The legends from generation to generation have cast a layer of mystery on the Heshi Bi and the jade seal passed down from the country.
He's Bi is a piece of beautiful jade, and people praise it as "priceless" and "the only treasure in the world." The legend of He's Bi is related to Bian He, a native of Chu.
According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period, Bian Zhong, a Chu man, lived in Chu Mountain. When he came to Jingshan Mountain (today’s Nanzhang County, Hubei Province), he saw a phoenix perched on a bluestone slab in the mountain. According to the legend, there is no treasure left if the phoenix does not fall. He believed that there was a treasure on the mountain, and after searching carefully, he finally found a piece of jade in the mountain.
Bian He dedicated this Pu to King Li of Chu. However, after being identified by jade workers, Pu was judged to be a stone. King Li thought that Bian He was deceiving the king, so he ordered Bian He's left foot to be cut off and expelled from the capital.
When King Wu came to the throne, Bian He presented the jade again, but the jade workers still thought it was a stone. Unfortunately, Bian He had his right foot chopped off for the crime of deceiving the emperor.
When King Chu Wen came to the throne, Bian He cried bitterly for three days and three nights at the foot of Chu Mountain with the jade in his arms, until his eyes were filled with blood. King Wen was very surprised and sent someone to ask him: "There are many people in the world who have their feet cut off. Why are you the only one who is so sad?" Bian He sighed: "I am not sad because my feet were cut off, but because gems are regarded as stones. It hurts that a loyal person is treated as a deceitful minister. This time, King Wen directly ordered someone to dissect the raw material, and he got a flawless piece of jade.
In order to reward Bian He for his loyalty, the beautiful jade was named "He's Bi", which is the legendary He's Bi in later generations.
The King of Chu cherished this beautiful jade very much and was reluctant to carve it into a vessel, so he kept it as a treasure. More than four hundred years later, in order to commend his meritorious and loyal ministers, King Wei of Chu specially gave the Heshi Bi to Prime Minister Zhaoyang. When Zhaoyang led his guests to visit Chishan, he brought out a jade jade for people to admire. Unexpectedly, after everyone dispersed, He's jade disappeared.
More than fifty years later, Miao Xian, a native of Zhao, bought a piece of jade at the market for five hundred gold. What is unexpected is that after identification by jade workers, this jade is the He's jade that has been missing for many years. King Zhao Huiwen heard that He's Bi appeared in Zhao State, so he took it for himself.
After King Zhao of Qin learned of this, he wrote to King Zhao saying that he was willing to exchange fifteen cities of Qin for the jade. King Zhao was frightened by the power of Qin and sent Lin Xiangru as an envoy to Qin with a jade. Lin Xiangru, who was extremely resourceful, fulfilled his mission and designed to retrieve the jade and send it back to Zhao.
In 228 BC, Qin destroyed Zhao, and He's Bi eventually fell into the hands of Qin. Unfortunately, He's Bi disappeared from historical records. Legend has it that after Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, he made the Heshi Bi into the national jade seal. ”
Whether it is true or not, He’s Bi has made a leap in the world’s legends. It has become a symbol of power-the imperial seal.
It is said that after Qin Shihuang unified China , indeed had a jade worker carve an imperial seal, calling it the "Emperor's Seal". According to historical records, this seal was carved from Lantian white jade in Shaanxi Province, with a tiger button. It is said that the inscription on the jade seal with dragon, fish, phoenix and bird buttons is the Prime Minister. Li Si wrote the eight characters "Order from heaven, and he will live forever".
After the advent of the national seal, it is still difficult to escape its mysterious character. It is said that in 219 BC, Qin Shihuang visited Dongting Lake on his southern tour. Suddenly, the wind and waves suddenly rose, and the boat he was riding was about to be destroyed. The first emperor threw the imperial seal in the lake and worshiped the gods to calm the waves, so that he could cross the lake safely. Eight years later, when he was traveling to Pingshu Road in Huayin, someone was holding the jade seal. Standing in the middle of the road, he said to the attendants of the First Emperor: "Please return this seal to Zulong. "After saying that, he disappeared. The jade seal passed down was returned to Qin Shihuang.
In the war at the end of Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang led his troops to Xianyang first. The gentleman Ying who conquered Qin dedicated the "Seal of the Emperor" to Liu Bang. Liu Bang ascended the throne after establishing the Han Dynasty and wore it. This jade seal was known as the "Han Chuan Guo Seal". It was later kept in Changle Palace and became a symbol of imperial power. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, when Emperor Liu Ying was only two years old, the jade seal was taken over by the Queen Mother Xiaoyuan. After handing over the jade seal, the Queen Mother angrily threw the jade seal to the ground. A corner of the jade seal was thrown off, but it was repaired with gold, leaving traces of it.
