Misplaced Pages

#571428

84-653: The culture is named after Hongshanhou ( simplified Chinese : 红山后 ; traditional Chinese : 紅山後 ; pinyin : Hóngshān hòu ), a site in Hongshan District , Chifeng . The Hongshanhou site was discovered by the Japanese archaeologist Torii Ryūzō in 1908 and extensively excavated in 1935 by Kōsaku Hamada and Mizuno Seiichi. In northeast China, Hongshan culture was preceded by Xinglongwa culture (6200–5400 BC), Xinle culture (5300–4800 BC), and Zhaobaogou culture , which may be contemporary with Xinle and

168-470: A catch-all decorative arts or "minor arts" category. The types of objects carved have included those with ritual or religious purposes, engraved gems as signet rings and other kinds of seal , handles, belt hooks and similar items, vessels and purely decorative objects. Hardstone carving falls under the general category of glyptic art , which covers small carvings and sculpture in all categories of stone. The definition in this context of " hardstone "

252-434: A conversion table. While exercising such derivation, the following rules should be observed: Sample Derivations : The Series One List of Variant Characters reduces the number of total standard characters. First, amongst each set of variant characters sharing identical pronunciation and meaning, one character (usually the simplest in form) is elevated to the standard character set, and the rest are made obsolete. Then amongst

336-409: A drill, which does not allow fine detail. There is no evidence that magnifying lenses were used by cutters in antiquity. The Chinese sometimes tipped their straight drills with less-valued diamonds . A medieval guide to gem-carving techniques survives from Theophilus Presbyter . Byzantine cutters used a flat-edged wheel on a drill for intaglio work, while Carolingian ones used round-tipped drills; it

420-578: A little later. The Yangshao culture of the Yellow River existed contemporaneously with the Hongshan culture (see map). These two cultures interacted with each other. Hongshan culture was succeeded by the Lower Xiajiadian culture (2200–1600 BC), which was replaced by a different Upper Xiajiadian culture (1000-600 BC) with a shift from farming to pastoral nomadism , likely due to climate change . In

504-599: A newly coined phono-semantic compound : Removing radicals Only retaining single radicals Replacing with ancient forms or variants : Adopting ancient vulgar variants : Readopting abandoned phonetic-loan characters : Copying and modifying another traditional character : Based on 132 characters and 14 components listed in Chart 2 of the Complete List , the 1,753 derived characters found in Chart 3 can be created by systematically simplifying components using Chart 2 as

588-464: A practice which has always been present as a part of the Chinese writing system. The official name tends to refer to the specific, systematic set published by the Chinese government, which includes not only simplifications of individual characters, but also a substantial reduction in the total number of characters through the merger of formerly distinct forms. According to Chinese palaeographer Qiu Xigui ,

672-450: A single piece or of pieces inlaid on a backing of another material. Curators refer to "Olmec-style" face masks as despite being Olmec in style, to date no example has been recovered in a controlled archaeological Olmec context. However they have been recovered from sites of other cultures, including one deliberately deposited in the ceremonial precinct of Tenochtitlan ( Mexico City ), which would presumably have been about 2,000 years old when

756-404: A single standardized character, usually the simplest among all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification and are thus identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. The Chinese government has never officially announced the completion of the simplification process after the bulk of characters were introduced by the 1960s. In the wake of

840-665: A tradition throughout the Middle Ages, often working in clear rock crystal. There are a few large pieces from Carolingian art , including the Lothair Crystal , and then a continuing tradition of rock crystal work, often used undecorated in reliquaries and other pieces in the same way as modern glass, for which they are often mistaken by modern viewers. By the end of the Middle Ages a wider variety of stones and objects are seen, used for both religious objects and secular ones. The Opificio delle pietre dure ("Hardstone workshop") founded by

