East Asia Prehistoric and historic China /
Nanyue (202 BC111 BC) During
Neolithic times, the key known sources of nephrite jade in China for utilitarian and
ceremonial jade items were the now-depleted deposits in the
Ningshao area in the
Yangtze River Delta (
Liangzhu culture 3400–2250 BC) and in an area of the
Liaoning province and
Inner Mongolia (
Hongshan culture 4700–2200 BC).
Dushan Jade (a rock composed largely of
anorthite feldspar and
zoisite) was being mined as early as 6000 BC. In the Yin Ruins of the Shang Dynasty (1600 to 1050 BC) in Anyang, Dushan Jade ornaments were unearthed in the tomb of the Shang kings. Jade was considered to be the "imperial gem" and was used to create many utilitarian and ceremonial objects, from indoor decorative items to
jade burial suits. From the earliest
Chinese dynasties to the present, the jade deposits most used were not only those of
Khotan in the Western Chinese province of
Xinjiang but other parts of China as well, such as Lantian,
Shaanxi province. There, white and greenish nephrite jade is found in small quarries and as pebbles and boulders in the
rivers flowing from the
Kuen-Lun mountain range eastward into the
Takla-Makan desert area. The river jade collection is concentrated in the
Yarkand, the White Jade (
Yurungkash) and Black Jade (
Karakash) Rivers. From the
Kingdom of Khotan, on the southern leg of the
Silk Road, yearly tribute payments consisting of the most precious white jade were made to the Chinese Imperial court and there worked into ''objets d'art'' by skilled artisans as jade had a status-value exceeding that of
gold or
silver. Jade became a favourite material for the crafting of Chinese scholars' objects, such as rests for calligraphy brushes, as well as the mouthpieces of some
opium pipes, due to the belief that breathing through jade would bestow longevity upon smokers who used such a pipe. Jadeite, with its bright emerald-green, lavender, pink,
orange, yellow, red, black, white, near-colorless and brown colors was imported from
Burma to China in quantity only after about 1800. The vivid white to green variety became known as
fei cui (翡翠) or kingfisher jade, due to its resemblance to the feathers of the kingfisher bird. That definition was later expanded to include all other colors that the rock is found in. Jade was used for the finest objects and cult figures, and for grave furnishings for high-ranking members of the imperial family. The Chinese character 玉 (yù) is used to denote the several types of stone known in English as "jade" (e.g. 玉器, jadewares), such as
jadeite (硬玉, 'hard jade', another name for 翡翠) and
nephrite (軟玉, 'soft jade'). While still in use, the terms "hard jade" and "soft jade" resulted from a mistranslation by a Japanese geologist, and should be avoided. But because of the value added culturally to jades throughout Chinese history, the word has also come to refer more generally to precious or ornamental stones, and is very common in more symbolic usage as in phrases like 拋磚引玉/抛砖引玉 (lit. "casting a brick (i.e. the speaker's own words) to draw a jade (i.e. pearls of wisdom from the other party)"), 玉容 (a beautiful face; "jade countenance"), and 玉立 (slim and graceful; "jade standing upright"). The character has a similar range of meanings when appearing as a radical as parts of other characters.
Prehistoric and historic Japan Jade in Japan was used for jade bracelets. It was a symbol of wealth and power. Leaders also used jade in rituals. It is the national stone of Japan. Examples of use in Japan can be traced back to the early Jomon period about 7,000 years ago. XRF analysis results have revealed that all jade used in Japan since the Jomon period is from
Itoigawa. The jade culture that blossomed in ancient Japan respected green ones, and jade of other colors was not used. There is a theory that the reason why the meaning is that it was believed that the color of green enables the reproduction of fertility, the life, and the soul of the earth.
Prehistoric and historic Korea with jade pendants from
Silla, fifth or sixth century AD, in the
National Museum of Korea. The use of jade and other greenstone was a long-term tradition in
Korea ( – AD 668). Jade is found in small numbers of
pit-houses and
burials. The craft production of small
comma-shaped and tubular "jades" using materials such as jade,
microcline,
jasper, etc., in southern Korea originates from the Middle
Mumun Pottery Period (–550 BC). Comma-shaped jades are found on some of the gold
crowns of
Silla royalty (/400–668 AD) and sumptuous
elite burials of the
Korean Three Kingdoms. After the state of Silla united the Korean Peninsula in 668, the widespread popularisation of death rituals related to
Buddhism resulted in the decline of the use of jade in burials as prestige mortuary goods.
