combines the Tang and Song Dynasty styles? I gave the old man a gift, and he wanted to ask. I'm so bragging!" Nie Zhen said with a smile.

"The image of the dragon of the Song Dynasty is roughly the same as that of the dragon of the Tang Dynasty, continuing the double antlers, red phoenix eyes, and fish scale patterns of the dragon of the Tang Dynasty. Three claws, elbow hair, etc., but the dragon body is thinner than that of the Tang Dynasty. The body is round and slender. The corners of Song Long's mouth extend back no more than the corners of his eyes, basically two-thirds of the way to the eyes. The mouth is angular. The upper lip is raised high and the lower lip is slightly upturned. Hair thickens. The hair flows back, the neck is elongated, and the body is thicker. Two slender horns began to appear behind the dragon's forehead, and the ends of the two horns curled upwards. Similar to the double antlers of a Tang Dynasty dragon, the back of the cheeks is long and flowing, the spinal fins are large and numerous, and the eyebrows are prominent.

The surface of the Song dragon is mostly light, and there are also two outline lines carved with yin lines on both sides of the body, but the edges are thicker than those of the Tang Dynasty, and fan-shaped scales appear. The dragon's legs are very long, the hind legs are tortuous, and they appear to be weak, not as powerful as the Tang dragon, and there are hooked leg hairs at the joints, and there are also leg hairs that are floating and longer than those of the Tang Dynasty, and the hair on the legs is represented by a short yin line in the calf part. Most dragons do not intersect their hind feet with their tails. The claws resemble eagle claws, mostly with three toes, and the claws are thick and long. The tail of the dragon is mostly bare, and some have flame-like ornaments at the end of the tail. Zhang Tianyuan replied.

"Generally speaking, Song Long's carving is delicate, but the dragon tends to be stable, lacking the power of Tang Long, probably that's it, but Xiao Zhang's jade carving, not only has Tang Long's might, but also has Song Long's delicate carving technology, it is a rare boutique, if it is matched with this colorful jade, I think this jade carving sells for eight or nine million It is also suitable. Kurban lamented.

"But I've checked, this piece of colorful jade is only about one million at most. Zhang Tianyuan scratched his head and said.

"You're right, this piece of colorful jade is at most a million, but I think your skills are worth seven or eight million!" said Kurban.

"Master Kurban is really too awarded, how can I be so powerful. Zhang Tianyuan became more and more embarrassed by what he said, this is like those who traveled to ancient times to steal the verses of the ancients, people always have a little shame, and they are really a little ashamed in their hearts when they use other people's technology.

"Oh, I said brother, don't be modest, since the old man Kurban said it's worth it, then it's definitely worth it, my old man is also a person who loves jade, although he can't carve, but he knows how to appreciate it, in fact, the quality of jade is not important to him, what he values more is the carving technology, you don't have a signature on this jade carving, right? Nie Zhen patted Zhang Tianyuan's shoulder and smiled.

"Well, that's a good idea, any master starts from nothing, as long as you have good skills and someone is willing to promote you, then fame will be in a moment. Kurban nodded.

Zhang Tianyuan thought about it, and finally rejected this opinion, he could get a base, he could sign his name, but he didn't plan to sign his real name, because that might cause a lot of trouble, he planned to give himself a nickname in the jade carving world, so that even if this person became famous, as long as he didn't show his identity, he wouldn't be known to everyone.

He told Kurban and Nie Zhen his thoughts.

Kurban smiled: "I think it's better to be called 'Jade Emperor', you are more suitable for this nickname than me." ”

"Wouldn't it be a little too cheesy?" Nie Zhen frowned.

"It's okay, it's simple and clear, people who read it can understand the meaning at once, if you don't think it's tasteful enough, you can also add two words 'Tianyuan'!"

"Tianyuan Jade Emperor! This one suddenly became profound, and it corresponded to Brother Zhang's name. Nie Zhen applauded.

"Yes, the so-called 'Tian Yuan' symbolizes the 'North Star' set off by the stars, and it can also symbolize the most dazzling first star in the starry competition.

In China's ancient books, the word 'Tianyuan' has long been quoted in the "Historical Records: Almanac": "The king must be cautious at the beginning when he is ordered to change his surname." Correct Shuo, change the color, push the Tianyuan, and accept the will'. Here, "Tian Yuan" is understood as the will of the heavens.

"The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Biography of Chen Zhong" says: "The minister wishes to be the lord of the Ming Dynasty, Yan Tianyuan'." Here, 'Tian Yuan' is understood as the foundation of the emperor.

"The Biography of Wei Shuguan" said: "Those who enter the gods should step into the Tianyuan, push yin and yang, explore the mysterious, and enter the subtle". Here, 'Tian Yuan' is understood as: all supernatural characters must understand the origin and beginning of all things.

Because the word 'Tian Yuan' has such a broad and profound meaning, later emperors were happy to use it as a title title, for example, Emperor Xuan of Zhou in the Northern Dynasty called himself 'Emperor Tian Yuan'. Later, 'Tian Yuan' was also used to refer to the 'king' in a certain field, in the foot basin, 'Tian Yuan Zhan' is also one of the famous seven major chess battles, and China also has the same Go game 'Zhongguo Tian Yuan Zhan'. I don't know who gave you this name in the first place, but this name is really a bit domineering, and now it is used on your nickname, which is not indispensable. Kurban explained. (To be continued......)