924-483: Is a unique ritual complex associated with the Hongshan culture. Excavators have discovered an underground temple complex—which included an altar —and also cairns in Niuheliang. The temple was constructed of stone platforms, with painted walls. Archaeologists have given it the name " Goddess Temple " ( Chinese : 女神庙 ; pinyin : nüshenmiao ) due to the discovery of a clay female head with jade inlaid eyes. It

SECTION 10

#1732880557572

1008-440: Is actually more complex than eliminated ones. An example is the character 搾 which is eliminated in favor of the variant form 榨 . The 扌   'HAND' with three strokes on the left of the eliminated 搾 is now seen as more complex, appearing as the ⽊   'TREE' radical 木 , with four strokes, in the chosen variant 榨 . Not all characters standardised in the simplified set consist of fewer strokes. For instance,

1092-454: Is derived. Merging homophonous characters: Adapting cursive shapes ( 草書楷化 ): Replacing a component with a simple arbitrary symbol (such as 又 and 乂 ): Omitting entire components : Omitting components, then applying further alterations : Structural changes that preserve the basic shape Replacing the phonetic component of phono-semantic compounds : Replacing an uncommon phonetic component : Replacing entirely with

1176-585: Is not very significant in the art of ancient Egypt , outside jewellery, as alabaster was a more common material. The jade signet ring of Tutankhamun has been called a "unique specimen" of Egyptian jade. Among the seals of the Minoan civilization during the Aegean Bronze Age , the Pylos Combat Agate dated circa 1450 BC is considered one of the finest works of that era, depicting naturalistic details of

1260-809: Is now discouraged. A State Language Commission official cited "oversimplification" as the reason for restoring some characters. The language authority declared an open comment period until 31 August 2009, for feedback from the public. In 2013, the List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters was published as a revision of the 1988 lists; it included a total of 8105 characters. It included 45 newly recognized standard characters that were previously considered variant forms, as well as official approval of 226 characters that had been simplified by analogy and had seen wide use but were not explicitly given in previous lists or documents. Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification , eventually arriving at

1344-548: Is the "Dauphin's Treasure" of Louis, Dauphin of France (1661–1711) , which passed to his son Philip V of Spain ; over 120 objects are now displayed together in the Museo del Prado , many of which were already over a century old in the Dauphin's lifetime. In contrast to the vast malachite vases that rather typify Russian carving (picture below), the last notable modern producer was Fabergé in pre-Revolutionary Russia. Before he produced

1428-451: Is unclear how they learned this technique. Mughal carvers also used drills. Inlay sections could be sawed by bow saws . In intaglio gems at least, the recessed cut surface is usually very well preserved, and microscopic examination is revealing of the technique used. The colour of several gemstones can be enhanced by a number of artificial methods, using heat, sugar and dyes. Many of these can be shown to have been used since antiquity — since

1512-538: Is unscientific and not very rigid, but excludes "soft" stones such as soapstone (steatite) and minerals such as alabaster , both widely used for carving, as well as typical stones for building and monumental sculpture , such as marble and other types of limestone , and sandstone . These are typically not capable of a fine finish in very small carvings, and would wear in prolonged use. In other contexts, such as architecture, "hard stone" and "soft stone" have different meanings, referring to actual measured hardness using

1596-540: Is used instead of 叠 in regions using traditional characters. The Chinese government stated that it wished to keep Chinese orthography stable. The Chart of Generally Utilized Characters of Modern Chinese was published in 1988 and included 7000 simplified and unsimplified characters. Of these, half were also included in the revised List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese , which specified 2500 common characters and 1000 less common characters. In 2009,

1680-473: The ⼓   ' WRAP ' radical used in the traditional character 沒 is simplified to ⼏   ' TABLE ' to form the simplified character 没 . By systematically simplifying radicals, large swaths of the character set are altered. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms that embody graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. In addition, variant characters with identical pronunciation and meaning were reduced to

