VALUE OF JADE
Jade has been intimately linked to the beginnings of Chinese civilization and rituals. In fact jade is often cited as one of the defining characteristics in the continuity of Chinese culture. In the hierarchy of valuable materials, this remarkable substance has traditionally ranked above gold, silver, and the precious stones admired in Western culture.
In China, the use of jade predates the use of bronze-- the only other material of comparable value in Chinese culture-- by several thousand years. As jade is a very hard stone, fashioning it into the desired shapes was an exceptionally long and painstaking process, especially when the only simple tools were available. Over more than six thousand years of its use, a rich variety of functions and symbolic values were ascribed to jade. Above all, it came to be associated with power for those who used it in association with rituals and ceremonies or wore it in the form of ornaments.
Over the centuries, the minerals known as jade: nephrite and jadeite, were treasured for their hardness, texture, translucency, and color, characteristics that have been interpreted as symbols of immortality, protection, and virtuous behavior. Objects made of jade also served as emblems of both temporal and heavenly powers, and of wealth, values undoubtedly enhanced by the difficulties associated with acquisition and manufacturing.
As to lasting cultural values, however, it is the inherent qualities of the stone itself that captured the Chinese imagination. By the middle of the first millennium BCE, jade had become a symbol of human potentiality, the slow working of the stone likened to the arduous process of perfecting the human mind. Only through persistent and disciplined effort could true character and virtue be developed. Jade, being similar to other boulders in its natural uncut state, came to be though of that which holds its potential beauty revealed. |
