"Look, this is the tiger-shaped jade pendant of the Chu State. This is what I got back from China. This is already jade from the middle and late Spring and Autumn period. There are two pieces of this vessel, taken from the same piece of jade. The tiger is bow-shaped and recumbent, the mouth is closed, the tail is rounded, and the whole instrument forms a jade shape. Its ornamental combinations and depiction techniques are very distinctive. The outer edge of the tiger is depicted with a thin yin line; The head and tail are decorated with a large number of dragon head decomposition symbols using small oblique knife techniques, indicating that there are many dragons, and at the same time, such symbols form the body pattern of a tiger; The central position of the tiger's abdomen is depicted with small oblique lines; The front and rear limbs are re-engraved with a large oblique knife technique, and the deep knife is re-carved out of the outline, and the shape of a dragon's head is formed. This kind of artistic expression with large and small oblique knives and thin yin lines, bold expression, and extremely textured artistic expression is very rare and very exciting. ”

Lao Chen looked at his collection of tiger-shaped jade pendants, obviously very fond of it, and praised it without hesitation.

"Lao Chen, when did you get this jade pendant, I don't seem to have seen it before, and it was flickered from someone who doesn't know how to do it?" Uncle Jian jokingly said to Lao Chen.

Lao Chen hurriedly waved his hand and explained: "Uncle Jian, don't be joking, you know that I only do serious business here, how can I fool people?" That time was when I returned to China to visit the tomb of my hometown to meet the owner of this jade pendant, his old mother was seriously ill, and the family was in urgent need of money, so he reluctantly cut his love and gave me this heirloom, if he was able to redeem it, I would return it to him at the price. ”

"Okay, okay, Lao Chen, you don't need to explain, it is estimated that the price you offer will definitely satisfy that family, people are eager to sell, how can they still redeem it, for you, this is also a big bargain." Although I don't know about jade, but look at this jade pendant without considering the performance of craftsmanship, only pay attention to the shape and ornamentation combination of this tiger-shaped jade pendant, is there a sense of déjà vu? ”

"Sure enough, Uncle Jian is still sharp-eyed! I can't hide anything from you, that's right, there is another piece of this tiger-shaped jade pendant, we have seen it in Lao Wang before, and it is the remains of Huang Junmeng and his wife in the early Spring and Autumn Period. I really wanted to get out of his hands, oh no, I bought it, but he didn't agree, and I haven't been in touch with him for months! But now that everyone is even, I also have this jade pendant, hehe! Lao Chen said triumphantly.

According to Lao Chen, these two pieces of jade, the era is a hundred years apart, and they belong to two vassal states, one is in the Huanghuai region, the Central Plains culture is combined with the Dongyi culture, and the other is the representative of the Chu culture. However, the two artifacts show a striking consistency from the function of the vessel to the combination of ornamentation, but the evolution of the process reflects the difference in age.

The Yellow State, which was destroyed by the Chu State in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, became a province of the Chu State, and the Chu State also opened the door to the Central Plains. The descendants of the nobles of the Yellow State are in Chu, and during the Warring States Period, one of the famous four princes of the Warring States Period, Chu Guochun Shenjun, is the descendant of the Huang royal family.

The historical background unravels this mystery, in fact, as the Supreme Treasure they saw, in the Spring and Autumn Period, the Chu culture was in a period of open absorption and integration, whether it was the Quanguo culture with the style of the Shang Dynasty, the Zeng culture with the characteristics of the Central Plains, the Huangguo culture of the Central Plains combined with the Dongyi culture, and the Qunshu culture in the Jianghuai Valley that was eliminated by the Chu State in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, and the Wuyue culture that was closely related in the late Spring and Autumn Period, including the inheritance of the Western Zhou culture, the inheritance of the Chu people's own clan culture, and the folk culture of Chu originating from the merchants, and the inheritance culture of the Shang relics after the death of the Shang people were absorbed and integrated by the Chu people. Chu culture was not yet fully formed in the Spring and Autumn Period, but it had laid a solid foundation, and in the middle and late Warring States period, Chu culture was brought together, thus forming a truly independent system and influencing Han culture for hundreds of years.

The jade tiger pendant presents a tiger lying down, elongated, the mouth is closed into a circle, the tail is rolled into a circle, and there is a hole on the tiger's back; The body of the tiger is decorated with the relief pattern of the spring and autumn period, and the decoration is the symbol of the disintegrated dragon head, and there is still a dragon's eye in the symbol. The jade tiger is known as one of the "six rui", which is a ritual vessel for sacrificing to the West, but the actual Shang and Zhou jade tigers, the vast majority of them are jade pendants, with two holes, and the shape is like a jade pendant, and the function should be as a necklace or a group of jade pendant accessories.

"Mr. Chen, you took us to see so much, I was really impressed by your collection. But I've seen so much jade, but the jade of the Chu Kingdom here doesn't have a dragon-shaped one, what do you think of my jade pendant? "The Supreme Treasure went around and saw that Lao Chen didn't see a jade pendant like him here, so he knew that this jade pendant must be a rare thing, and he was even more sure that he could pawn it at a good price, so he took out the dragon-shaped jade pendant and showed it to Lao Chen.

Lao Chen was shocked when he heard that the jade pendant he was hiding on his body turned out to be a dragon-shaped jade pendant, this was the jade pendant of the Chu Kingdom that he had dreamed of! He carefully took the Supreme Baoyu Pei and deliberately put on reading glasses to observe.

The beauty of the stone also. The people of the Celestial Empire have been jade since ancient times, and the so-called "Jun has no reason, and jade does not go to the body". From ancient times to the present, jade has been endowed with many beautiful meanings by people of all eras. During the Warring States Period, jade was regarded as a symbol of "virtue", and the princes and nobles loved jade, and wearing jade became a fashion. According to historical records, among the seven heroes of the Warring States Period, Chu Yu is the most jade. Among the unearthed jade artifacts of the Warring States Period, most of the jade with soft shapes are Chu jade, which experts say is related to the Chu people's love of beauty, and also reflects the unique Chu jade culture.

Lao Chen looked left and right, and shone in the sun, slowly put down the jade pendant and sighed: "In the 70s of the last century, in the tombs of the nobles of the late Warring States period Chu found in Yanggong Commune in Changfeng County, a dragon-shaped jade pendant like this was unearthed. At the same time, this type of dragon-shaped jade pendant is regarded as the best footnote to the characteristics of jade during the Warring States period. I was also fortunate to observe the excavation of that jade pendant, which is indeed ingenious and crystal clear. I thought it was already the pinnacle of the dragon-shaped jade pendant of the Chu Kingdom, but I didn't expect that I could still see a dragon-shaped jade pendant that was more well-built than the jade pendant in the United States today. If that jade pendant belongs to the king, then I don't want to lie to you about it, it must belong to the emperor! ”

Hearing Lao Chen praise the weight of this jade pendant so unreservedly also surprised Uncle Jian. Lao Chen has always treated antiques with a cautious attitude, once he says what he says, he will not change, since he is so sure of the value of this jade pendant, there is no doubt that this jade pendant must be priceless. At least Lao Chen's tiger-shaped jade pendant is incomparable to Lao Wang's.