1764-654: The Aztecs buried it, suggesting these were valued and collected as Roman antiquities were in Europe. The Aztecs' own masks are more typically of turquoise inlay, the Mayans' of jade inlay (see gallery). Another supposed type of Pre-Columbian hardstone carving is the rock crystal skull ; however experts are now satisfied that all known large (life-size) examples are 19th-century forgeries, though some miniature ones may be genuinely Pre-Columbian. The Māori people of New Zealand , developed

SECTION 20

#1732880557572

1848-490: The Cultural Revolution , a second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977—largely composed of entirely new variants intended to artificially lower the stroke count, in contrast to the first round—but was massively unpopular and never saw consistent use. The second round of simplifications was ultimately retracted officially in 1986, well after they had largely ceased to be used due to their unpopularity and

1932-611: The Goddess Temple ) point to the existence of a " chiefdom " in these prehistoric communities. Painted pottery was also discovered within the temple. Over 60 nearby tombs have been unearthed, all constructed of stone and covered by stone mounds, frequently including jade artifacts. Cairns were discovered atop two nearby hills, with either round or square stepped tombs, made of piled limestone. Entombed inside were sculptures of dragons and tortoises . It has been suggested that religious sacrifice might have been performed within

2016-501: The Mohs scale of mineral hardness and other measures. Some rocks used in architecture and monumental sculpture, such as granite , are at least as hard as the gemstones, and others such as malachite are relatively soft but counted as hardstones because of their rarity and fine colour. Essentially, any stone that is often used in jewellery is likely to count as a hardstone. Hard organic minerals such as amber and jet are included, as well as

2100-542: The Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) the character meaning 'bright' was written as either 明 or 朙 —with either 日 'Sun' or 囧 'window' on the left, with the 月 'Moon' component on the right. Li Si ( d.  208 BC ), the Chancellor of Qin, attempted to universalize the Qin small seal script across China following the wars that had politically unified the country for

2184-710: The Sino-Tibetan languages ), while a partial switch to pastoralism in the Bronze Age Upper Xiajiadian culture is associated with a decrease in this genetic affinity. After the Late Neolithic, there was a sharp transition from Yellow River to Amur River -related genetic profiles (associated with speakers of Tungusic languages ) around the West Liao River. This increase in Amur River affinity corresponds with

2268-725: The Taj Mahal . The great wealth of the Mughal court allowed precious stones like rubies and emeralds to be inset freely in objects. The court workshops of the Ottoman Empire also produced lavish and elaborate objects, in similar styles but without reaching the artistic peaks of Mughal carving. From the early civilizations of the near East descended the carving of vessels and small statues in Ancient Greece , Ancient Rome and subsequent Western art , and also Sassanian Persia ; however it

2352-858: The Uruk period of Sumerian culture (4th millennium BCE) heavy vases, cups and ewers of sandstone and limestone have been found, but were not for common use, as the people of Uruk had well-developed pottery . The art is very ancient, going back to the Indus Valley civilization and beyond, and major traditions include cylinder seals and other small carvings in the Ancient Near East , which were also made in softer stones. Inlays of semi-precious stones were often used for decoration or highlights in sculptures of other materials, for example statues often had eyes inlaid with white shell and blue lapis lazuli or another stone. Chinese jade carving begins with

2436-624: The Yellow River valley approximately 4,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence discovered at the Miaozigou site in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, a northern branch of the Yangshao culture from the Yellow River (the Yangshao culture is speculated to be the origin of the Sino-Tibetan languages ) demonstrates similarities in the material cultures between the Yellow River and Liao River cultures. Three individuals from

2520-540: The jade burial suits in which aristocrats of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) were buried were intended to preserve the body from decay. The Chinese and other cultures often attributed specific properties for detecting and neutralizing poison to gemstones, a belief still alive in the European Renaissance , as shown by the works of Georgius Agricola , the "father of mineralogy ". The English word "jade" derives (via

