Although this article is about Hetian jade, the formation of other jade is the same.
Hetian jade and beautiful jade are treasures of past dynasties. Hetian jade, as the king of nephrite in the world, occupies a dominant position in the history of jade culture in China for more than 8,000 years.
This paper analyzes the formation of Hetian jade from the perspective of pure geology, trying to uncover the mystery that has been hanging over Hetian jade for a long time, so that more players can understand this precious specialty of their beautiful hometown from a more scientific perspective. As I come from a non-science background, I have made mistakes and omissions, so please ask Fang Jia to criticize me a lot.
Hetian jade is produced in Kunlun Mountain-Altun Mountain, which was formed in the Late Paleozoic 250 million years ago. It is formed by the erosion of dolomite marble by intermediate-acid intrusive rocks.
When it comes to its formation, we can't help but make a general introduction to the geological evolution of ancient Hetian jade producing areas. According to the sequence, it can be divided into the following important periods: 1. The sedimentary stage of dolomite is the late Mesoproterozoic (about 10 billion years ago). On the southern margin of Tarim ancient land, where the northern margin of Kunlun Mountain is located today, it used to be a shallow sea, where there were a lot of carbonate deposits, among which magnesium-bearing dolomite was one of the main sources of jade.
2. The regional metamorphism stage of dolomite was in Sinian system at the end of Proterozoic, and the Tarim movement caused strong folding and fault activities in the whole region, which eventually formed Tarim continent. In extensive regional metamorphism, dolomite is transformed into dolomite marble.
Since then, the land mass in this area has risen, becoming one of the earliest land exposed to the sea in China, and there is no original sediment cover. 3. During the metasomatic alteration stage of dolomite, from the Late Carboniferous to the Late Permian, a worldwide crustal movement called "Variscan Movement" occurred more than 200 million years ago in the Late Paleozoic.
In the late Variscan period, there were strong fault activities and magmatic activities in the southern margin of Tarim continent, the continental margin of ancient land block and the central block of active zone, and intermediate-acid intrusive rocks invaded dolomite marble along the fault zone. The dolomite marble or tongue left at the top of the rock mass contacts with magmatic intrusion and hydrothermal solution to form diopsidation, olivization and tremolite alteration, which is one of the material conditions for the formation of jade.
4. In the stage of jade formation, when the shallow intermediate-acid dikes originated from the late Variscan intrusive body intruded into the altered zone of dolomite marble, contact metasomatism occurred again, and Hetian jade was finally formed under appropriate geological conditions (about 300-350 degrees Celsius, less than 2.5 kilobar, with certain torsional and compressive stress). The above four stages can be summarized as follows: A, Late Mesoproterozoic continental margin sea deposit/deposition dolomite (one of the sources of jade-forming materials) B, Late Proterozoic Tarim movement, regional metamorphism/dolomite metamorphism into dolomite marble (structural transformation of jade-forming materials) C, acid intrusion in the middle of late Variscan, contact metasomatism/formation of dolomite marble alteration zone (jade-forming material basis) D, and middle-late Variscan intrusion.
Other nephrite in the world are mostly green, and none of them can reach the level of Hetian white nephrite.
How is jadeite formed?
Jade is always crystal clear, clean and beautiful in people's hearts, and many beautiful things are described by the word "jade". China has the reputation of "the country of jade". As early as 5000 BC, during Hemudu culture period, jade articles such as Yuhuan and Yuzhu appeared in China, which is the oldest jade culture in human history. There are records in ancient books such as Shangshu, Shan Hai Jing and Gong Yu. It is said that in ancient times, Huangdi, the ancestor of the Chinese nation, gave jade to tribal leaders as a symbol of power. Many emperors' "jade seals" were also carved with jade. The story of "Harmony with Jade" in history is the cultural embodiment of the spirit of jade worship.
In fact, jade is a particularly hard ore. Judging from the chemical composition, it is pyroxene. Jade was formed more than1.300 million years ago, which is equivalent to the late Jurassic. The formation of jade, like the formation of various rocks, is the product of natural changes, and beautiful jade has become a gem because of its scarce output. Since ancient times, it has been shrouded in mystery. Ancient humans used to make jade carvings into weapons and tools, and later began to worship jade.
Formation process of jade
The formation of jade generally goes through four stages: first, the dolomite deposition stage was in the late Mesoproterozoic, about one billion years ago, which required a lot of carbonate deposition, among which magnesium-bearing dolomite was one of the main sources of jade.
