The Cultural Origin of Jade

The Chinese nation is a nation that worships jade, and is the only country in the world with a jade culture. Since ancient times, people have regarded jade as a symbol of good luck, warding off evil spirits and diseases, bringing good fortune and happiness; it is also a symbol of status and wealth. There is an old legend that wearing jade can turn misfortune into good fortune and breaking jade can ward off disasters. High-ranking officials in the courts of all dynasties would touch the jade court beads they wore to the ground when paying homage to the emperor. The higher the official rank, the longer the jade court beads they wore. This is the meaning of “a gentleman compares his virtue to jade”.

The color of jade is natural and varied, bright and pleasing to the eye, and is in perfect harmony with nature, representing the vitality and youthfulness of all things. The color of jadeite is brighter than any other jade, its texture is finer than any other jade, it is as transparent as a crystal, and its value is the highest among all jades. Therefore, people call it the "king of jade" and it is deeply loved by Eastern peoples, especially the Chinese nation.

Beautiful legend

Legend has it that in the early 13th century, a salt merchant from Yunnan accidentally carried a stone back to his country from Myanmar. The crystal clear green stone immediately conquered the jade-loving Chinese. From then on, jadeite and China have had an indissoluble bond. When it comes to the origin of "jade", there was once a saying: There was a bird in ancient Yunnan, China. The male of this bird was bright red and was called the jade bird, and the female was bright green and was called the kingfisher. The jade bird was a very beautiful pet, and its feathers were very beautiful and could be made into jewelry. In the Qing Dynasty, the feathers of the kingfisher were brought into the palace as ornaments, especially the green feathers, so the imperial jade was deeply loved by the imperial concubines. Since most jade produced in nature are green and red, the term "jade" gradually changed from the name of a bird to the name of a jade stone, and the origin of jade was also derived from this.

There is another theory about the origin of jadeite. In the early Qing Dynasty, jadeite was transported to China from Myanmar through the "Second Silk Road". At that time, the Hetian jade produced in China was called jadeite. In order to distinguish it, it was called non-jadeite. As time goes by, Feicui turns into jadeite.

Popular from ancient times to the present

China is known as the "Jade Kingdom", and jade has accompanied the Chinese nation for at least 7,000 years. After Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, the King of Burma often presented jade ornaments as tribute to the Chinese emperor, and the historically famous "Jade Road" was expanded. After Kangxi, due to Emperor Qianlong's special love for jade, a large amount of jadeite entered the royal family, and the jadeite industry flourished rapidly. Jadeite gradually became popular in China's upper class and was valued by the ruling class. Especially in the late Qing Dynasty, jadeite was particularly favored by Empress Dowager Cixi, and its value rose sharply, becoming the best jade. In the Qing Dynasty, especially in the late Qing Dynasty, jadeite's status in China's jade culture and jade trade surpassed that of white jade and other jades, and it was called the "King of Jade".

Empress Dowager Cixi highly praised jadeite. She owned many imperial jadeite ornaments and even called the treasures of jadeite "royal jade". She felt that she had not enjoyed enough of the treasures she had during her lifetime, so after her death, she was buried with treasures such as watermelons, peaches, lotus leaves, and cabbages made of high-quality jade. In addition, 27 jade Buddha statues were also buried with her in the ground.

Soong Mei-ling was also a jade enthusiast, and her love for jade was no less than that of Cixi. These two "heroines" in Chinese history have greatly promoted the development of jade and jade culture in China.

It was not until the 18th century, with the advancement of technology, that jadeite really entered Yunnan, China in large quantities. Although it has only been 300 to 400 years since jade was introduced and used, because people who love jade have given it magical cultural connotations, its short but glorious history is enough to make other jades envious, and together with other jades, it constitutes the long-standing jade culture of the Chinese nation.

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