老翡翠的重庆之缘

刘晓娜

在老翡翠收藏圈里，“中和”是个传说般的存在，不仅收藏实力惊人，行事也低调，身份神秘。

直到今年1月，随着《中国老翡翠》一书的出版，才让“中和”浮出水面。中和，《中国老翡翠》一書的编著者，真名钟富苗，一位在重庆投资创业的浙商，已收藏万余件老翡翠。

2018年起，文物出版社的编辑、摄影团队多次来到重庆，在他的上万件藏品中，整理出各个时期的翡翠器物代表563件（组），终成上中下三册厚厚的《中国老翡翠》。书中展示的，上至宫廷里陈设御前的精美瑰宝，下至百年前普通的簪环镯佩；既有书斋文房笔墨纸砚，也有盘碗杯碟炉瓶三事；有龙狮虎熊凤鸟瑞鹤，也有寿桃佛手灵芝豆角……囊括了十七世纪以来中国翡翠几乎所有的器形与用途、题材与纹饰，既是一部翡翠艺术的图典，也是一部明清社会生活的画卷。

钟富苗对翡翠的兴趣，源于幼年时老家绍兴会稽山南麓的小舜江畔，因见了祖母珍藏的一枚翡翠簪子便格外喜爱。而他真正的收藏之路，则始于到重庆投资创业的2001年。然而，重庆并非翡翠的原产地，为何会成为钟富苗收藏之路的起点？

翻看《中国老翡翠》，循着钟富苗这二十年来的收藏足迹，答案逐渐清晰起来——

“世界上出产翡翠的国家有危地马拉、美国、日本、俄罗斯和缅甸。目前我们所见的翡翠，95%来自于缅甸，也只有缅甸的翡翠才能达到宝石级别。”古方是中国文化艺术发展促进会收藏文化专业委员会主任，也是《中国老翡翠》的学术顾问，他说翡翠因此又叫“缅甸玉”。翡翠虽然在元代就已被发现，但直到明代才被大量制作成器，以民俗风格的佩饰为主，当时主要在西南地区的云贵川三省流通。及至清代，翡翠才开始为皇家所用，被制成各种宫廷、贵族器物。

缅甸出产的翡翠，怎么会大量聚集到重庆、四川？答案就在茶马古道，而当中的关键节点，便是腾冲。十三世纪，云南腾冲的马帮到缅甸贩货，回来时为了平衡马背上所驮货物重量，会顺手在雾露河边捡几块石头压重。回到腾冲卸货后，这些石头就被随意抛弃在地上，有的裂为两半。人们在断裂的石头里竟意外发现了“碧光灿烂夺目”的翡翠，从而找到了玉矿。这就是“马帮压货石”的故事，也是无数关于翡翠原石被发现的传说里，较为大多数人所接受的说法。

以这个故事为起点，很长一段时间里，腾冲几乎是缅甸翡翠和其他物品进入中国的唯一通道。明清时期，大量来自腾冲的翡翠贡品经茶马古道、秦五尺道抵达宜宾，顺长江而下，然后沿京杭大运河进京。

重庆，地处茶马古道和长江水道的交汇处，自然成为包括翡翠在内的云贵川各种物资的集散地、中转站。

川江文史研究者陶灵介绍，过去，大量西南地区的物资在重庆集散，即使是在宜宾上船的物资，到了重庆也要重新装船，这既是约定俗成，也是客观条件所致，“上河段的船只、船工无法应对下河段的险滩，重庆就是上河、下河的分界点。”

这种情况下，包括玉石在内的物资顺势在重庆形成了买卖市场。

上世纪八十年代，改革开放初期，一大批东南亚商人就来到重庆收购老翡翠，大量具有年代感的民间翡翠饰品流失海外。

钟富苗开始老翡翠收藏后，不满足于旧货市场零星的老翡翠饰品，他频繁行走于四川、云南。他在宜宾、腾冲、保山、大理、昭通等地，拜访当地行家、藏家、玉雕工艺大师和行业协会，后来更是将目光瞄向海外，从海外的古董商、收藏家手中寻购，并在苏富比、佳士得等各大拍卖公司竞投老翡翠，这其中就包括了流失海外的宫廷翡翠器物。二十年来，他收藏的老翡翠物件已达万余件，基本收全了老翡翠的各个器型，涵盖明代早期到民国时期，那段支离破碎的中国翡翠史，就这么被他一点点拼凑了出来。

