1. Brief introduction of jade
Jade is a mineral. There are two kinds of jade: soft and hard. Usually, jade refers to nephrite. It belongs to one of the most common jewels. According to the local chronicles of Tengyue written by Qing Jinshi Cun Kaitai, "Tengyue was collected by jade workers, made into utensils and sold in Yunnan provinces. Top grade jadeite is mostly sent to eastern Guangdong, Shanghai, Fujian, Zhejiang, Kyoto and other places. "
China is the earliest and most extensive country in the world to exploit and utilize jade. There are many records and names in ancient books, such as Shuiyu, Heritage Jade, Peiyu, Xiangyu, Nephrite and so on.
Tremolite nephrite unearthed from Chahai site in Fuxin city, Liaoning province is about 8000 years ago (early Neolithic age), which is the earliest known real jade in the world. The most famous jade in China is Hetian jade in Xinjiang, which, together with dushan jade in Henan, xiuyan jade in Liaoning and lantian jade in Shaanxi, is called the four famous jade in China.
Jade is a relatively valuable mineral. Emerald is rich in many 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 ingredients, but color, texture and sculpture are often its value.
2. Definition
Nephrite refers to Hetian jade in a narrow sense, and broadly includes more than ten kinds of nephrite such as xiuyan jade, Nanyang jade and Jiuquan jade. Many nephrite have the same long history, such as xiuyan jade. Jade only refers to jade.
Jade is a special mineral with sociality and treasure. For tens of thousands of years, the ancients screened and confirmed it in the process of making tools with selected stones. Shuo Wen Jie Zi interprets jade as "the beauty of stone is jade". In Ci Hai, jade is simply defined as "a beautiful stone with moist luster".
These statements are what we call jade in a broad sense today, including not only Hetian jade and jadeite, but also traditional jade such as chalcedony, xiuyan jade, Nanyang jade, crystal, agate, amber, coral, turquoise, lapis lazuli and Huanglong jade. Modern mineralogy divides jade into jadeite and nephrite. Jade is jadeite, while nephrite mainly refers to Hetian jade in Xinjiang, which is a narrow definition of "jade".