Jade (Yu)
The name Jade is actually of Spanish origin and comes from the word piedra de hijada, meaning literally stones of the flank, or loin. This is referring back to the stones the Spanish found when exploring South America in the 16th century. The Indians was questioned about different medical treatments they knew of and presented what we would call jadeite "Jade" ornaments and amulets as a useful cure for all kinds of kidney ailments. For similar reasons the nephrite mineral seems to have got its name, from the Greek word nepros, for "kidney".
Even if the "Jade" mineral might have first been observed for its strength back in early Neolithic times c. 6000 B.C. it appears to have become mostly used for ornamental and ritual use already by late Neolithic times c. 1500 B.C. Neolithic and Shang dynasty jade carvers produced ritual and ceremonial implements, insignia of rank, articles of personal adornment such as earrings, bracelets, and hair ornaments, and even a few small sculptures of unknown function representing humans and animals. During the Shang the preferences were for stones of sea-green color, just as its longitudinal crest, chamfered edges, and smoothly polished surfaces reveal the taste for subtly decorated jades.
Strange to say, although there are very few places where this mineral can now be obtained, in prehistoric times the stone must have been found in many different localities, since axe-heads and other artifacts of jade have been discovered in many lands both of the old and new world.
In the 5th century B.C. Confucius (c. 551-479 B.C.) likened the stone's qualities of hardness, purity, constancy, and beauty to the virtues of his "Superior Man."
Although the source of the jade used in the earliest times remains unknown, by the so-called Warring States period (480-221 B.C.) the Chinese were importing nephrite jade, mostly in the form of river pebbles, from Khotan, then considered a remote site in the distant hinterlands of Xiyu, or the Western Regions. The translucent nephrite found in some Warring States plaques often reveals the Warring States-period taste for mottled stones.
By the time of the Han dynasty Daoist alchemists made whole burial suits of polished "Jade" plaques sewn together with gold threads, to ensure the perseverance of the body.
The term 'Jade' and its Chinese name Yu, are often used to designate many different stones and glossy materials. While the name Jade in the west is mostly limited to refer to the minerals jadeite and nephrite, the Chinese Jade (Yu) is a wide concept covering almost any finely worked ancient mineral artifact. The materials that occur are ranging from relatively hard minerals such as agate and crystal and all the way to marble and soapstone. Despite the confusion it could be argued that the proper definition of Chinese Jade should reflect the use the word 'Yu' have in the Chinese culture.
On thing that to some extent have complicated dating is the fact that Jade apparently also was esteemed as heirlooms by the time of the Han dynasty. Some plaques were recently recovered from the tomb of the king of Nanyue, near Guangzhou. Although the tomb dates only to 122 B.C., it included a number of northern and much earlier Warring States-period jades.
Jade from a western standpoint is a name that includes two visually similar but geologically different stones: nephrite and jadeite. Although native deposits of jade are known today in China, the stones worked in the past came from without. The best nephrite came from Khotan, the slightly harder jadeite from Burma.
Both nephrite and jadeite are found in a variety of colors from white to black, depending the presence of small quantities of iron, chromium or magnesium. The overall preferred color for nephrite throughout Chinese history was white although different dynasties preferred different colors.
The brilliant green stones used in fine Chinese jewelry are jadeite while the "spinach green" hue is nephrite imported from Siberia, in quantity probably beginning in the eighteenth century, is the best known in the West but also the least prized in traditional China.
Jadeite and Nephrite
Nephrite is a silicate of calcium and magnesium and is the jade of Chinese antiquity. That has been worked in China since the Neolithic period when it was brought in from Central Asia. Jadeite on the other hand, is a silicate of sodium and aluminum with a different crystal structure than nephrite and is slightly harder. Jadeite does not seem to have been much used in China before 1780, when it started to be imported in abundance from Burma.
Modern dress ornaments
Most of the small colorful and glossy stone figures we find today are traditional dress ornaments and good luck symbols from the 18th century and later. Due to its hardness it was considered good protection to carry a pieces of Jade on your body, since that would take the blow if someone tried to hurt you. If the Jade was worked into the shape of a turtle, with its hard shell, that would offer even better protection.
Authentication
Modern souvenir trinkets abounds, made in all kinds of materials, inclusive of glass, so some care is recommended studying the workmanship which tells what is good or not. Jadeite is glassier compared to a more waxy luster for nephrite. Both types of jade are harder than a knife blade. Jadeite has an exceptional ability to transmit light, and in proper light conditions will produce an iridescent glow. Nephrite will exhibit lesser translucent properties however,
Origin of name
Initially the name 'Jade' came from the Spanish designation piedra de hijada meaning literally "stone of the flank". When the Spaniards discovered and explored the South American continent in the 16th century, they came across numerous native ornaments and amulets made of jade (jadeite). Strangely enough, actually, since Jadeite does not naturally seem to occur on that continent. The Indians used the stone for treatment of all kidneys diseases. Many of these stones were brought to Europe. This same use also gave the name Nephrite after the Greek word nepros for "kidney".
