". . .jade is a possession to be cherished by anyone who can find it or buy it or steal it. Chinese women ask for jade ornaments for their hair, and old men keep in their closed palms a piece of cool jade, so smooth that it seems soft to the touch. Rich men buy jade instead of putting their money in banks, for jade grows more beautiful with age. When men die, their families put jade in the tomb with them to keep them from decay and the orifices of their bodies are stopped with jade for purity. The poorest courtesan has her bit of jade to hang in her ears or to use in a hairpin, and the most successful and popular actresses wear jade instead of diamonds, because jade is the most sumptuous jewel against a woman's flesh. . .
My Several Worlds, Pearl S. Buck
There is a Chinese legend that says gold and jade repel each other, even as they rest within the womb of the earth, as gold is of the material world and jade is of the spirit realm. It is a Chinese belief that gold and jade are formed by the concretion of the essence of chi, the primordial fluid energy that pervades the universe giving form to all things. This means that jade is not a neutral substance, but a concentration of primeval energy. For this reason jade is considered a personal stone, to be held or worn in both life and death. In its vital essence it holds the memory of all that held it.
There are a few different legends concerning the origin of jade. The following is a latter Taoist concept and also the most popular creation myth in China. In the beginning was the great Void. The Void gave birth to Chaos which in turn gave birth to the Light and the Dark. The Dark was called Yin. It was the creative female force, its symbol the moon. The Light was called Yang. It is the outgoing male force symbolized by the sun. For a brief moment the two met and from their union the god Pan Ku was formed. Pan Ku set about carving the universe from the raw jade of chaos with hammer and chisel. Thus was the universe carved from jade.
Jade is the name for two different stones. Nephrite is fibrous and tough with a soapy or waxy appearance. Jadeite is microcrystalline, more easily broken and polishes to a glassy finish. Jadeite was virtually unknown in China until the late 18th century when it was imported from Burma. And is therefore of little concern in this study.
The word jade is from the Portuguese words pedra de mijada, so named by Portuguese merchants that visited China in the early 16th century. This translates to "stone of the loins" and as such was attributed with healing powers, especially of the kidneys. Around the same time Spanish navigators named a medicinal green stone brought from Mexico piedra de hijada which has the same translation. The Chinese people call jade Yu, which translates to "a precious stone of great beauty". Strictly from a mineralogical point of view, Yu has not always been jade. Many neolithic pieces were carved of bowenite, which is similar to but somewhat softer than nephrite. Yu has also been agate or jasper, and occasionally serpentine. Though the majority of archaic carvings are nephrite, any large collection will turn up these other stones. Throughout most of China's history this was never meant as a deception. "A precious stone of great beauty" has a great deal of latitude. More recently however, serpentine and dyed marble are frequently found in the tourist trade and labeled as jade.
Pure jade is white jade. From most standpoints it is the most valuable. It is the presence of other minerals that give jade color. These are mostly compounds of iron, manganese and chromium. Iron oxides and silicates offer the greatest number of hues from the palest of greens and golds to deep browns, grays and black. Cinnabar, used in burial practices, has also been attributed to staining of jades. Old funerary pieces are frequently distinguished from other jades by deep staining on one side only. There is also symbolism connected to the colors of jade. Blue is of the sky and Heaven, and yellow is of the earth. Black is for the north and water. White is for the west and air or metal. Red is for the south and fire. Green is for the east and the element of wood. Jade is translucent, unless the stone is very dark, and rarely transparent.
The roots of jade carving in China go back to the neolithic period. Sources regarding the beginning vary, and the time table is continually pushed back as new findings come to light. Apparently, the first documented neolithic culture, the Xinglongwa, were carving jade in the area of present day Inner Mongolia and China's Liaoning Province 8,700 years ago. Certainly by the time of the Hongshan Culture (4,500 - 2,200 BC), in the same region, jade carving had developed into quite a sophisticated art form. Many of these carvings exist today, thanks to jade's tenacity, and the skills required to produce many of these objects are unparalleled today. This is especially true when one considers the primitive tools that were available to these master carvers of antiquity. Consider the time required for even the simplest task when you study an intricate carving that may have taken years to produce. For in the strictest sense jade cannot be carved; nor can it be chipped or flaked away like marble or other stones. Jade is too tough for either of these methods. Jade (nephrite) is the toughest of all stones. Jade is shaped by abrasion using the dust and grits of stones that offer greater hardness. Until recently it was believed this stone was nearly always quartz with the occasional usage of corundum (ruby or sapphire). Archeologists now know that diamond was also used, even in neolithic times. Imagine a piece of hemp cord or sinew soaked with oil or tallow and dusted with stone grit. This was a saw. Picture a piece of bamboo with the ends treated in a like fashion. This was a drill. Hold this thought and look again at a beautifully carved jade artifact. Whatever inspired men to task away at a single carving with unwavering devotion for months or years? Why did merchants and nobles trade vast sums of riches for a single stone? Why did a general trade his horses and a ruler trade entire cities for a special piece of raw jade? For its vital essence, was jade sought.
Benevolence lies in its gleaming surface
Knowledge in its luminous quality
Uprightness in its unyieldingness
Power in its harmlessness
Purity of soul in its rarity and spotlessness
Eternity in its durability
Moral leading in the fact that it goes from
hand to hand without being sullied.
The Book of Rites (Li Chi) on Jade, Zhou Dynasty (1122-256 BCE)
It may seem strange to the western mind, but throughout China's long history, in spite of its many divergent religious beliefs and philosophies, and regardless of its political persuasion, jade has never been worshiped. It has been revered since long before man began to record his history, but never worshiped. Jade is beyond worship.
"Jade held a special place in Chinese religion; a place accorded no other substance. It was the link between earth and Heaven, the bridge from life to immortality. It was a conduit, a conductor, the embodiment of man's highest thought, just touching upon the divine. In religious ceremonies the Emperor often used jade as we might a telephone, except that when he held up the jade Pi form and spoke through it he spoke to Heaven. And through jade, Heaven was said to send its blessings in return."
Jade: Stone of Heaven, Richard Gump, 1962
Was it the toughness of jade, its utility for which early man selected jade? Was it beauty? Or was early man connected to the intrinsic essence of the stone? Chinese believe stones to be "the bones of the earth", and that all stones, indeed all things contain chi, or vital essence, and again, jade is the concretion of this vital force. Thus jade is not merely stone. The I Ching, or "Book of Changes" states "Jade is Heaven", meaning that there is no more perfect substance in Heaven or earth. To find Tao, or Spirit, or Heaven is to be like jade.