2. The regional metamorphic stage of dolomite is in Sinian at the end of Proterozoic. In extensive regional metamorphism, dolomite is transformed into dolomite marble. 3. The metasomatic alteration stage of dolomite is from Late Carboniferous to Late Permian in Late Paleozoic more than 200 million years ago. There are strong fault activities and magmatic activities in the global crustal movement, and intermediate-acid intrusive rocks invade dolomite marble along the fault zone.
The dolomite marble or tongue left at the top of the rock mass contacts with magmatic intrusion and hydrothermal solution to form diopsidation, olivization and tremolite alteration, which is one of the material conditions for the formation of jade. 4. In the jade-forming stage, when the hypabyssal intermediate-acid dike originated from the late Variscan intrusive body intruded into the altered zone of dolomite marble, contact metasomatism occurred again, and jade was formed under appropriate geological conditions (300-350 degrees Celsius, 2.5 kPa, certain torsional and compressive stress).
From the perspective of western gem culture, jade has two kinds: soft and hard. Usually, jade refers to nephrite. It belongs to one of the most common jewels.
According to "Tengyue Local Records" written by Qing Jinshi Cun Kaitai, "Tengyue is a collection of jade articles, made into utensils and sold to various provinces in Yunnan. Top grade jadeite is mostly sent to eastern Guangdong, Shanghai, Fujian, Zhejiang and Kyoto.
Jade is a relatively valuable mineral. Jade is rich in trace elements such as zinc, iron, copper, manganese, magnesium, cobalt, selenium, chromium, titanium, lithium, calcium, potassium and sodium.
The embellishment of jade can eliminate impetuous heart, the color of jade can delight bored heart, and the purity of jade can purify dirty heart. Therefore, a gentleman loves jade and hopes to find natural aura in the jade body.
Jade is the beauty of stone, with positive, moist and pure color. The same is true of precious stones.
Its value does not depend entirely on the composition, and most jadeites are worthless. Like people, every nation produces heroes.
Extended data:
Judging from the history of jade used in China, Hetian jade in Xinjiang was used on a large scale only after Shang Dynasty, and before that, jade materials used in various places were basically all kinds of beautiful stones made from local materials. Therefore, the definition of Chinese jade can not rely solely on the standards of modern mineralogy, but should proceed from a historical perspective, respect traditional habits, and take jade in a broad sense as the object of study of jade and jade culture.
Regarding the concept of jade, jade in a broad sense should have three characteristics: first, the material meets the requirements of "beautiful stone"; Second, it has the basic style of typical jade in modeling; Third, jade articles must be made by special jade-making methods, such as grinding and drilling, rather than ordinary stone-making techniques. Furthermore, the jade articles studied should have a certain historical age, and their historical and cultural values must be emphasized.
Similarities and differences: 1 Nephrite pays more attention to history and the inner charm of sculpture than jadeite. The same piece of jade (nephrite), if it is ancient jade (nephrite), will be worth a lot.
2. Jade pays more attention to color and size than nephrite. If a new jade (jade) is of good quality, it is more valuable than an ancient jade (jade).
3. Both pay attention to "water head". But nephrite is "internal" and jadeite is "external".
In the light, the color of nephrite is gloomy, but jadeite is dazzling. Of course, its meaning is different.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia-jade.
Formation process of jade
The forming conditions of jade are extremely special and complicated. Most of them come from high-temperature molten magma tens of kilometers underground. These high-temperature mud rushed from underground to the surface along the cracks, and turned into hard stones after cooling. In this process, only some elements slowly crystallize into hard jade or precious stones, and their formation time is very far away from us.
Jade is one of the earliest traditional handicrafts in China. Dr Joseph Needham, a British natural scientist, once said, "Love for jade is one of the characteristics of China culture." According to textual research, there were simple jades in China as early as the Neolithic Age. The most valuable jade articles were unearthed in the Chahai site in Liaoning Province 8000 years ago. Jade beads, jade tubes and jade blocks were found in Hemudu site in Zhejiang province from 6000 to 7000 years ago. The origin of jade should be said to be earlier than this. However, people at that time did not understand the value of jade. They just use those hard and delicate stones to grind them into weapons or tools. As time goes on, people gradually realize the beauty of jade. After patient scrutiny, jade has become a work of art and a practical product.