South Asia India The
Jain temple of
Kolanpak in the
Nalgonda district,
Telangana,
India is home to a high
sculpture of
Mahavira that is carved entirely out of jade. India is also noted for its craftsman tradition of using large amounts of green
serpentine or
false jade obtained primarily from Afghanistan in order to fashion jewellery and ornamental items such as sword hilts and dagger handles.
Others Māori greenstone double-headed pendant (
pekapeka) from
New Zealand hei matau jade pendant Nephrite jade in
New Zealand is known as
pounamu in the
Māori language (often called "greenstone" in
New Zealand English), and plays an important role in
Māori culture. It is considered a
taonga, or treasure, and therefore protected under the
Treaty of Waitangi, and the exploitation of it is restricted and closely monitored. It is found only in the
South Island of New Zealand, known as
Te Wai Pounamu in
Māori—"The [land of] Greenstone Water", or
Te Wahi Pounamu—"The Place of Greenstone". Pounamu
taonga increase in
mana (prestige) as they pass from one generation to another. The most prized taonga are those with known histories going back many generations. These are believed to have their own mana and were often given as gifts to seal important agreements. Tools, weapons and ornaments were made of it; in particular
adzes, the '
mere' (short club), and the
hei-tiki (neck pendant). Nephrite
jewellery of Maori design is widely popular with locals and tourists, although some of the jade used for these is now imported from
British Columbia and elsewhere. Pounamu taonga include tools such as toki (adzes), whao (chisels), whao whakakōka (gouges), ripi pounamu (knives),
scrapers, awls, hammer stones, and drill points. Hunting tools include
matau (fishing hooks) and lures, spear points, and
kākā poria (leg rings for fastening captive birds); weapons such as
mere (short handled clubs); and ornaments such as pendants (
hei-tiki,
hei matau and pekapeka), ear pendants (kuru and kapeu), and cloak pins. Functional pounamu tools were widely worn for both practical and ornamental reasons, and continued to be worn as purely ornamental pendants (hei kakï) even after they were no longer used as tools.
Mesoamerica from the
Mayan Classic period ( high) Jade was a rare and valued material in
pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The only source from which the various
indigenous cultures, such as the
Olmec and
Maya, could obtain jade was located in the
Motagua River valley in
Guatemala. Jade was largely an
elite good, and was usually carved in various ways, whether serving as a medium upon which
hieroglyphs were inscribed, or shaped into
symbolic
figurines. Generally, the material was highly symbolic, and it was often employed in the performance of
ideological practices and
rituals. One such example was
glyph jewelry for
Chalchiuhtlicue, the Aztec Goddess of Water, whose jade necklace implied femininity and water.
Canada Jade was first identified in Canada by
Chinese settlers in 1886 in British Columbia. At this time jade was considered worthless because the settlers were searching for gold. Jade was not commercialized in Canada until the 1970s. The mining business Loex James Ltd., which was started by two Californians, began commercial mining of Canadian jade in 1972. Mining is done from large boulders that contain bountiful deposits of jade. Jade is exposed using diamond-tipped core drills in order to extract samples. This is done to ensure that the jade meets requirements. Hydraulic spreaders are then inserted into cleavage points in the rock so that the jade can be broken away. Once the boulders are removed and the jade is accessible, it is broken down into more manageable 10-tonne pieces using water-cooled diamond saws. The jade is then loaded onto trucks and transported to the proper storage facilities.
Russia Russia imported jade from China for a long time, but in the 1860s its own jade deposits were found in Siberia. Today, the main deposits of jade are located in Eastern Siberia, but jade is also extracted in the
Polar Urals and in the
Krasnoyarsk territory (Kantegirskoye and Kurtushibinskoye deposits). Russian raw jade reserves are estimated at 336 tons. Russian jade culture is closely connected with such jewellery production as
Fabergé, whose workshops combined the green stone with gold, diamonds, emeralds, and rubies.
Siberia and Mongolia In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a strong belief among many
Siberians and
Mongolians, which stemmed from tradition, that jade was part of a class of sacred objects that had life. ==Gallery==