In ancient China, Jade was a bird that lived in the south. Its coat color is very beautiful, usually blue, green, red and brown. Generally, the male of this bird is red and called "Fei", and the female is green and called "Cui". Chen Ziang, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in the poem "Feeling": "The emerald nest is in the South China Sea, the male and female pearl forests ... beautiful jewels, gorgeous and decadent tapestries." This bird Jed nests on the South China Sea coast, and couples of males and females live in the jungle. Its beautiful flight can be made into dazzling Taoist decorations, and the bedding decorated with it is also colorful.
Emerald has a long history. Ouyang Xiu's Record of Returning to the Field in the Northern Song Dynasty contains two volumes: "There is a jade poppy in (Ouyang Xiu), which is very ancient and beautifully shaped. Only May Yu Sheng thought it was Jasper. I tasted it for my family when I was in Yingzhou. Deng Baoji was ruled by military forces. He is really a veteran of the dynasty and knows this. He said, this baby is also called jade. All the treasures in the cloud forbidden are hidden in the vault of the holy one, and there is a jade lamp in the vault, so I know. " It can be seen that "jade" refers to green jade for a long time, and it was regarded as a treasure at the latest in the Northern Song Dynasty. Perhaps the ancient "jade" and today's "jade" are heterogeneous with the same name, so Ji Xiaolan said that when he was young, people "didn't regard jade as it". (Note: Ouyang Xiu's record of returning to the field is contained in the Complete Works of Ouyang Wenzhong, volumes 126 and 127).
Emerald belongs to pyroxene, monoclinic system and two groups of perfect cleavage. The main component is sodium aluminosilicate NaAl9(Si2O6), and a gem is regarded as jadeite only if it contains more than 50% sodium aluminosilicate. It occurs in metamorphic rocks generated at low temperature and high pressure. It often coexists with glaucophane, muscovite, andalusite (anorthite dihydrate), aragonite and Yingshi. Mohs hardness is 6.5-7, specific gravity is 3.25-3.35, and melting point is 900- 1000℃
Early jadeite was not expensive and of low value, so it was not valued by the world. Ji Xiaolan (1724- 1805) wrote in Yuewei Caotang Notes: "The weight of the building depends on the fashion at that time. When I was a child, ginseng, coral and lapis lazuli were not expensive. Today. According to Shiya, at the beginning of this century, about 45 kilograms of jadeite original stone was worth 1 1 pound. There are many essences in the original jadeite stone, and the price was also very expensive at that time, but compared with the super jadeite with a kilogram of 700,000 to 800,000 dollars in the early 20th century, it is simply a drop in the bucket. (Press: According to Ouyang Xiu's "Returning to the Field", at the latest in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, jadeite has become the name of sapphire, which is forbidden. Ji Xiaolan may be talking about another kind of jadeite. )
The mining, transportation, processing and sales of jadeite have always been done by Yunnan people. In an ancient Chinese temple in Amolubo, the ancient capital city of Myanmar, the names of 5,000 jade merchants in China are engraved on the inscription, which is also introduced in jade margin and jewelry. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, senior eunuchs stationed in Tengchong, Baoshan, specializing in purchasing jewelry. At that time, the route from Yongchang Tengyue to Myitkyina, Myanmar, had been called "Jade Road" and "Baojing Road". At the peak of the trade route from Tengchong to Myanmar, more than 20,000 mules and horses pass through here every day, and Tengchong's jewelry trade accounts for almost 90% of the world's jade trade. By 1950, there were more than 300,000 overseas Chinese in Tengchong County. To this day, tens of thousands of Yunnan people are engaged in the jade industry in Myanmar.