After Wang Mang's defeat, the jade seal changed hands several times. It finally fell into the hands of Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, and was passed on to the emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Shi Changshi made a rebellion, and the young emperor fled in a hurry. He had no time to take away the jade seal. When he returned to the palace, he found that the jade seal was missing. ", Sun Jian's men salvaged the body of a palace maid from the Zhen Palace well in the south of Luoyang City, and found the "Jade Seal of the State" from the brocade bag under her neck. Sun Jian regarded it as a good omen, so he began to dream of becoming an emperor. Unexpectedly, Sun Jian's army was killed. Someone told Yuan Shao about this, and when Yuan Shao heard about it, he immediately detained Sun Jian's wife and forced Sun Jian to hand over the jade seal. Later, Yuan Shao's brothers were defeated and the "Jade Seal of Chuanguo" was returned to Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty.
When the Three Kingdoms were established, the jade seal was restored. Belonging to the Wei Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms were unified, and the Jade Seal returned to the Jin Dynasty. At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, the north fell into an era of frequent dynasty changes and turmoil. Former Zhao Liu Cong. In the fourth year of Xianhe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (329), Later Zhao Shile destroyed the former Zhao and obtained the jade seal; Later Zhao general Ran Min killed Shi Jian and regained the jade seal. At this stage, several "privately carved" jade seals appeared. Including the imperial seal of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the seal of Murong Yong of the Western Yan Dynasty, the jade seal of Yao Qin, etc. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang in the Southern Dynasty, the general Hou Jing rebelled and robbed the jade seal of the state. Soon after Hou Jing was defeated, the jade seal was thrown into the well of Qixia Temple and passed through the temple. The monk took the seal out and kept it, and later presented it to Emperor Chen Wu.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the "Jade Seal of the State" was still the treasure of the rulers. After Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties, the jade seal suffered another misfortune, and the emperor was deposed in the later Tang Dynasty. Li Congke was defeated by the Khitan and climbed the building with the jade seal to set himself on fire. The whereabouts of the jade seal are still unknown.
Since the rulers of the past dynasties have vigorously promoted that obtaining the national seal is "destiny" and "a sign of auspiciousness", since the Song Dynasty, genuine and fake national seals have been discovered repeatedly. For example, in the third year of Shaosheng's reign in the Song Dynasty (1096), Duan Yi, a native of Xianyang, said that he dug out a jade seal from the ground when he was building a house, which was "green as blue, warm and lustrous" and had "five plates of buttons on the back". Three palace officials "researched" and determined that it was the jade seal of the "genuine imperial seal made by the Qin Dynasty". However, according to later generations' research, this was a trick played by Cai Jing and others to deceive the emperor. In the thirteenth year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty (1500), Mao Zhixue of Huxian County obtained the jade seal in Nihe, and Xiong Yuzhong, the governor of Shaanxi Province, presented it to Emperor Xiaozong. According to legend, the imperial seal brought into the desert by Emperor Yuan Shun at the end of the Yuan Dynasty was visited by Huang Taiji, Emperor Taizong of the Later Jin Dynasty. Huang Taiji therefore changed the country's name from "Jin" to "Qing". However, in the early Qing Dynasty, there were thirty-nine jade seals in the Forbidden City. Among them, the one known as the Imperial Seal was regarded as a fake by Emperor Qianlong. This shows that it is difficult to determine the authenticity of the Imperial Seal. It is said that the real national seal was brought to Mobei by Yuan generals when the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Yuan Dynasty. Was the true imperial seal made by He Shibi? Where does it flow to? So far, there are divergent opinions and no consensus.
The attitude of people in the Ming and Qing dynasties towards "the imperial seal" was different from that in the past. According to "History of the Ming Dynasty·Yu Fu Zhi·Emperor's Seal", Fu Han, the Minister of Rites, commented on the imperial seal sent from the local area: "Since the first emperor of Qin Dynasty, he obtained the Lantian jade as a seal, and it was passed down and used after the Han Dynasty. It is a clever competition. If you get it, you will be satisfied with it, but you don't know how to use it as a seal, so if you don't get it, you will fake it to deceive others. If you get it, you will be happy and show it to the world." The "Guochao Chuan Bao Ji" compiled by Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty also said: "What is not recorded in the Huidian is a seal of 'Ordered by Heaven, and longevity and longevity'. I don't know when it was attached to the palace and placed in the middle. According to it, Although the poem is similar to the ancient Qin seal, the seal script is clumsy and vulgar, and it is not the old Ming Dynasty of Li Si Chongniao... When it comes to treasures, it is nothing but Qin's seal. If it is a real Qin seal, it is not valuable! The jade seal obtained by Jun Baoyinghe, a member of the Jin Dynasty, is very cute in ancient times, and it is very consistent with Cai Zhongping's version in "Zhuogeng Lu". I think this kind of person imitated it and stored it in a separate hall, just as he was playing with the old utensils. . The ancients discussed it in detail. Even if it still exists, how can it be stored together with the treasures of this dynasty? "
Bi is originally from China. An important ritual vessel in ancient times, it is the first of the six vessels and six auspicious things. It is shaped like a round piece of jade with a hole in the center. As an important ritual instrument, bi contains extremely rich content, symbolizing God Haotian, the monarchy and political power, as well as good omen and luck. King Wen of Chu named He's jade after the jade, which shows how valuable He's jade is. Later generations' legends about how it was made into a jade seal passed down to the country finally made its name well-deserved.