The materials itself
The materials itself can range from relatively hard minerals such as agate and crystal through softer ones such as nephrite, jadeite and turquoise all the way to marble and soapstone. Chinese jade actually includes an assortment of other minerals that would have looked to the early craftsman as identical in many regards. In fact even with modern techniques it can be difficult to differentiate nephrite from some of its close relatives. With this background it seems that the proper definition of Chinese Jade should reflect the use the word Yu have in the Chinese culture.
One thing these minerals have in common is that they are excellent mediums for sculpting. It is a very resilient mineral and can be found in a variety of colors making it a very appealing source material for the early Chinese craftsman.
Names and minerals that could be referred to under the name of Jade includes:
Agalmatolite
A soft, waxy stone - such as pinite, pyrophyllite, or steatite - of a gray, green, yellow, or brown shade; used by the Chinese to simulate jade for carving small images, miniature pagodas, and similar objects.
Lard stone
A kind of soft stone found in China. See also: steatite; agalmatolite.
Lardite
a. White hydrated silica, probably a variety of opal; occurring in clay in central Russia.
b. Massive talc. Syn: steatite; agalmatolite.
c. A massive variety of muscovite and/or pyrophyllite.
See also:pagodite
Lardstone
Massive talc; steatite.
Manchurian jade
See: Soapstone
Pagodite
Ordinary massive pinite in its amorphous compact texture and other physical characters, but containing more silica. The Chinese carve the soft stone into miniature pagodas and images. See also: agalmatolite; lardite; pinite.
Pinite
A compact, fine-grained, generally impure mica near muscovite in composition; dull-gray, green, or brown; derived from the alteration of other minerals, esp. cordierite, nepheline, scapolite, spodumene, and feldspar.
Saponite
A monoclinic mineral, (Ca/2,Na)0.3 (Mg,Fe)3 (Si,Al)4 O10 (OH)2 .4H2 O ; smectite group; soft; massive; plastic; unctuous; in veins and cavities in serpentinite and basalt. Syn: Bowlingite; Mountain soap; Piotine; Soapstone. Etymol: Greek "sapon" soap.
Soap earth
See: Steatite
Soap rock
See: Soapstone
Soapstone
a. Massive talc. Syn: steatite; soaprock.
b. A metamorphic rock of massive, schistose, or interlaced fibrous or flaky texture and soft, unctuous (greasy) feel; composed essentially of talc with variable amounts of mica, chlorite, amphibole, and pyroxene; alteration product of ultramafic rock; may be carved into art objects or sawn into dimension stone for use where chemical resistance or high heat capacity is needed.
c. A miners' and drillers' term for any soft, unctuous rock. Syn: Agalmatolite; Manchurian jade; Talcum.
d. See: Saponite; Talc.
Steatite
a. A compact, massive, fine-grained, fairly homogeneous talc-rich rock.
b. Gray-green or brown massive impure talc that is carved easily into ornamental objects. Syn: Lardite; Lard stone; Soapstone; Soap earth. See also: Talc
Steatite talc
A relatively pure or high-grade variety of talc suitable for use in electronic insulators, the purest commercial form of talc. Syn: French chalk
Talc
a. A monoclinic and triclinic mineral, 2[Mg6 (OH)4 (Si8) O20 )] ; basal cleavage; soft; has a greasy or soapy feel; easily cut with a knife; occurs as hydrothermal alteration of ultramafic rocks, low-grade metamorphism of siliceous dolomites in foliated, granular, or fibrous masses; an insulator, ceramic raw material, and lubricant. Originally spelled talck. See also: steatite; soapstone.
b. In commercial usage, a talcose rock; a rock consisting of talc, tremolite, chlorite, anthophyllite, and related minerals. Syn: talcum
(soapy feel: Unctuous; said of talc and other magnesium minerals.)
Medical use
As Jadeite and Nephrite was and still are the most favored stones in China, although never found within the boundaries of China proper, it was also naturally thought to possess wonderful medical virtues. An old Chinese encyclopedia, the work of Li She Chan, and presented by him in 1596 to the Wanli emperor of the Ming dynasty, contains many interesting notices of jade. When reduced to a powder of the size of rice grains it strengthened the lungs, the heart, and the vocal organs, and prolonged life, more especially if gold and silver were added to the jade powder.
Another way of taking in this precious mineral was to drink what was enthusiastically called the "divine liquor of jade". This elixir was prepared by boiling equal parts of jade, rice, and dew-water in a copper pot. After filtering and drinking this concoction was said to "strengthen the muscles and make them supple, to harden the bones, to calm the mind, to enrich the flesh, and to purify the blood". Whoever took it for a long space of time ceased to suffer from either heat or cold and no longer felt either hunger or thirst.
Hard and Soft Jade
Jade in China is varied and can be divided into two categories: hard and soft jade. Good materials provide a strong basis for jadeware carving, but the value of a jade object depends on the skills and reputation of the craftsman, date of carving, the peculiar modeling, and the owner's status. Certainly, different people will have their own views on the value of the same jade object. It is difficult to maintain a unanimous standard. Due to the high value of ancient jadeware, there is an equally long tradition of fake jadeware, which looks very much like the real thing.
Back to Chinese Porcelain Collectors Page