2604-756: The mineraloid obsidian . Hardstones normally have to be drilled rather than worked with edged tools to achieve a fine finish. Geologically speaking, most of the gemstones traditionally carved in the West are varieties of quartz , including: chalcedony , agate , amethyst , sard , onyx , carnelian , heliotrope , jasper , and quartz in its uncoloured and transparent form, known as rock crystal. The various materials called jade have been dominant in East Asian and Mesoamerican carving. Stones typically used for buildings and large sculpture are not often used for small objects such as vessels, although this does occur. For example, in

Hongshan culture - Misplaced Pages Continue

2688-520: The states of ancient China , with his chief chronicler having "[written] fifteen chapters describing" what is referred to as the " big seal script ". The traditional narrative, as also attested in the Shuowen Jiezi dictionary ( c.  100 AD ), is that the Qin small seal script that would later be imposed across China was originally derived from the Zhou big seal script with few modifications. However,

2772-441: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Hardstone carving Hardstone carving , in art history and archaeology , is the artistic carving of semi-precious stones (and sometimes gemstones ), such as jade , rock crystal (clear quartz ), agate , onyx , jasper , serpentinite , or carnelian , and for objects made in this way. Normally

2856-461: The 1919 May Fourth Movement —many anti-imperialist intellectuals throughout China began to see the country's writing system as a serious impediment to its modernization. In 1916, a multi-part English-language article entitled "The Problem of the Chinese Language" co-authored by the Chinese linguist Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) and poet Hu Shih (1891–1962) has been identified as a turning point in

2940-476: The 1986 General List of Simplified Chinese Characters , hereafter the General List . All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in the 1986 Complete List . Characters in both charts are structurally simplified based on similar set of principles. They are separated into two charts to clearly mark those in Chart 2 as 'usable as simplified character components', based on which Chart 3

3024-508: The 1986 mainland China revisions. Unlike in mainland China, Singapore parents have the option of registering their children's names in traditional characters. Malaysia also promulgated a set of simplified characters in 1981, though completely identical to the mainland Chinese set. They are used in Chinese-language schools. All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Charts 1 and 2 of

3108-600: The 4th century. From the Late Antique plainer shapes for vessels appear, concentrating on showing the natural patterns of figured stones - survivals of these are hard to date, and mostly have survived in church treasuries with medieval mounts in goldsmith work. The best collection of Byzantine liturgical vessels is in the Treasury of San Marco, Venice , some of them booty from the Fourth Crusade . Byzantine artists maintained

3192-465: The 7th millennium BC in the case of heating. As a highly prestigious artform using expensive materials, many different techniques for imitating hardstone carvings have been developed, some of which have themselves created significant artistic traditions. Celadon ware , with a jade coloured glaze, was important in China and Korea, and in early periods used for shapes typical of jade objects. Roman cameo glass

3276-470: The Chinese government published a major revision to the list which included a total of 8300 characters. No new simplifications were introduced. In addition, slight modifications to the orthography of 44 characters to fit traditional calligraphic rules were initially proposed, but were not implemented due to negative public response. Also, the practice of unrestricted simplification of rare and archaic characters by analogy using simplified radicals or components

3360-667: The Great , whose Peterhof Lapidary Works , founded in 1721, began the passion among Russian royalty and aristocrats for hardstones. Engraved gem production had already revived, centred on Venice but with artists in many countries, and gems of very high quality continued to be produced until the mid-19th century. The Mannerist court taste of the 16th century delighted in extravagant vessels for serving fruit or sweetmeats, or display as table centrepieces or on sideboards, with hardstones augmented with mounts and bases in precious metal, enamel and jewels. One collection that has remained mostly together

3444-554: The Hongshan culture is only related to Korean civilization. Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write the Chinese language , with the other being traditional characters . Their mass standardization during the 20th century was part of an initiative by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to promote literacy, and their use in ordinary circumstances on

