The Pearl Culture in Jewelry and JadeFrom the perspective of China culture, the pearl culture was an indispensable part of the jewelry and jade culture. It had a unique form and cultural heritage.
In the early days, the significance of the beads went beyond simple decoration. As early as 6000 years ago, humans would make beads to wear. At that time, beads might be given mysterious powers such as status, worship, and faith. Since the Neoliths era, as people had a desire for wealth and identity, beadwork products became more mature, and the quality of the materials was constantly upgraded. The culture of beads included decoration, protection, faith, rank, value, art, and many other aspects.
Beads of different eras had different statuses and characteristics. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, beads were ornaments for the rich and powerful. It was only in the Tang Dynasty that they gradually became popular. From a collection point of view, China pearls could be divided into high ancient, middle ancient, and Ming and Qing dynasties. Among the ancient beads, the Western Zhou agate had a bright red luster and was exquisitely ground. It was rarely unearthed and had a high price. The red bamboo-shaped agate tube was popular in the Western Zhou Dynasty. It had a higher shape and was slightly more expensive than the Western Zhou agate, but it was inconvenient to wear it in a string. The Warring States Dragonfly Eye was influenced by foreign culture. It was a glass product more than 2,000 years ago. It was rich in color and decorative patterns. It was only popular in the Warring States Period for a short time and was now mostly used for collection and ornamental purposes. At that time, the crystal tube of Qi State was made of a new material and a new model. The processing, modeling, and polishing process had a great visual impact. In the past two years, the price had risen strongly. There were many kinds of beads in the Middle Ages and Ming and Qing Dynasties. Gold beads, eastern beads of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, corals, rhinoceros horns, agarwood and other court beads were more collectible.
Tibetan culture beads had a strong religious culture behind them, and they had the meaning of peace and good fortune. The materials used included Dzi beads, agate, turquoise, coral, beeswax, etc. Among them, Dzi beads had the highest collection value. The main material was agate or chalcedony, and the surface pattern was given blessings such as protection and good fortune.
In addition, Buddha beads were a typical and special use of beads in the Buddhist Realm. At first, they were used as a tool for chanting scriptures and counting. Beads also had meanings such as showing one's status (materials were scarce, and most of them were luxury goods for the rich), dispelling disasters and evading evil, praying for blessings, comforting the soul, and reflecting fashion.
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Mother-of-pearlMother-of-pearl could be used to express a woman's beauty, melancholy and frustration, and to show the social style of the time; when used in the name of a person, it could have the meaning of bright and moving, beautiful like a flower, and bejeweled with jewels. It could also mean that the baby would be smart and versatile in the future. In addition, simple mother-of-pearl flowers were like small dots on the forehead, which symbolized good luck. Different styles of mother-of-pearl flowers could also convey different aesthetic cultures, such as pursuing a minimalist life, being close to nature, enjoying life, or pursuing complexity and beauty.
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The color of mother-of-pearlThe mother-of-pearl had three colors: red, green, and yellow, with red being the most common.
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Mother-of-pearl patternOther than the common plum blossom patterns, there were also birds, small fish, ducklings, and other shapes. The shapes were beautiful and novel.
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Mother-of-pearl patternThere were many patterns on the mother-of-pearl, such as plum blossoms, birds, small fish, ducklings, moons, circles, cones, peaches, pomegranate flowers, tri-leaves, all kinds of flowers, birds, insects, fish, ox horns, fan shapes, etc. There were also peony flowers, red maple leaves, tri-leaves, sunflowers, etc. They could also be drawn into abstract patterns, dense and even.
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The shape of mother-of-pearlThe mother-of-pearl came in a variety of shapes. Other than the common plum blossom shape, there were also more than 30 shapes, such as moon shape, round shape, cone shape, peach shape, pomegranate flower shape, three-leaf shape, and all kinds of birds, small fish, ducklings, flowers, birds, insects, and fish.
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What is a mother-of-pearlMother-of-pearl was a kind of flower ornament on the face of an ancient Han woman. It could also be used as a headdress. Usually, flower-shaped jewelry was made from gold and jade jewelry. There were three colors of red, green, and yellow, of which red was the most common. In addition to the plum blossom shape, there were also birds, small fish, ducklings and many other shapes. It was very beautiful and novel. When making mother-of-pearl, the common practice was to first stick the cut pattern on the forehead, then use gold, silver and other materials to make the flower shape, and finally fix it on the hair accessory. The materials used to cut mother-of-pearl included gold foil, paper, fish gills, fish scales, tea oil flower cake, etc.
The origin of mother-of-pearl could be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It was used during the Qin and Han Dynasties. It reached its peak during the Tang Dynasty due to the rise of Shangguan Wan 'er and others. It was still popular during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period and gradually disappeared during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. There were also some allusions to mother-of-pearl. For example, the plum blossoms on the forehead of Princess Shouyang, the daughter of Emperor Wu of the Southern Song Dynasty, were imitated by the palace maids to form "plum blossom makeup" or "Shouyang makeup"; Shangguan Wan 'er used mother-of-pearl to cover the traces of her face being scratched by Wu Zetian, and the palace maids imitated it to form a popular makeup face called "flower". In modern times, there were also mid-brows patches similar to mother-of-pearl flowers. They had a China style, a cute ancient style, and were convenient and practical.
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Metaphor of mother-of-pearlMother-of-pearl had many meanings.
In terms of love and marriage, mother-of-pearl was often associated with it. In ancient literary works, when a woman met her beloved, she would deliberately light a mother-of-pearl to express her love and expectation. It carried the woman's yearning for beautiful love. On important occasions such as weddings, the bride's mother of pearl symbolized a happy marriage and was a beautiful witness to love and marriage.
From the perspective of status, the mother-of-pearl was a symbol. In the ancient palace, the shapes and colors of the mother-of-pearl were different for different levels of concubines and palace maids. The higher the status of the woman, the more gorgeous and exquisite the mother-of-pearl. In the folk, the women of wealthy families ordered exquisite mother-of-pearl flowers to show their wealth and status.
At the same time, the mother-of-pearl also represented beauty and elegance. In ancient times, there were many shapes and colors of mother-of-pearl. Women carefully selected the mother-of-pearl that suited them and placed it in the center of their foreheads to enhance their temperament. In court banquets or folk gatherings, women who wore mother-of-pearl were particularly eye-catching.
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Simple Painting of Mother-of-pearlA simple method of painting mother-of-pearl was to use it as a template, apply eyeshadow, and dye other colors according to the circumstances. There was also a method of hand-painting a hollowed-out template of mother-of-pearl, which was suitable for adults and children, but the specific use of this template was not mentioned in detail.
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What's a mother-of-pearl?Mother-of-pearl was a decorative item used by ancient Han women. It had two forms of expression. One was used as a face ornament, such as sticking it on the forehead or cheek. It could be made of gold and jade jewelry into flower-shaped jewelry in red, green, yellow, and other colors (red was the most common). There were various shapes, including plum blossoms, birds, small fish, ducklings, etc. The production materials included gold foil, paper, fish gills, fish scales, tea oil flower cakes, etc. The common practice was to stick the cut pattern on the forehead, and then use gold, silver, etc. to make a flower shape and fix it on the hair accessory. The other was used as a headdress. It could be used to describe a woman's exquisite and beautiful makeup. Its origin could be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It was used in the Qin and Han Dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, Shangguan Wan 'er and others made it rise again to its peak. It continued to be popular in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and gradually disappeared in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
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