China used jade as a symbol of power and etiquette in ancient times. The Yellow Emperor once gave jade to tribal leaders as a symbol of enjoying power. Later, in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, jade was a sacrificial vessel to heaven and earth. In the Zhou dynasty, the wind of valuing jade was extremely strong. Jade is used for sacrifices, and bronze is used for banquets. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the admonition that "a gentleman is better than jade" and "a gentleman is unreasonable, and jade does not go to the body" was preached. In the Western Han Dynasty, jade was said to be "a thing that repels evil spirits and hates victory". From slave society to early feudal society, jade has always been regarded as a decorative work of art. In China, many jade ornaments and ceremonial utensils were found in sacrificial objects unearthed from ancient tombs. Nowadays, in museums all over China, the common ancient jade articles are jade bottle, jade furnace, jade incense, jade tripod, jade cup, jade Jue and jade jar. From the Neolithic Age to the Qing Dynasty, there were many jades left in China, including more than 20,000 pieces handed down from ancient times in the Palace Museum.
In the middle of feudal society in China, large jade articles appeared. There is a big jade pot in Beijing Beihai Park Tuancheng-Dushan Dayuhai, like a big bathtub. It is a sprinkling device for Kublai Khan's banquet in the Yuan Dynasty, which can hold more than 3,000 liters of wine. The jade pot weighs 3.5 tons, with a maximum circumference of 493 cm, a height of 70 cm and a depth of 55 cm. Jade urn is oval, surrounded by Yuntao, mosquito dragon and hippocampus. It has a beautiful shape and is the oldest and largest jade handed down in China.
A18th century large-scale jade carving during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty-Dayu Water Control and Yushan, is displayed in the Treasure Hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Based on the Song Dynasty painting "Dayu Water Control Map". This jade carving is 2.4 meters high and about l meters wide, which vividly shows the scene of ancient working people fighting floods. According to historical records, this jade is produced in Hotan, Xinjiang, China, and weighs more than 5 tons. It took three years and traveled more than 4,000 kilometers before it was shipped to Beijing. It took many years to carve this rare national treasure.
There are four famous jades in China, namely Xinjiang Baiyu, Liaoning Xiuyu, Henan dushan jade and Hubei Luyan Jade. Especially jade has the reputation of "the king of jade". Emeralds are extremely precious and used to be possessed by emperors or rich people. As the saying goes, "Gold is valuable, jade is priceless", or jade is "priceless". It is said that King Qin Zhao once traded 15 cities for a precious harmonious wall. Why is jade so precious?
First, scarcity. Rare things are expensive. It takes a long time for jade to form under the crust, especially jadeite, white jade, agate and green gold. In ancient China, jade pickers rode cattle, climbed mountains and mountains to find jade, and stepped out outcrop or semi-outcrop jade by animals' hooves. Some jade rushed downstream along mountains and glaciers and was fished away on the way. According to records, in ancient times, when picking jade in Hotan, Xinjiang, a woman's tree was fished in the water. According to legend, the ancients believed that jade was the essence of yang, and it should be called yin qi, so that jade would not be lost, otherwise it would be difficult to get beautiful jade. Later, jade became less and less, so we began to dig mountains and mine, and attack mountains to collect jade. It is extremely difficult to choose a good jade.
The second is hard work. Jade can be roughly divided into jadeite and nephrite. Jade is delicate and tough, with considerable hardness. If the hardness of diamond is set to 10 degree, then the hardest jade such as jadeite can reach 8 degrees and 9 degrees. Generally speaking, jadeite with hardness above 6 degrees is called jadeite. Only emery and Jin Gangzuan powder tools can grind jadeite. No matter how hard the steel knife is, the jadeite is polished into jade, which is translucent, soft, smooth and crystal clear, and the inner eye can't tell the difference between mineral particles. Jade with hardness below 6 degrees is nephrite. Nephrite is soft in texture and good in toughness, and can generally be carved with a knife, so its value is relatively low.
Third, the color is beautiful. According to legend, there are beautiful jade in the place where Phoenix lived. Jade is rich in natural colors, such as white as suet, red as chicken blood, and green as blue sea ... Common ones are white diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and metamorphic rocks, which can be processed into jade articles such as rings or earrings, and are durable and high-grade decorations. Some jadeites have several colors, which are called "clever colors". Even if some jadeites are impure in texture, once they are skillfully cut, they turn defects into beautiful spots and squirrels in flowers or trees, which are vivid and fascinating.
China people say, "If you don't cut it, you can't cut it." . The ancients first used tools such as stone and bone, and used sand and water as media to ponder jade articles, which took a lot of effort. Later, iron and copper were used as disks, and emery or Jin Gangzuan powder was used to speed up jade carving. At present, there are jade carving factories all over China. Jade carving has gradually changed from manual operation to semi-mechanization and electrification, and the productivity has increased, but there are fewer and fewer natural jade materials, so the price of jade is still expensive.
How is jadeite formed?
Although this article is about Hetian jade, the formation of other jade is the same.