对钟富苗来说，藏品带来的喜悦是埋在心底的。他将大部分宝贝存在匣子里，一有闲暇便将它们“请”出来“聊聊天”，在一器一物的触摸中，与历史对话，参透传统文化的精髓。

随着藏品渐丰，钟富苗心里开始蔓延一丝孤独感，能与他分享、对话的人屈指可数，可供研究的资料也几乎被翻遍了。尤其是最近几年，他有一种越来越强烈的使命感，他想为自己的收藏做点什么。

2017年，文物出版社立项，与钟富苗联合整理编著《中国老翡翠——十七至二十世纪中国翡翠艺术》一书，学术顾问即是著名古代玉器鉴定专家古方。

这本书，既是一部翡翠艺术的图典，也是一部明清社会生活的画卷。翻阅这本图典，我们仿佛在重走翡翠之路：在马帮的货担里，在颠沛的江船里，翻越崇山峻岭，跨过奔腾江河，走入中原、走入江南、走进宫廷、走进千家万户。

重庆，作为这段路程的中转站，见证了文脉的接续，今日又因一位藏家而再次让珍品聚集于两江之畔，更似有一种不可切割的缘分在牵扯。

缘起之处，是重庆在地理位置上的巧合；缘深之处，却是这座城市在文化交流中的不可取代。

In the old jadeite collection circle， "Zhonghe" is like a legend. With a rich collection of old jadeite though， he acts in low profile and his identity remains a mystery.

It was not until January this year that "Zhonghe" came forward with the publication of Early Modern Chinese Jadeite. Zhonghe， the editor of Early Modern Chinese Jadeite， whose real name is Zhong Fumiao， a Zhejiang businessman who invested and started up his business in Chongqing， has collected more than 10，000 pieces of old jadeite.

Since 2018， the editorial and photography team of Cultural Relic Publishing House has often come to Chongqing. Among his tens of thousands of collections， 563 jadeite artifacts of various periods have been sorted out， and finally， three thick volumes of Early Modern Chinese Jadeite have been made. In the book， there are the exquisite treasures displayed in the court and the ordinary hairpin bracelet a hundred years ago； There are not only pen， ink， paper， and inkstone in the study room， but also dishes， cups， stoves， and bottles； There are dragon， tiger， bear， phoenix， bird， red crane， longevity peach， bergamot， Ganoderma， and beans... covering almost all the shapes and uses， themes， and decorations of Chinese jadeite since the 17th century. Thus， it is a picture book of jadeite art and a picture scroll of social life in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Zhong Fumiao’s interest in jadeite originated from the banks of the Xiaoshun River at the southern foot of Huiji Mountain in Shaoxing when he was young， where he saw a jadeite hairpin treasured by his grandmother. Yet he began to be a real collector in 2001 when he started his business in Chongqing. Not the origin of jadeite， how Chongqing became the beginning of Mr. Zhong Fumiao’s collection career？

The answer gradually became clear when we open up the Early Modern Chinese Jadeite and follow Zhong Fumiao’s collection footprint in the past 20 years.

"The countries that produce jadeite globally are Guatemala， the United States， Japan， Russia， and Myanmar. At present， 95% of the jadeite comes from Myanmar， and only jadeite from Myanmar can be called gem，" said Gou Fang， the director of the Chinese Culture and Art Development Promotion Association’s Collection Culture Professional Committee， a famous ancient jade appraisal expert， and also the academic advisor of Early Modern Chinese Jadeite. That’s why jadeite is also called"Myanmar Jade"， he added. Although jadeite was discovered in the Yuan Dynasty， it was not made into objects in large quantities until the Ming Dynasty， when it was mainly circulated in the southwestern region of Yunnan， Guizhou and Sichuan provinces as a folkloric style of accessory. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that jadeite began to be used by the royal family and was made into various court and aristocratic artifacts.

