Carved Jade Essay

1499 Words3 Pages

Jade is of significant importance in art history and especially in the Chinese culture which is one of the world’s oldest civilizations known. Jade is a gem stone comprised of many minerals. It is generally described as a smooth stone with a rich texture and extremely hard, tough and durable. There are two forms of jade generally found. The first is nephrite, and is a crystalline calcium magnesium silicate compound and the second type is called jadeite, and is a sodium aluminum silicate compound. At first glance they somewhat appear similar, but if you take a closer look you can see they have very different qualities from each other. Nephrite can be described as having an appearance creamier, buttery, white, or of a light green tint with distinct …show more content…

1.7 million years - 21st century BC) “The Chinese regard carved jade objects as intrinsically valuable, and they metaphorically equate jade with human virtue due to its solidity, durability and (moral) beauty.”

As I continued my research, I found the use of jade in the Chinese culture stood for many things. One very interesting use, was that they believed the stones contained magical and spiritual powers during ones life and also in the afterlife. It was thought that that jade could also protect the dead during the transition to heaven. The Chinese culture also believed it would comfort the soul and used it in rituals and ceremony and burials. The importance and significance of the stone is very evident as archeologists have found numerous ceremonial burial artifacts during excavations that date back to Neolithic times. They further discovered and determined that the detailed craftsmanship of the burial jade reached its height during the Zhou dynasty. They commonly found bi disks (see exhibit B) made of jade in many tombs and burials mounds which confirms the significance of the gem to the people of that time

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