Hongshan culture - Misplaced Pages Continue

3528-554: The Hongshan culture to a "Transeurasian" ( Altaic ) linguistic context. According to a study on genetic distance measurements from a large scale genetic study from 2021 titled 'Genomic insights into the formation of human populations in East Asia', hunter-gatherers of Mongolia and the Amur River Basin have ancestry shared by Mongolic and Tungusic language speakers, but they did not carry West Liao River farmer ancestry, contradicting

3612-422: The Hongshan culture. Just as suggested by evidence found at early Yangshao culture sites, Hongshan culture sites also provide the earliest evidence for feng shui . The presence of both round and square shapes at Hongshan culture ceremonial centres suggests an early presence of the gaitian cosmography ("round heaven, square earth"). Early feng shui relied on astronomy to find correlations between humans and

3696-501: The Medici in Florence in 1588 soon became the leading workshop in Europe, and developed the pietra dura style of multi-coloured inlays , which use coloured marbles as well as gemstones. They also produced vessels and small sculptures from a single piece of stone, often mounted with gold, which was also a speciality of Milanese workshops. Other rulers followed their example, including Peter

3780-424: The Miaozigou site belonged to haplogroup N1(xN1a, N1c), while the main lineage of Yellow River valley cultures is O3-M122. The existence of N1(xN1a, N1c) among the Miaozigou individuals could serve as evidence for the migration of some of the Hongshan people. Some Chinese archaeologists such as Guo Da-shun see the Hongshan culture as an important stage of early Chinese civilization. Whatever the linguistic affinity of

3864-538: The People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during the early 20th century. In 1909, the educator and linguist Lufei Kui formally proposed the use of simplified characters in education for the first time. Over the following years—marked by the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that toppled the Qing dynasty , followed by growing social and political discontent that further erupted into

3948-730: The Ptolemies and Farnese Cup both appear to have been made in Alexandria in Ptolemaic Egypt , as does a simpler fluted sardonyx cup in Washington which, like the Cup of the Ptolemies, was adapted to be a Christian chalice , and given elaborate gold and jewelled mounts by Abbot Suger for his Abbey of St Denis about 1140. The elaborately carved Rubens Vase , now in Baltimore , is thought to date from

4032-551: The Spanish piedra de ijada ) from the Aztec belief that the mineral cured ailments of the kidneys and sides. The Han period also saw the beginning of the tradition of fine decorative jade carving which has lasted until modern times, though the fine carving of other hardstones did not develop until the 17th century, and then appears to have been produced in different workshops and styles from those for jade. In general whiteish nephrite jade

4116-555: The Transeurasian hypothesis proposed by Martine Robbeets et al. that the expansion of West Liao River farmers spread these proto-languages. A 2020 study discovered substantial genetic changes in the West Liao River region over time. An increase in the reliance on millet farming between the Middle-to-Late Neolithic is associated with higher genetic affinity to the Yellow River basin (generally associated with speakers of

4200-484: The ancient denizens, Hongshan culture is believed to have exerted an influence on the development of early Chinese civilization. The culture may have also contributed to the development of settlements in ancient Korea. However, the Hongshan culture is also commonly employed in Korean pseudohistory by some Korean scholars, who seek to contest any connections between the Hongshan culture with Chinese civilization and assert that

4284-444: The body of epigraphic evidence comparing the character forms used by scribes gives no indication of any real consolidation in character forms prior to the founding of the Qin. The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of clerical script through the process of libian . Eastward spread of Western learning Though most closely associated with

SECTION 50

#1732880557572

4368-447: The broadest trend in the evolution of Chinese characters over their history has been simplification, both in graphical shape ( 字形 ; zìxíng ), the "external appearances of individual graphs", and in graphical form ( 字体 ; 字體 ; zìtǐ ), "overall changes in the distinguishing features of graphic[al] shape and calligraphic style, [...] in most cases refer[ring] to rather obvious and rather substantial changes". The initiatives following

