The Most Precious of Precious Stones
THE little Chinese girl ran merrily down the street after her friends under the watchful eye of her fond grandmother. Suddenly she stumbled and fell headlong. Grandmother rushed over anxiously to aid the crying child, but, finding no serious harm, she comforted the girl and sent her off again to play. One curious circumstance attended this familiar incident: the grandmother seemed to derive immense satisfaction from the fact that the two little green bangles worn by the youngster, one on each wrist, had been shattered beyond repair.
Why her satisfaction? Well, the little ornaments were of jade, and she herself had seen to it that the little granddaughter wore them for protection. Indeed, many Chinese believe that if a person wears jade and is involved in any sort of accident, the jade will be broken but its wearer will enjoy protection. No wonder, then, that grandmother noted this apparent confirmation of her superstition with that “I told you so” attitude!
This story helps us to understand why, for the Chinese, jade is “the quintessence of heaven and earth, “the most precious of precious stones” even surpassing diamonds.
The Chinese came to think of jade as being of supernatural origin, and hence as something that might be used to promote intercourse with heaven and propitiate the heavenly powers. Traditionally they associate it with their five cardinal virtues: charity, modesty, courage, justice and wisdom. Philosophers taught that jade, swallowed under the right conditions, would confer the ability to live for thousands of years, the power of rendering oneself invisible, and the ability to fly.
There are, of course, few who continue to hold to such beliefs, but they do serve to indicate the high esteem in which jade was held for centuries among the Orientals. But aside from the superstitions attaching to jade, it is, in fact, a most beautiful stone. In most parts of southeast Asia if you observe Chinese or Vietnamese ladies dressed in their best, you will seldom see them without a jade ornament somewhere about their persons.
There are two separate stones that go by this name: nephrite, a Silicate of calcium and magnesium, and jadeite or Chinese jade, a silicate of sodium and aluminum. Interestingly, that name “nephrite, from the Greek word for kidney, reflects the idea that ground-up jade is a cure for kidney ills. The difference between jadeite and nephrite is really of importance only to collectors. On the whole, jadeite is more brilliant and takes a higher polish, while nephrite looks more oily than glossy.
Although China has long been the emporium for art objects fashioned in jade, this material in its natural state is seldom found in China. It was imported from other lands, notably Turkestan. But now nephrite comes mainly from New Zealand, and jadeite is found chiefly in Japan, Burma and California. Jade is often found in riverbeds where it has been washed down from the mountains. It is also quarried from mountains, but the Chinese have a preference for riverbed jade.
Usually we think of jade as having a bright spinach-green color. However, it comes in a variety of colors ranging from pure white, through yellow, red, and blue to black.
Identifying Genuine Jade
Since there are many stones that bear a strong resemblance to jade, how can we know when we have the real thing? If you wanted to buy a piece of jade and avoid the imitations that are passed off as genuine, the easiest way would be to have an expert determine the question. Two things in particular make jade unique: its density and its hardness. Its density or specific gravity refers to the ratio of its weight to an equal volume of water. Jadeite has a specific gravity of 3.4 or slightly less, nephrite of about 3.0. Thus a piece of nephrite weighing three ounces would be of the same volume as one ounce of water.
Hardness determinations are based on the simple principle that a harder material will scratch a softer one, and never vice versa. So, to test a piece of jade we would need, for example, a topaz. If it made no impression on the stone, then it must be genuine jade.
Something simpler is to take a steel penknife or pin and scratch or prick the stone. It is impossible to make any impression on the real jade in this way, but most imitations, such as soapstone, would be marked. Of course, it is not advisable to go around indiscriminately scratching or pricking other people’s art objects. If, however, you really have reason to apply this test, there is often an inconspicuous place, say, at the back or on the base of an object, where you can try it out, and if it is genuine jade no harm can be done. Glass, also, can be treated to look very much like jade, but a piece of glass would weigh considerably less than jade of the same bulk.
The price of jade varies tremendously. More is involved than just the intrinsic value of a piece. Color, shape, quality and especially age and history play important roles. In 1960 a piece of carved Chinese jade was sold at auction for over $16,000. In 1860 a British expedition to Peking sacked the Emperor’s Summer Palace and carried off many of his magnificent jades. If one sees an object today marked “from the Summer Palace, Peking, then one can be assured of excellent quality, if the tag is telling the truth.
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