Hetian jade and beautiful jade are treasures of past dynasties. Hetian jade, as the king of nephrite in the world, occupies a dominant position in the history of jade culture in China for more than 8,000 years.
This paper analyzes the formation of Hetian jade from the perspective of pure geology, trying to uncover the mystery that has been hanging over Hetian jade for a long time, so that more players can understand this precious specialty of their beautiful hometown from a more scientific perspective. As I come from a non-science background, I have made mistakes and omissions, so please ask Fang Jia to criticize me a lot.
Hetian jade is produced in Kunlun Mountain-Altun Mountain, which was formed in the Late Paleozoic 250 million years ago. It is formed by the erosion of dolomite marble by intermediate-acid intrusive rocks.
When it comes to its formation, we can't help but make a general introduction to the geological evolution of ancient Hetian jade producing areas. According to the sequence, it can be divided into the following important periods: 1. The sedimentary stage of dolomite is the late Mesoproterozoic (about 10 billion years ago). On the southern margin of Tarim ancient land, where the northern margin of Kunlun Mountain is located today, it used to be a shallow sea, where there were a lot of carbonate deposits, among which magnesium-bearing dolomite was one of the main sources of jade.
2. The regional metamorphism stage of dolomite was in Sinian system at the end of Proterozoic, and the Tarim movement caused strong fold and fault activities in the whole region, which eventually formed Tarim continent. In extensive regional metamorphism, dolomite is transformed into dolomite marble.
Since then, the land mass in this area has risen, becoming one of the earliest land exposed to the sea in China, and there is no original sediment cover. 3. During the metasomatic alteration stage of dolomite, from the Late Carboniferous to the Late Permian, a worldwide crustal movement called "Variscan Movement" occurred more than 200 million years ago in the Late Paleozoic.
In the late Variscan period, there were strong fault activities and magmatic activities in the southern margin of Tarim continent, the continental margin of ancient land block and the central block of active zone, and intermediate-acid intrusive rocks invaded dolomite marble along the fault zone. The dolomite marble or tongue left at the top of the rock mass contacts with magmatic intrusion and hydrothermal solution to form diopsidation, olivization and tremolite alteration, which is one of the material conditions for the formation of jade.
4. In the stage of jade formation, when the shallow intermediate-acid dikes originated from the late Variscan intrusive body intruded into the altered zone of dolomite marble, contact metasomatism occurred again, and Hetian jade was finally formed under appropriate geological conditions (about 300-350 degrees Celsius, less than 2.5 kilobar, with certain torsional and compressive stress). The above four stages can be summarized as follows: A, Late Mesoproterozoic continental margin sea deposit/deposition dolomite (one of the sources of jade-forming materials) B, Late Proterozoic Tarim movement, regional metamorphism/dolomite metamorphism into dolomite marble (structural transformation of jade-forming materials) C, acid intrusion in the middle of late Variscan, contact metasomatism/formation of dolomite marble alteration zone (jade-forming material basis) D, and middle-late Variscan intrusion.
Other nephrite in the world are mostly green, and none of them can reach the level of Hetian white nephrite. First-class jade, moist, thorough and greasy, is moist in your hand.
The main method to identify the authenticity is to use a magnifying glass or microscope to see that there is a fiber interwoven structure inside the jade, and the particles are fine; Artificial glass has no structure and bubbles can be seen. You can also carve it in an inconspicuous place with a knife. What can be carved must be fake jade, but what cannot be carved is real jade.
As the saying goes, "Gold is valuable, but jade is priceless". Because the top grade Hetian jade is getting scarce, it can reach tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan per kilogram, while the average Qinghai white jade and Russian white jade are only a few thousand yuan per kilogram, so some people mix it with Hetian jade.
The minerals of these jadeites are basically the same as Hetian jade, but the surface color is dark and not soft, which will be even dimmer after a long time. Old jade and new jade can be distinguished from two aspects. There is an oxidized jade skin on the surface of the old jade, commonly known as "patina", which is similar to the skin of autumn pear and obviously different from the natural color of jade, while the new jade does not.
Judging from the theme of sculpture, ancient jade is a symbol of rank and power, and there are many mythical flowers, birds and figures, such as dragons and phoenixes. New ones are generally auspicious themes.
Jade has been closely related to China culture since ancient times. In the eyes of China people, jade is a symbol of good fortune, so China people like to use jade to protect themselves, keep peace, ward off evil spirits, and even bury them with jade; Westerners mainly appreciate the elegance, grace, mystery and romance of jade.
