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黄金，在人类历史与古代传说中，总和权势、财富相关联。数千年前，它就已为人类所用，那时文字尚未萌芽，它的珍贵却已被口耳相传。时至今日，在全世界范围内，黄金仍是衡量经济与显示财富的主要标尺之一。
于今欲窥人类文明的演进，黄金的使用史无疑是一条最耀眼的线索。它精彩的身影，纵贯上下五千年，横跨欧亚大陆，更囊括四大文明古国，堪称文明之光。历经千百年，多数鲜艳夺目的文明遗物，或经风霜洗礼，或遭水土侵蚀，或沉薶于地下，昔日的容光或黯淡、或腐烂、或朽化，如川逝水，一去不返，令人叹惋。三代以上古物，能传之不朽且依然光彩照人者无它，唯有黄金。
千载以上，南朝沈约就有“逝川无待，黄金难化”之说。再上溯千数百年，《尚书·禹贡》中已有“厥贡惟金三品”的记载，足见夏商时期，黄金与银、铜就已贵为贡品。近年中国境内考古发现有三千年前的黄金饰品，自然是此说最好的注脚。其实，进入青铜时代，黄金的提炼技术已臻成熟。《尔雅·释器》有云：“黄金谓之璗，其美者谓之鏐。白金谓之银，其美者谓之镣。”所谓“美”的标准，可能指纯净度而言。
黄金既美而不朽，却稀缺而难得。因此，中国古代黄金所制罕见巨器，往往多为小件或饰品，或与白银、青铜等结合使用。《诗经》里“我姑酌彼金罍，维以不永怀”描绘的金罍，一般认为并非纯金制品，而是装饰黄金的青铜盛酒器。现代作为黄金简称的“金”，在古代并不专指黄金，而是泛指金属。汉代许慎的《说文解字》就说“金，五色金也”，而以“黄为之长。久埋不生衣，百炼不轻，从革不违。西方之行”，以致于汉武轻信方士李少君之言，以黄金为饮食器则益寿。从汉到唐数百年间，草原文明、异域文化伴着民族融合、贸易交流而影响金器风格，所出形制与纹饰令人叹未曾有。不过，显贵们依然迷信长生之说，日常所用器物多以金银为之。宋明以降，上自达官显贵，下至平民百姓，对黄金的使用益加广泛，其制作工艺愈精且细。传统使用的锤鍱与铸造，珠化与金丝，贴金、错金与鎏金等工艺，由一代代工匠心手相传，发扬光大，影响至今。
此次展览由许晓东教授精心策划，通过梳理黄金制品历史、追溯外来文化影响、探索古代黄金工艺，全面展示中国古代黄金的历史，之所以能够成功举办，实赖香港中文大学文物馆的学术支持，并得到山西博物院、内蒙古博物院、内蒙古自治区文物考古研究所、云南省博物馆、陕西历史博物馆、甘肃省文物考古研究所、大同市博物馆、鄂尔多斯青铜器博物馆、南京市博物总馆、徐州博物馆、扬州博物馆、镇江博物馆、无锡博物院、洛阳博物馆、四川广汉三星堆博物馆、西安博物院、西安市文物保护考古研究院、法门寺博物馆、茂陵博物馆、宁夏回族自治区固原博物馆、张家川回族自治县博物馆、江阴市博物馆、常州市武进区博物馆、苏州市考古研究所等单位的大力帮助，在此谨表示诚挚的感谢！
是为序。
苏州博物馆馆长 陈瑞近
进入展厅
Foreword
Gold has always been associated with power and wealth in human history and ancient legends. With its preciousness known to all, gold has been used by human beings since thousands of years ago, before characters appeared. It is still one of the primary indicators of economy and wealth in the world nowadays.
If we would like to know about the evolution of human civilization, the use of gold is undoubtedly the most conspicuous way. Its splendor has gone through a history as long as five thousand years, across the Eurasian continent, and encompassed the four ancient civilizations. It wouldn’t be too much to take it as light of civilizations. Many magnificent cultural relics have faded or decayed due to exposure, soil erosion or burial underneath. They could never come back like the flowing of water, which is a pity. The relics that last for over three generations while retain the radiance could only be gold.
Around 5th to 6th century, people had already realized that it is difficult to melt the gold. Around 21st to 11th century B.C., people began to pay tribute with gold, silver and copper. In recent years, gold products have been unearthed in archaeological discoveries, which testifies what’s said above. As a matter of fact, the gold refining technique had already been quite mature in the Bronze Age. People were fascinated by the beauty of gold and silver, which probably referred to its purity.
While gold is beautiful and immortal, it is rare to achieve. That is the reason why gold products are mostly small pieces, or wielded with silver and bronze. The Book of Songs composed centuries ago refers to a gold wine vessel, which later is considered by many scholars as a bronze vessel with gold fittings instead of a pure gold one. The character “jin”, or what we call gold today, did not refer to gold only, but included all kinds of metal. Around 1st to 2nd century, in the Han dynasty, people had known that gold wouldn’t oxidize easily, lose weight despite high temperature or get out of shape after being made into vessels. Liu Che (156 B.C. – 87 B.C.), the seventh emperor of the Western Han dynasty, believed an alchemist’s words and made his dining vessels out of gold, in the hope of longevity. During the centuries from Han to Tang dynasty, different cultures have left influence on the styles of gold wares due to the integration of ethnic groups and trade exchanges. Both the designs and the patterns were breathtaking. However, aristocrats still held a firm belief in pursuing immortality and most of their daily items were made of gold and silver. Since the Song and Ming dynasties, the use of gold had become more extensive among aristocrats and the ordinary people and the craft had become more refined. The traditional techniques, such as hammering and casting, making beads and wires, gold inlays and gilding, have been passed down from generation to generation, and enhanced until present.
The traditional techniques of hammering and casting, beading and gold wire, pasting, mismatching and gilding have been passed down from generation to generation, and have been carried forward to the present day.
With Prof. Xu Xiaodong as the curator, this exhibition showcases the history of gold in China comprehensively by sorting out the history of gold products, tracing the influence of exotic cultures and exploring the gold craftsmanship. The success of the exhibition lies in the academic support of the Art Museum, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Sincere thanks also go to Shanxi Museum, Inner Mongolia Museum, Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology Inner Mongolia, Yunnan Provincial Museum, Shaanxi History Museum, Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Datong Museum, Ordos Bronze Museum, Nanjing Museum Administration, Xuzhou Museum, Yangzhou Museum, Zhenjiang Museum, Wuxi Museum, Luoyang Museum, Sanxingdui Museum, Xi’an Museum, Xi’an Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Famen Temple Museum, Maoling Museum, Guyuan Museum, Nationality Museum of Zhangjiachuan County, Jiangyin Museum, Wujin Museum and Suzhou Archaeology Research Institute.
Chen Ruijin
Director of Suzhou Museum