4452-415: The carving of pounamu (jade) for weapons, tools and ornaments to a high standard. Most hardstones, including jade and quartz varieties, have a crystalline structure that does not allow detailed carving by edged tools without great wastage and a poor finish. Working them has always been very time-consuming, which together with the cost of rare materials often traded from very far away, has accounted for

4536-516: The carving of ritual objects, including blades for ji and dagger-axes clearly never intended for use, and the "Six Ritual Jades" including the bi and cong , which according to much later literature represented heaven and earth respectively. These are found from the Neolithic Liangzhu culture (3400-2250 BCE) onwards, and blades from the 2nd millennium BCE Shang dynasty on. Traditional Chinese culture attaches strong powers to jade;

4620-407: The chosen variants, those that appear in the "Complete List of Simplified Characters" are also simplified in character structure accordingly. Some examples follow: Sample reduction of equivalent variants : Ancient variants with simple structure are preferred : Simpler vulgar forms are also chosen : The chosen variant was already simplified in Chart 1 : In some instances, the chosen variant

4704-595: The confusion they caused. In August 2009, China began collecting public comments for a revised list of simplified characters; the resulting List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters lists 8,105 characters, including a few revised forms, and was implemented for official use by China's State Council on 5 June 2013. In Chinese, simplified characters are referred to by their official name 简化字 ; jiǎnhuàzì , or colloquially as 简体字 ; jiǎntǐzì . The latter term refers broadly to all character variants featuring simplifications of character form or structure,

4788-638: The country. In 1935, the first official list of simplified forms was published, consisting of 324 characters collated by Peking University professor Qian Xuantong . However, fierce opposition within the KMT resulted in the list being rescinded in 1936. Work throughout the 1950s resulted in the 1956 promulgation of the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme , a draft of 515 simplified characters and 54 simplified components, whose simplifications would be present in most compound characters. Over

4872-447: The economic problems in China during that time. Lu Xun , one of the most prominent Chinese authors of the 20th century, stated that "if Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die" ( 漢字不滅，中國必亡 ). During the 1930s and 1940s, discussions regarding simplification took place within the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party. Many members of the Chinese intelligentsia maintained that simplification would increase literacy rates throughout

4956-598: The famous Imperial Easter Eggs he made his reputation with small hardstone figures of animals and people, typically only 25–75mm long or wide, and small vases with a few flowers—the vase and "water" in rock crystal and the flowers in various hardstones and enamel. Beyond the Old World, hardstone carving was important in various Pre-Columbian cultures , including jade in Mesoamerica and obsidian in Mesoamerica . Because its colour had associations with water and vegetation, jade

5040-512: The first time. Li prescribed the 朙 form of the word for 'bright', but some scribes ignored this and continued to write the character as 明 . However, the increased usage of 朙 was followed by proliferation of a third variant: 眀 , with 目 'eye' on the left—likely derived as a contraction of 朙 . Ultimately, 明 became the character's standard form. The Book of Han (111 AD) describes an earlier attempt made by King Xuan of Zhou ( d.  782 BC ) to unify character forms across

5124-465: The following decade, the Script Reform Committee deliberated on characters in the 1956 scheme, collecting public input regarding the recognizability of variants, and often approving forms in small batches. Parallel to simplification, there were also initiatives aimed at eliminating the use of characters entirely and replacing them with pinyin as an official Chinese alphabet, but this possibility

SECTION 60

#1732880557572

5208-430: The founding of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to universalize the use of their small seal script across the recently conquered parts of the empire is generally seen as being the first real attempt at script reform in Chinese history. Before the 20th century, variation in character shape on the part of scribes, which would continue with the later invention of woodblock printing , was ubiquitous. For example, prior to

5292-499: The great expense of these objects. After sawing and perhaps chiselling to reach the approximate shape, stones were mostly cut by using abrasive powder from harder stones in conjunction with a hand-drill, probably often set in a lathe , and by grinding-wheels. Emery has been mined for abrasive powder on Naxos since antiquity, and was known in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Some early types of seal were cut by hand, rather than