Classification of jade: Jade can be divided into nephrite and jadeite, which are two different minerals. The colors of nephrite are translucent white, yellow, green and black, and the colors are evenly distributed. As for jadeite, there are mainly white, purple, yellow and green, and the uniformity of color distribution among different germplasm will be different.
The vast majority of jades produced in China are nephrite, and "sheep fat white jade" is a treasure in nephrite, with delicate texture and white color. Many exquisite jade works of art are carved from nephrite. Jadeite is mainly produced in Myanmar and is even rarer than nephrite.
Because jade is superior to nephrite in quality, color and price, jade ornaments on the market are mainly jade, and the demand of consumers is very great, so we focus on jadeite. Appreciating jadeite: Appreciating jadeite should pay attention to color and germplasm, which can be subdivided into color, transparency, clarity, cutting and cracking, generally starting with its color.
Color is the most important factor affecting the value of jadeite. The color of jadeite can be evaluated from the following four areas: to be pure: purity refers to the ratio of primary color to secondary color of jadeite. Take green jadeite as an example, pure green is the best, followed by yellow or blue, and gray is the worst. Appropriate shade: when it comes to the depth of color, of course, the thicker the better. But if the color is too thick, it will have the opposite effect and reduce the quality of jade.
Be bright: the brighter the color of jade, the more attractive it is. The more gray or black it contains, the darker the color. The more uniform the color distribution, the better and the higher the value. Transparency The transparency of jadeite affects the refraction of light, thus affecting the overall aesthetic feeling.
When light enters the transparent and delicate jade, it will be reflected.
How is jadeite formed?
First-class jade, moist, thorough and greasy, is moist in your hand. The main method to identify the authenticity is to use a magnifying glass or microscope to see that there is a fiber interwoven structure inside the jade, and the particles are fine; Artificial glass has no structure and bubbles can be seen. You can also carve it in an inconspicuous place with a knife. What can be carved must be fake jade, but what cannot be carved is real jade. As the saying goes, "Gold is valuable, but jade is priceless". Because the top grade Hetian jade is getting scarce, it can reach tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan per kilogram, while the average Qinghai white jade and Russian white jade are only a few thousand yuan per kilogram, so some people mix it with Hetian jade. The minerals of these jadeites are basically the same as Hetian jade, but the surface color is dark and not soft, which will be even dimmer after a long time.
Old jade and new jade can be distinguished from two aspects. There is an oxidized jade skin on the surface of the old jade, commonly known as "patina", which is similar to the skin of autumn pear and obviously different from the natural color of jade, while the new jade does not. Judging from the theme of sculpture, ancient jade is a symbol of rank and power, and there are many mythical flowers, birds and figures, such as dragons and phoenixes. New ones are generally auspicious themes.
Jade has been closely related to China culture since ancient times.
In the eyes of China people, jade is a symbol of good fortune, so China people like to use jade to protect themselves, keep peace, ward off evil spirits, and even bury them with jade; Westerners mainly appreciate the elegance, grace, mystery and romance of jade.
Classification of jade:
Jade can be divided into nephrite and jadeite, which are two different minerals. The colors of nephrite are translucent white, yellow, green and black, and the colors are evenly distributed. As for jadeite, there are mainly white, purple, yellow and green, and the uniformity of color distribution among different germplasm will be different.
The vast majority of jades produced in China are nephrite, and "sheep fat white jade" is a treasure in nephrite, with delicate texture and white color. Many exquisite jade works of art are carved from nephrite.
Jadeite is mainly produced in Myanmar and is even rarer than nephrite. Because jade is superior to nephrite in quality, color and price, jade ornaments on the market are mainly jade, and the demand of consumers is very great, so we focus on jadeite.
Appreciate jade:
The appreciation of jadeite should pay attention to color and germplasm, which can be subdivided into color, transparency, clarity, cutting and cracking, generally starting with its color.
The forming conditions of jade are extremely special and complicated. Most of them come from high-temperature molten magma tens of kilometers underground. These high-temperature mud rushed from underground to the surface along the cracks, and turned into hard stones after cooling. In this process, only some elements slowly crystallize into hard jade or precious stones, and their formation time is very far away from us. "High temperature and high pressure" and "low temperature and high pressure" are the representatives of warm colors of "Huang Longyu". The representative of low temperature and high pressure is the cool color of "Jade". Jade can be divided into jadeite and nephrite. Jadeite is one of the most common rock-forming minerals in nature and a rare variety in the pyroxene family, belonging to monoclinic system. Nephrite is a kind of hydrous calcium magnesium silicate with chain structure. It is a microscopic fibrous or dense massive mineral, with tremolite and actinolite as the main rock-forming minerals and other trace mineral components. The chemical composition is Ca2.