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| Jade is loosely understood in China as the collective name for most precious stones and jade carving in this sense constitutes an important part of Chinese arts and crafts. The love of jade ware has been one of the cultural features of China. Crude jade tools have been found among archaeological finds dating back to the New Stone Age. There is, however, no evidence to indicate that Neolithic people ever attached a great deal of value to jade ware; they chose jade only because it was hard and good for making tools and weapons. As time went on, people gradually began to appreciate the beauty of the stone, which after carving and polishing could be |
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transformed not only into useful objects, but also into objects that were pleasant to the eye.
In the historical epoch, during which the slave society was replaced by the feudal society, jade ware became established as objects of pure decoration. Among the funerary objects unearthed from tombs of that long period are many jade articles used as personal ornaments or ceremonial vessels. The jade exhibits one sees today in museums of the country are usually comprised of vases, incense-burners, tripods, cups and wine vessels of various shapes and sizes.
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Large-sized jade articles began to appear in the middle of Chinese feudalism. Today there is a large jade jar, the size of a small bathtub, in the Round City of the Beihai Park. It was used as a wine container by the Yuan Emperor Kublai Khan when he feted his followers. The 3.5-ton jar may hold as much as 3,000 liters of wine. It is 70cm high, 55cm deep in the middle and has a circumference of 493cm. The elliptic jar is well shaped and engraved all round with clouds, waves, dragons and sea horses. It is the oldest jade object of a large size kept intact in the country.
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Another large piece worth mentioning is a jade sculpture dating back to the 18th century, from the reign of Qianlong. Entitled "Jade Mountain Showing the Great Yu Taming the Flood", it was sculpted after a Song Dynasty painting with a similar title. The masterpiece, standing 2.4 meters high and about 1 meter wide, depicts in vivid detail how the Great Yu, a heroic representative of the ancient working people, fought the Great Flood. According to historical records, the uncut jade stone, weighing more than 5 tons, was discovered in Hetian Xinjiang. It took three years to be transported over a distance of 4,000 kilometers to Beijing, and a few more years to be carved and polished into the national treasure that it is today.
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"There is a price for gold but no price for jade", says a Chinese proverb. Jade ware is often described as "worth a string of towns". An ancient story tells how King Zhao of Qin once offered 15 towns in exchange for the famous He's round jade. Why is that jade so valuable?
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First, its value lies in its scarcity. Precious stones are formed over long geological epochs and are hard to get. This is especially true of green jade, white jade and agate. Ancient people on a treasure hunt had to trek on the back of yaks in mountainous regions to get at the unhewn rocks containing the gems, exposed or half exposed, by the stamping of the animal’s hoofs. Sometimes, precious stones were washed down by mountain torrents and were grabbed midway by men with sharp eyes and lots of luck. In any event, exposed stones grew scarce and people began to bore through the mountains to mine for precious stones, making them even more difficult to attain.
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Secondly, the value of jade lies in its hardness. Precious stones are divided by their hardness into two major groups: jadeites and nephrites.
Jadeites are the ones with a solid texture and hardness of degree 6 or above (on the basis of 10 for diamond). The more valuable varieties, such as green jade, may be as hard as degree 8 or 9. Jadeites are invulnerable to steel cutting tools made of carbonrundum or diamond power. Objects made of this hard jade are smooth, lustrous, glittering and translucent, and their grains are no longer visible to the naked eye.
Nephrites, on the other hand, being below degree 6 in hardness, can generally be incised and carved by burins. Their commercial values are much lower than jadeites.
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Thirdly, the value of precious stones lies in their natural color and hue. Some are as white as snow, others are brightl red, and still others alluringly green. Diamond, emerald, sapphire and other gemstones can be processed into personal ornaments like rings and earrings whose color will remain brilliant forever. Some stones carry an array of colors which a master artisan can use very effectively. Even flaws in the stone can be turned into “beauty spots”, for instance, an insect on a flower or a small squirrel on a tree, adding life and attraction to the entire piece of work.
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Today there are jade workshops or factories in all major cities. Work which used to be done purely by hand has been partially mechanized. Although some operations have become faster with the use of simple machines, jade carving remains basically a handicraft art. And as raw materials are getting scarcer, the prices of jade ware will always be on a upward trend.
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Weekly Chinese Words |
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| Chinese |
Transcription |
Part of speech |
Meaning |
| 玉 |
yù |
Noun |
jade |
| 雕刻 |
diāo kè |
Verb |
carve |
| 抛光 |
pāo guāng |
Verb |
polish |
| 装饰品 |
zhuāng shì pǐn |
Noun |
ornament |
| 竹子 |
zhú zi |
Noun |
bamboo |
| 花瓶 |
huā píng |
Noun |
vase |
| 香炉 |
xiāng lú |
Noun |
incense-burner |
| 三角鼎 |
sān jiǎo dǐng |
Noun |
tripod |
| 代表 |
dài biǎo |
Noun |
representative |
| 硬玉 |
yìng yù |
Noun |
jadeite |
| 软玉 |
ruǎn yù |
Noun |
nephrite |
| 钻石 |
zuàn shí |
Noun |
diamond |
| 翡翠 |
fěi cuì |
Noun |
emerald |
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Weekly Chinese Phrase |
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| Chinese |
Transcription |
Meaning |
| 新石器时代人 |
xīn shí qì shí dài rén |
neolithic people |
| 奴隶社会 |
nú lì shè huì |
slave society |
| 金石有价玉无价 |
jīn shí yǒu jià yù wú jià |
there is a price for gold but no price for jade |
| 价值连城 |
jià zhí lián chéng |
worth a string of towns |
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