5376-537: The historical period, the West Liao basin was mainly populated by nomads. A genetic study by Yinqiu Cui et al. from 2013 analyzed the Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup based N subclade ; it found that DNA samples from 63% of the combined samples from various Hongshan archaeological sites belonged to the subclade N1 (xN1a, N1c) of the paternal haplogroup N-M231 and calculated N to have been the predominant haplogroup in

5460-550: The history of the Chinese script—as it was one of the first clear calls for China to move away from the use of characters entirely. Instead, Chao proposed that the language be written with an alphabet, which he saw as more logical and efficient. The alphabetization and simplification campaigns would exist alongside one another among the Republican intelligentsia for the next several decades. Recent commentators have echoed some contemporary claims that Chinese characters were blamed for

5544-590: The human body comparable to works of the much later Classical period. Hardstone carving more often refers to vessels and figures than smaller engraved gems for seal rings or made as objéts d'art , which were the main artistic expression of hardstone carving in the Greek Classical and Hellenistic periods, and are regarded separately. From the Hellenistic period elaborate vessels in semi-precious stone begin to appear, mostly carved, some in cameo. The Cup of

5628-584: The human diet in the Early Hongshan and up to 80% in the Late Hongshan. The Hongshan culture is known for its carved jade . Hongshan burial artifacts include some of the earliest known examples of jade working. The Hongshan culture is known for its jade pig dragons and embryo dragons. Clay figurines, including figurines of pregnant women, are also found throughout Hongshan sites. Small copper rings were also excavated. The archaeological site at Niuheliang

5712-645: The largest. Egyptian carving of rock crystal into vessels appears in the late 10th century, and virtually disappears after about 1040. In 1062 the Cairo palace of the Fatimid Caliphate was looted by his mercenaries, and the examples found in European treasuries, like the one illustrated, may have been acquired as the booty was dispersed. The rock crystal used in Egypt was apparently traded from East Africa . Until recently it

5796-528: The mainland has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the 1950s. They are the official forms used in mainland China and Singapore , while traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan . Simplification of a component—either a character or a sub-component called a radical —usually involves either a reduction in its total number of strokes , or an apparent streamlining of which strokes are chosen in what places—for example,

5880-652: The objects are small, and the category overlaps with both jewellery and sculpture . Hardstone carving is sometimes referred to by the Italian term pietre dure ; however, pietra dura (with an "a") is the common term used for stone inlay work, which causes some confusion. From the Neolithic period until about the 19th century such objects were among the most highly prized in a wide variety of cultures, often attributed special powers or religious significance, but today coverage in non-specialist art history tends to be relegated to

5964-430: The public and quickly fell out of official use. It was ultimately formally rescinded in 1986. The second-round simplifications were unpopular in large part because most of the forms were completely new, in contrast to the familiar variants comprising the majority of the first round. With the rescission of the second round, work toward further character simplification largely came to an end. In 1986, authorities retracted

6048-454: The region in the Neolithic period at 89%, with its share gradually declining over time. Today, this haplogroup is found in northern Han , Mongols , Manchu , Oroqen , Xibe and Hezhe at low frequencies. Other paternal haplogroups identified in the study were C and O3a (O3a3) , both of which predominate among the present-day inhabitants of the region. Nelson et al. 2020 attempts to link

6132-476: The same set of simplified characters as mainland China. The first round was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969, consisting of 498 simplified characters derived from 502 traditional characters. A second round of 2287 simplified characters was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 differences from the mainland China system; these were removed in the final round in 1976. In 1993, Singapore adopted

6216-461: The second round completely, though they had been largely fallen out of use within a year of their initial introduction. That year, the authorities also promulgated a final version of the General List of Simplified Chinese Characters . It was identical to the 1964 list save for 6 changes—including the restoration of 3 characters that had been simplified in the first round: 叠 , 覆 , 像 ; the form 疊