How can jadeite produced in Myanmar gather in Chongqing and Sichuan？ The answer lies in the Ancient Tea Horse Road and a key point is Tengchong. In the 13th century， caravans from Tengchong， Yunnan， went to Myanmar to buy goods. When they came back， to balance the weight of the goods on horseback， they would pick up a few stones by the Wulu River to weigh them. After returning to Tengchong for unloading， these stone were abandoned on the ground at will， and some split in half. People unexpectedly discovered the"bright and dazzling" jadeite in the broken stones， thus finding the jade mine. This is the story of "stones used by caravans to weigh goods". It is also one of the more accepted statements in the numerous legends about the discovery of jadeite stones.

Starting from this story， Tengchong was almost the only channel for Myanmar jadeite and other items to enter China for a long time. During the Ming and Qing dynasties， many jadeite tributes from Tengchong arrived in Yibin via the Ancient Tea Horse Road and Qin Wuchi Road， went down along the Yangtze River， and then entered the capital city along the BeijingHangzhou Grand Canal.

Chongqing， located at the intersection of the Ancient Tea Horse Road and the Yangtze River waterway， has naturally become a distribution center and transfer station for various materials in Yunnan， Guizhou， and Sichuan， including jadeite.

Tao Ling， a researcher of Chuanjiang literature and history， said that many materials from southwest China were distributed in Chongqing in the past. Even the materials boarded in Yibin had to be re-loaded when they arrived in Chongqing. This is both a convention and an objective condition. "Ships and boatmen in the upper river section cannot cope with the dangerous beaches in the lower river section， and Chongqing is the demarcation point between the upper river and the lower river."

In this case， a market for trading materials， including jade， took into shape in Chongqing.

In the 1980s， the early days of reform and opening up， many Southeast Asian business people came to Chongqing to buy old jadeite， leaving a large number of folk jadeite ornaments with a sense of age flowing overseas.

After Zhong Fumiao started collecting old jadeite， he was not satisfied with the sporadic old jadeite ornaments in the flea market， instead， he frequently moved around Sichuan and Yunnan. He visited local experts， collectors， jade carving masters， and trade associations in Yibin， Tengchong， Baoshan， Dali， and Zhaotong. Later， he set his sights on overseas countries， looking for old jadeite from overseas antique dealers and collectors and bidding for old jadeite in Sotheby’s， Christie’s， and other major auction companies， including court jadeite artifacts lost overseas. Over the past 20 years， he has collected more than 10，000 pieces of old jadeite objects， basically covering all kinds of old jadeite. The fragmented history of Chinese jadeite from the early Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China was then pieced together by him， little by little.

For Zhong Fumiao， the joy brought by the collection is deep inside. He kept most of the treasures in the box and"invited" them out to "chat" whenever he had free time， talked with history， and understand the essence of traditional culture in the touch of them.

With the increasing number of collection， Zhong Fumiao began to feel a sense of loneliness in his heart. Only a few people could share ideas and talk with him， and the materials available for research were almost searched. Especially in recent years， he has a growing sense of mission. He wants to do something for his collection.

In 2017， the Cultural Relic Publishing House set up a project to compile the book "Early Modern Chinese JadeiteChinese Jadeite Art from 17th to 20th Century" with Zhong Fumiao. The academic consultant is the famous ancient jade expert Gu Fang.

This book is a picture book of jadeite art and a picture scroll of social life in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Looking through this book， we seem to be retracing the road of emerald： in the caravan’s cargo load， in the turbulent riverboats， climbing over the mountains， crossing the surging rivers， entering the Central Plains， regions south of the Yangtze River， the court and thousands of households.

Chongqing， as a transit lounge for this journey， witnessed the continuation of the culture. Today， due to a collector， treasures are once again gathered on the banks of the two rivers. Thus， it seems that there is an inseparable fate involved.

The origin of the tie comes from Chongqing’s geographical location； The deep connection behind， however， is the irreplaceable role of this city in cultural exchanges and transmission.