Takeshi Matsuyama's Discovery of Taiwan: "People Who Discovered Dreams in Stone"

　The Chinese have long found beauty in stones, but the stones they used were not limited to jadeite. They also collected quartz, agate, purple gold, amber, ruby, and matsuoka stone, among others, and, through meticulous crafting, breathed new life into them.
　Thousands of years ago, when Chinese culture flourished, jade and gems were not produced near the capital, and most materials were brought from distant borders.
　It is said to originate from Mount Kunlun, a place synonymous with remoteness to the Chinese. How much energy must have been required for the mountain-building that created such a high mountain? Otherwise, such hard stone would not have been born.
　But how did ancient people have the technology to process jade, a material that is so hard? The National Palace Museum has an exhibit on jade processing, and when I saw the illustrations showing the various tools used, I felt like I had a general idea, but I still can't really understand it.
　In particular, when you see the jade bowls and jade cabbage sculptures that are said to have been beloved by Emperor Qianlong, you can't help but be amazed at the incredible feats of skill that humans are capable of.
　This jade bowl is said to have been brought from beyond the Tianshan Mountains, which means that Central Asia has had the ancient technology to carve jade into any shape.
　I always visit the Hindustan Jade Special Exhibition Room at the Forbidden City, and I am always captivated by the magnificent shape of the "Blue-Gray Jade Bowl," which is engraved with a poem by Emperor Qianlong.
　There are other elaborate jade objects such as double-eared bowls, large lotus-petaled bowls, rope-eared bowls, and bowls inlaid with gold wire and jewels, but the simplest of these, the aforementioned arm, has an elegance that is difficult to describe.
　The slightly high base and slightly flared shape were replicated in Qing dynasty porcelain and became a widely loved shape known as a "milk bowl" for drinking milk tea.
　This bowl, made of nephrite (hornblende), is said to have been one of the tributes given by the Hui people to the Qing court when the Qing dynasty put an end to the fighting between the Hui and Mongolian peoples in the west and liberated the Hui people from oppression by the Mongolians.

　As an aside, it seems that the historic woman, Fragrant Consort, was also presented at this time.
　There has long been a restaurant in Roppongi named after the princess (Editor's note: it is now closed), and of course, the restaurant displays a portrait of her, who was said to be a peerless beauty.
　However, something was strange. The woman's beauty was too typical of the Han people, and not of a country close to the Western Regions where the Fragrance Concubine was said to have been born.
　This doubt was finally cleared up by the realistic portrait of the Fragrant Concubine painted by Lang Shining. This Catholic painter, a monk who came from Italy, beautifully and vividly portrayed flowers, birds, landscapes, the emperor's beloved dogs, and even his famous horses using Western painting techniques, giving us a glimpse into the customs and scenery of the Qing dynasty.
　He used Chinese materials and created Chinese-style paintings for the emperor, but the painting techniques he learned were Western, and he excelled in perspective and had an eye for capturing things realistically. Therefore, even in his portraits, even though the materials used are Chinese, one can sense the realism of Western painting.
　According to the portrait, the Fragrant Consort had a strong-willed expression, resolute eyes, a flat but straight nose, and well-defined, slightly thick lips.