Where did Tian Huang's name come from? In short, yellow stones found in rice fields. Another reason why Tian Huangshi is rare is that on the earth, there are only sand layers under the narrow paddy fields on both sides of a stream in Shoushan Village, Fujian Province. Moreover, after hundreds of years of continuous excavation and mining, the paddy fields in Shoushan Village have been dug countless times, and now they have dried up, and the excellent tianhuang has long been priceless. In ancient times, there was a saying that "yellow rice has one or two fields and gold has one or two fields", but now it is "two" versus "gold", so the price of yellow rice has risen rapidly.
At present, the so-called Tianhuang, which is called "Tianhuang" in the market, has soft radish patterns, but its shape is mostly not egg-shaped; Some are thick yellow, comparable to Tian Huang, but the radish lines in the stone muscles are sparse and messy; Some are delicate and clean, but the stones are delicate and soft. Some people use yellow litchi cave stone to carve and print buttons and pretend to be fake tianhuang for sale; Or cheat the novice with the yellow pebbles in the pit of Ling Du; What's more, countless small pieces of thin field Yellowstone are glued into Ota Yellowstone, or top-grade field Yellowstone is inlaid on coarse field Yellowstone, which confuses people and makes huge profits. So, how do collectors judge the authenticity of Tian Huangshi?
According to experts, Tian Huangshi has been separated from the mother mine and buried in the ground for millions of years. Under the special environment and conditions, Tian Huangshi gradually changed its original shape, color and texture, and has its unique appearance characteristics. To sum up, it is mainly manifested in six aspects: stone shape, stone color, stone skin, radish pattern and red rib, which we can identify according to.
Stone shape: Tian Huangshi is mostly pebble-shaped, smooth and flat, with no obvious edges and corners. This is due to the continuous erosion and grinding of ore blocks by water flow during migration and rolling.
Stone: The texture of Tian Huangshi is warm and lovely, slightly transparent or translucent. If carefully observed, it will glow with a charming luster, which is not available in other stone varieties.
Stone color: "Tian Huangshi", as the name implies, is a yellow gem. Although according to hue, there are Tianhuang, Baitian, Hongtian and Kuroda, as well as varieties such as gold-coated silver and gold-coated silver, Tian Huangshi takes yellow as the keynote, only white, red or black. For example, the color of "Red Celestial Stone" is nearly orange, such as orange peel, and it is impossible to have pink, vermilion and blood red; "Kuroda Stone" is black with ochre; Even Tian Huangshi, known as the "white field", is not pure white as snow, but slightly yellow in white or egg white.
Stone skin: Tian Huangshi's appearance is mostly covered with yellow or black cortex, which is thick or thin, all-inclusive or sparsely hung, and its shape is changeable. Although the skin of some Tian Huangshi is extremely thin, it will be removed once carved and polished, but the color of Tian Huangshi is different, usually it gradually turns white from the epidermis to the inner layer, or even turns white. This discoloration law is especially obvious and large in Tian Huangshi.
Radish pattern: When Tian Huangshi with strong transparency is observed under strong light, its texture is often faintly visible, with fine and dense texture, and its shape is like newly unearthed white radish fiber, so it is called "radish pattern".
Red rib: Red rib refers to the occasional red rib on the surface of Tian Huangshi, which is as red as blood and as thin as silk, commonly known as "red rib" and "bloodshot". It is a lattice formed by fine cracks produced during the migration of Tian Huangshi and the infiltration of iron oxide in the soil.
The identification of the authenticity of Tian Huangshi mainly depends on the naked eye, which can be basically identified according to the above appearance characteristics.
Tian Huangshi
Tian Huangshi is a treasure in Shoushan stone series and is known as the "king of stones". Its color is warm and lovely, and its muscle texture is delicate. Since Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has been regarded by Indians as "the king of Yin Shi". Tian Huangshi has been loved by collectors for hundreds of years. As the saying goes, "gold is easy to get, Tian Huang is rare."
Shoushan Township in the northern mountainous area of Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, has a mountain stream with a length of 1000 meters and a width of more than 200 meters, which is the birthplace of Tian Huangshi. It is separated from the stone vein and has been buried in SARS for a long time. It is a stone with "no root, no root, and the pulse can be found". Tian Huangshi is divided into three sections: Shangban, Zhongban and Xiaban. Shangban is located in the upper reaches of the stream, and the Tian Huangshi produced here is highly transparent, inspiring and slightly yellow and white. Because the upstream water source is good, the yellow stone produced is as bright as glass. Tian Huangshi's top grade is called "Gold Covered Silver" and "Tian Baishi", which comes from the upper half. The medium plate is located in the middle reaches of Xihe River, and the stones produced are mostly standard, clean and moist, with strong color and clear radish texture. The best stones in Tian Huangshi are Tian Huang Ku Liang Shi, Jin Bao Yin, Orange Peel Red, Golden Yellow, Kaiba Yellow and Chicken Oil Yellow. Xiaban is located in the area of Kengtou, which lacks water washability, so the transparency of stone materials is poor, and most of them are tung oil color, deep ochre color and rough texture.
