A Preliminary Discussion On The Crystal And Agate Products Of Qi State In The Eastern Zhou Period

There are many jade objects found in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty,and the jade objects of different colors and shapes have different functions and symbolic systems,which is an important part of the ritual system in this period.States inEastern Zhou Dynasty began to use a large number of crystal and agate products,which should have a deeper social background.Up to now,the research results of jade articles are vast,but there is still a lack of research on crystal,agate and other substitute jade articles in detail from the point of view of using materials,especially to explore their social,political and economic interaction is still insufficient.In view of this,this paper selects the most typical and most discovered crystal and agate products from Qi area in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty as the research objects(more than 3000 pieces in total),on the basis of systematically combing the relevant materials,discussing its use details and development and utilization background,and at the same time uses the literature historical materials and archaeological achievements to discuss its production technology,cultural attributes and so on.The information available for reference and citation is extremely limited because the crystal and agate products are rarely discovered and studied.On the one hand,the use details of crystal and agate products mainly rely on traditional archaeological methods,based on unearthed situation,literature historical materials and other archaeological materials to support,some conclusions still need to be empirical;on the other hand,the development and utilization of crystal and agate resources only rely on traditional archaeological analysis to achieve its basic research purpose.Limited to the above materials and methods,this paper is mainly based on the material and shape characteristics of crystal and agate products in Qi area,the preliminary establishment of archaeological classification standards reflecting their production and cultural attributes,on the basis of classification,combined with the key time node,focus on its use details and development and utilization background and other basic issues.Up to now,on the basis of the existing literature and archaeological data,the crystal and agate products unearthed from Qi region can be divided into two categories according to their use,including headdress,item decoration,wrist decoration,finger decoration and group decoration.And group decoration can be divided into four categories:chest decoration,shoulder decoration,waist decoration,foot decoration and so on.Different uses of crystal agate products are slightly different in the use of objects,while single-piece crystal agate products are widely used for small and medium-sized officials with certain social status or rich civilians to wear or to be buried,while group ornaments and other string ornaments are mainly seen in the higher rank of aristocrats and concubines,this phenomenon reflects that users still have a certain level of identity constraints in identity and gender,but this restriction don’t seem to be strict during the Warring States period.According to the literature of the past dynasties and modern geological data,the crystal and agate resources in Shandong area are mainly distributed in the south of Shandong and Jiaodong Peninsula.In the middle and late Spring and Autumn,with the continuous expansion of Qi state,it gradually controlled these places of origin,and put into practice to develop and utilize local resources.According to the comprehensive value and other factors,the raw materials of crystal and agate in Qi area should be obtained from the nearest source,and the origin may be near the Taiyi Mountains and Jiaodong Peninsula during the Spring War,and then the origin may increase.The production and consumption place is mainly in the capital of Qi in Linzi area,the production and circulation link may adopt the "industrial and commercial food official" mode,that is,by the government unified sales and purchase,which may also be an important reason why the crystal agate products of the Qi State,especially the gorgeous and colorful crystal agate group accessories,were concentrated in the Linzi area.At present,The Eastern Zhou crystal and agate products found all over the country have both common characteristics and differences in quality,type and combination.The reason is likely to be determined by different production attributes and cultural attributes.As a great country with important influence during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty,Qi laid a foundation for the use and circulation of crystal and agate products among the countries of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty through various means of communication,such as tribute,acceptance,reward,war,capture and trade,with the progress of jade management technology and commercial access.After the Zhou Dynasty moved east,the royal family declined,the regional standard concept of the various princes was strengthened,and the regional culture rose with it.At the time of the Spring War,the Qi country appeared jade-based crystal and agate products,which were common in Qi,Lu and Central Plains,and basically not in Qin and Chu,which may reflect the differences between different cultural systems.In short,the crystal and agate with Qi characteristics is actually born from the ritual and music system of the Zhou royal family.The convergence of the Peiyu system in the Warring States period,macroscopically reflects the common cultural traits of the ceremonial civilizations in the Central Plains,and to some extent heralds the unification of the Qin and Han dynasties.Because this article is mainly interpreted based on the existing materials and related materials,the research process is often insufficient,and some conclusions are yet to be proved.The research object of this paper is the crystal and agate products of Qi state in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty,which can be used to interpret the original appearance of regional jade resources development and utilization in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty by exploring the interaction between jade products and political,economic,cultural and other fields under different material selection backgrounds in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.