Tsao Khe

The purpose of this article is to reveal the world of Chinese nephrite miniature, to give an insight into the art of carving on semi-precious stone as one of the oldest artistic practices of benevolent culture in China.

Traditional themes, types, carriers of well-wishes and specificity of approaches to their interpretation in the lower segment of sculpture size range are shown, taking into account the unique pictorial and textural possibilities of each piece of nephrite. The work of the symbolic sense-making mechanisms in the construction of subjects, the benevolent symbolism plot synthesis logic with the help of the configurations of speech expression is traced. The specific forms of spatial implementation question of this synthesis is considered.

On the example of the collection created by the masters of modern jade crafts in the Xuyan region, the whole variety tythe whole arietypology of jade miniatures as single and complex plastic metaphors is established. In turn, with the help of cultural-historical, semiotic, formal-compositional analysis the types of complex metaphors as compositional solutions of greater or lesser spatial development, static or dynamic character, with the participation of one or more dominants are identified.