6300-817: The traditional character 強 , with 11 strokes is standardised as 强 , with 12 strokes, which is a variant character. Such characters do not constitute simplified characters. The new standardized character forms shown in the Characters for Publishing and revised through the Common Modern Characters list tend to adopt vulgar variant character forms. Since the new forms take vulgar variants, many characters now appear slightly simpler compared to old forms, and as such are often mistaken as structurally simplified characters. Some examples follow: The traditional component 釆 becomes 米 : The traditional component 囚 becomes 日 : The traditional "Break" stroke becomes

6384-504: The transition to a pastoral economy during the Bronze Age. A 2021 study found that Yellow River millet farmers from the modern-day provinces of Henan and Shandong had played an important role in the formation of Hongshan people or their descendants via both inland and coastal northward migration routes. Similarly to the Yangshao culture, the Hongshan culture cultivated millet. Isotope analyses revealed that millet contributed up to 70% of

6468-442: The universe. The Hongshan culture region was thought to have been desert for the past 1 million years. However, a 2015 study found that the region once featured rich aquatic resources and deep lakes and forests that existed from 12,000 years ago to 4,000 years ago. It was changed into desert by climate change which began approximately 4,200 years ago. Therefore, some of the people of the Hongshan culture may have emigrated south to

6552-461: Was abandoned, confirmed by a speech given by Zhou Enlai in 1958. In 1965, the PRC published the List of Commonly Used Characters for Printing  [ zh ] (hereafter Characters for Printing ), which included standard printed forms for 6196 characters, including all of the forms from the 1956 scheme. A second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977, but was poorly received by

6636-651: Was also a symbol of life to many cultures; the Maya placed jade beads in the mouths of the dead. Lacking iron , jade was the hardest material the Pre-Columbians were able to work with, apart from emery . A particular type of object running through the long history of Mesoamerican cultures from the Olmec to the Maya and Aztec is the face "mask" in semi-precious stone (they do not seem to have been for actually wearing), either carved from

6720-411: Was an underground structure, 1m deep. Included on its walls are mural paintings. Housed inside the Goddess Temple are clay figurines as large as three times the size of real-life humans. The exceedingly large figurines are possibly deities , but for a religion not reflective in any other Chinese culture. The existence of complex trading networks and monumental architecture (such as pyramids and

6804-464: Was invented to imitate cameo gems, with the advantage that consistent layers were possible even in objects in the round. The small group of 11th(?)-century Hedwig glasses are inspired by Fatimid rock-crystal vessels, and from the 18th century chandeliers in cut glass drew from fantastically expensive rock crystal ones made for the court of Louis XIV . In the Italian Renaissance agate glass

6888-510: Was perfected to imitate agate vessels with multicoloured figuration. Ceramics have often been decorated to imitate gemstones, and wood, plaster and other materials painted to imitate stones. Scagliola developed in Italy to imitate pietra dura inlays on plaster; less elaborate forms are called marbleizing . Medieval illuminated manuscripts often imitated both inlaid stone and engraved gems, and after printing took over paper marbling continued as

6972-460: Was the most highly regarded in China until about 1800, when the deeper and brighter green of the best jadeite became more highly favoured. There are related Asian traditions of Korean jade carving , in Southeast Asia and, to a much lesser extent, Japan . Smallish Sassanian carvings are known, mostly for seals or jewellery; the central medallion of the "Cup of Chosroes " (gallery) is one of

7056-571: Was thought that jade carving was introduced to the central Asian Islamic world in the Timurid period, but it is becoming clearer that archers' thumb rings , knife hilts, and various other objects had been carved for centuries, even millennia before, though in limited numbers. Islamic jades and other carvings reached a particular peak in the Mughal Empire , where apart from portable carvings inlaid panels of carved stones were included in buildings such as

#571428