The ancients believed that jade were a psychic to communicate with heaven and earth, as well as a pivotal tool to sacrifice ghosts. It is not only the symbol of power and status, but also a baldric for gentlemen to reveal aspiration and purify themselves, as well as a holy thing to protect the dead in funeral. Shanxi ancient jades are warm, beautiful, elegant and heavy, which is the most brilliant part of Chinese jade culture.
According to expert introduction, the Neolithic jade stone unearthed in Shanxi is mainly in Qingliang Temple cemetery and Tao temple cemetery and XiaJin cemetery. There are many kinds of jade, cong, ring, axe, tomahawk, Huang and so on, most of which belong to a kind of ritual vessel, some also jade baldric, and a small amount of small decorative jade. The process of making jade, including the selection of jade material, cutting, polishing, and even drilling holes, show that the technology had become more advanced after the differentiation of jades and stone tools.
Traces of saws on jade unearthed at Tao temple show that metal sheets were used to cut the jade.
The site of Tao temple is the largest and rich cultural relic in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, Longshan Era. Jade are mainly found in tombs, and more than 800 groups of jade and stone tools are found, including tomahawk, jade, round, cong, comb, collar, arm ring and ring. Viewed from the individual jade and linear cutting marks on the surface of jade, it seems to be cut with a weight. Moreover, most of jades had been polished, and their surfaces are very smooth. In addition, the linear cutting marks on the surface of jade indicate that it was cut with metal sheets.
