Jade Carving

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, according to Dr. Joseph Needham-the noted British naturalist, has been one of the cultural features of China. Crude jade tools have been found among the archaeological finds dating back to the New Stone Age. There is, however. No evidence to indicate that Neolithic people attached a great value to jade ware; they chose jade only because it was hard and good for making tools and fighting weapons. As time went on, people came gradually to appreciate the beauty of the stone, which after carving and polishing might be turned into things not only useful but also nice to look at.

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 normally comprise vases, incense-burners, tripods, cups and wine vessels of various descriptions.

Large-sized jade articles began to appear in the middle of Chinese feudalism. There is today in the Round City of the Beihai Park a large jade jar the size of a small bathtub. 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 has a circumference of 493cm and measures 70cm high and 55cm deep in the middle. 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.

Another large piece worth mentioning is a jade sculpture dating from the reign of Qianlong in the 18th century. Entitled “Jade Mountain Showing the Great Yu Taming the Flood“, it was sculpted after a Song Dynasty painting of 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 Hotan area in Xinjiang and it took three years to transport it to Beijing over a distance of 4.000 kilometers.

“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 Ho`s round jade. Why the jade is so valuable?

First, its value lies in its scarcity. Precious stones are formed over long geological epochs and are hard to get, especially 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 animals’ hoofs. Sometimes, precious stones were washed down by mountain torrents and were got hold of midway by men with the eye and 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 get.

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. Thirdly, the value of precious stones lies in their natural color and hue. Some are as white as snow. Others are brightly 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 all the time. Some stones carry an array of colors which a master artisan can use to good effect. 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.

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 more and more scarce, the prices of jade ware will always be on the upward trend.