Recently, the Chinese social network has been buzzing with a national treasure that many netizens jokingly call a “treasure with a bitter fate”. It is a giant hollow middle jade block made of 3.5 tons. Jade. So why does this treasure have to become a pickle jar in the temple?
This cultural relic is a block of jade named “Doc Son Dai Ngoc Hai”, just hearing the name has a special feeling of majesty.
Doc Son Dai Ngoc Hai has the same size as a bath for 2 adults. (Photo: Sohu)
During the Yuan Dynasty (1271 – 1368), Doc Son Dai Ngoc Hai was made under the orders of Emperor Kublai Khan, using 100% Doc Son jade – one of the four most precious gems in ancient times, to create.
According to actual data, this is a basin-shaped jade block weighing 3.5 tons, roughly this volume can make a large bath for 2 adults. This is a near culmination of work representing the highest level of jade works. Later, Dai Ngoc Hai confirmed his name with the first prize in the all-Tran Quoc pearl competition.
The precious jade treasure used to be a pickle jar in the temple for 300 years. (Photo: NetEase).
Later, after the Yuan fell, the people in the palace scattered in all directions. Everything of value in the palace was looted, and many Yuan treasures were also destroyed.
Fortunately, due to weighing up to 3.5 tons, no one can steal nor break, Doc Son Dai Ngoc Hai is still preserved. It was just like that, abandoned in the palace for hundreds of years.
Although it was made from one of the four most precious jades ever found, when it was first discovered, Doc Son Dai Ngoc Hai was too large, so it was difficult to move back and forth. So no one bothered to study its true value. Later, a Zen master discovered and graciously moved it to the temple to store vegetables and make pickles.
In the year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign, after learning of the “treasure” of Doc Son Dai Ngoc Hai, Qian Long, who was a lover of cultural relics, personally sent people to the temple to pick up the treasure to the Forbidden City. After finishing the discussion, put it right in the Beihai park.
With rare materials and sophisticated sculpture, Doc Son Dai Ngoc Hai is once again recognized as a national treasure. (Photo: NetEase).
Regarding the protection of relics, China is the country with the strictest protection regime for cultural relics in the world.
We often see that, once a new cultural monument is excavated, it often comes with a lot of strict regulations. They believe that every heritage and relic is of great value to the country, careful preservation is the heavy responsibility of this generation.
After all, in the world there are many relics still lying dormant in the ground. Each cultural monument has a special destiny and story behind it. Chinese archaeologists often joke that there are treasures that, if they are not “characteristic”, will never be found.