As early as 1000 years ago, some people began to collect it in China, and Tian Huangshi in the Ming and Qing Dynasties was even more famous. Many dignitaries and scholars compete to deliberately collect Tian Huangshi. According to legend, Tian Huangshi was always on the list of gods when the emperor offered sacrifices to heaven in the early Qing Dynasty, which implied the auspicious meaning of "Fu (Fujian), Shou (Shoushan) and Huang (Tian Huang)". Therefore, Putian Huangshi has always been famous and its value has doubled. There is an old saying that "an inch of farmland is yellow and an inch of gold". Tian Huang Song Shi has the following rare varieties:
Tianhuang frozen stone: the top grade of Tianhuang stone, the whole stone is transparent, like solidified honey, moist and incomparable.
Silver-coated gold: fresh eggs with shell-like appearance and a pale white skin with bright luster.
Tian Baishi: This stone was produced in Shangban District. It is as ice as jade, and the red color in the stone is particularly eye-catching. It has been discontinued now.
Gold-coated silver: Tian Huangshi is the top grade, like sheep fat oil, with a bright yellow skin outside, which forms a bright color contrast with meat.
Chicken oil yellow: produced at the junction of the upper half and the middle half, thin and solid, moist and greasy, with a layer of chicken oil-like skin on the stone surface.
Orange peel yellow: stone carvings are produced in the middle plate area, with bright color, red and yellow, and pure texture.
Black leather field: also known as "crow skin", the color is mostly osmanthus, and the skin is like lacquer charcoal. This stone is used for carving, and the contrast between the black skin outside and the yellow inside is particularly strong.
Tian Huangshi in today's international art market, the buyers are mostly Hongkong, Taiwan Province Province, Singapore and other Chinese-inhabited areas. The better the quality of Tian Huangshi, the more exquisite the sculpture, and the greater the attraction to collectors.
Tian Huangshi is only produced in Shoushan, Fujian, China. Because its color is generally yellow and it is produced in the field, it is called Tianhuang. The material of Tian Huangshi is warm and greasy, and it is known as the "crown of lithographs". The aesthetic expression of China seal is in three aspects: seal cutting, button decoration and print quality. The precious Tian Huangshi became attached to the seal, which not only enriched the aesthetic value of the seal, but also doubled the value of Tian Huang himself. The color of Tian Huangshi is based on calm and pure deep yellow, which symbolizes wealth. A first-class Tianhuang Yin Shi should not only have delicate and moist characteristics, but also have pure color, bright texture, huge body and finely carved buttons. If the printing surface comes from a famous seal cutting, its value will be higher. Yellowstone in the collection can be divided into old stone and new stone. Generally speaking, old stones are more positive in quality and shape, while new stones tend to follow the shape naturally in order not to reduce the weight, and are rarely processed into square printed matter. Tian Huangshi has a unique grain, which is often called "radish silk grain". Some people often use this as the basis for identifying Tian Huangshi. But in fact, some stones with "radish silk pattern" are not Tian Huang, and can't be judged by just one grain.
Shoushan Stone (Tianhuang)
English name: larderite (Tian Huang)
The main minerals are: dickite, kaolinite, pearl clay, beryl, pyrophyllite and so on.
Chemical composition: a collection of various minerals, among which dickite: Al(Si4O 10)(OH)8.
Crystalline state: crystalline aggregate.
Common colors: yellow, white, red, brown and other colors. Among them, all kinds of yellow pit stones produced in Nakasaka field are called "Tianhuang".
Gloss: earthy luster, and the polished surface is waxy luster or greasy luster.
Cleavage: No, there is a shell fracture.
Mohs hardness: 2 ~ 3.
Density: 2.5g/cm3 ~ 2.7g/cm3.
Optical characteristics: heterogeneous aggregate.
Polychromaticity: None.
Refractive index: 1.56 (point-edge method).
Birefringence: None.
Ultraviolet fluorescence: usually not.
Magnification inspection: dense massive structure, aphanitic to fine-grained micro-scale structure, in which Tianhuang or some puddle stones often have special "radish pattern" stripe structure.
Special optical effect: None.