In China, jade is synonymous with beautiful stones. The ancients regarded jade as a treasure, and today people call precious jade Baoyu. China is a country of jade, but at present, there are differences in the definitions of jade, jade and precious stones in the domestic jewelry, archaeology and geology circles. At present, jade in the world refers to nephrite and jadeite (jadeite), and other jade carving stones are collectively referred to as jade. Gem is a collection of one or more minerals with special optical effects, and most of them are single crystals of certain minerals, such as diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, opal, tourmaline, purple tooth black and so on.

First, jade

Emerald, commonly known as "Emerald" in China, is a rising star in traditional jade in China, and also the top grade in all modern jade.

Emerald, whether it is "mountain material" (primary ore) or "seed material" (secondary ore), is mainly a dense block composed of jadeite minerals. Under the microscope, jadeite minerals that make up jadeite are closely intertwined, forming a fibrous structure of jadeite. This compact fiber structure makes jadeite delicate and tough.

Common jadeite colors are white, gray, pink, light brown, green, emerald green, yellow-green, purple and so on. Most of them are opaque, partly translucent and glassy. According to the color and texture, there are more than 20 varieties, such as sapphire green, brilliant green, boxwood green, sunny green, glazed green, Ying Ge green, spinach green, shallow water green, shallow sunshine green, frog green, melon skin green, plum green, blue-green, grayish green, oil green, violet, lotus root powder land, etc.

Second, nephrite

Nephrite has white jade, sapphire, jasper, topaz and jet in China. Different from jadeite, they are compact blocks composed of tremolite actinolite minerals (mainly tremolite) in amphibole group minerals. Observing under the microscope, nephrite, like jadeite, has a fibrous structure. This fibrous structure composed of tremolite or actinolite is the main reason why nephrite has fine and tough properties.

The common colors of nephrite are white, gray, green, dark green, yellow and black. Most of them are opaque, and some are translucent and glassy. The varieties of nephrite are mainly divided according to different colors. The best white jade, as white as sheep fat, is called "sheep fat jade". Sapphire is grayish white to bluish white. At present, some people call it "blue white jade". Jasper is green to dark green, and sometimes black spots can be seen, which is caused by impurities such as chrome spinel minerals. Containing many impurities, when it is black, it is a precious jet. Topaz is also a precious variety. Sapphire has a yellow shell of sugar water, and some people call it "sugar jade". When white is slightly pink, some people call it "pink jade". Tiger skin color is called "tiger skin jade" and so on.

Xiuyan jade, called Xiuyu for short, is named after Xiuyan County, Liaoning Province. On the surface, the main variety of this kind of jade is similar to sapphire or jasper in Xinjiang, but its mineral composition and hardness are different. The main mineral that makes up Xiuyu is serpentine. The composition often contains ferrous and trivalent iron, and is also mixed with impurities such as manganese, aluminum, nickel and cobalt, which makes xiuyan jade have various colors. The colors of jadeite are white, yellow, light yellow, pink, light green, green, emerald green, dark green, brown green and other variegated colors. Among them, green tones are often dominant, and the color is between sapphire and jasper. The serpentine minerals that make up Xiuyu usually account for more than 85%, and a small amount of calcite, tremolite and other minerals are common. The mixing of tremolite can increase the hardness of xiuyan jade.

The five qualities of xiuyan jade are very delicate, translucent to opaque, waxy to glossy. The hardness is 2.5 ~ 5.5 and the specific gravity is 2.5 ~ 2.8. The average refractive index of serpentine minerals is 1.54 ~ 1.55. Serpentine is an metasomatic alteration mineral of magnesium carbonate rocks, magnesium basic rocks and ultrabasic rocks, and can also coexist with talc and chlorite.

Jade in xiuyan jade is easily distinguished from jadeite and nephrite, mainly because of its luster (oily luster) and hardness.

The history of jade mining in South China is unknown. Because it is produced in Liu Si, Xinyi County, Guangdong Province, it is also called "Xinyi Jade". Jade is mostly composed of serpentine, and contains a small amount of phlogopite, talc, calcite, tremolite, chlorite, epidote and so on. Because of many impurities, the color is often different from Xiuyu, and the tone is dark green to brownish green. At the same time, the geological conditions are different from those in xiuyan jade. It occurs in the stratum composed of mica schist and banded mixed gneiss, and there is often a talc layer with a thickness of 0.2 ~ 5.5 meters under the jade ore body.

Qilian jade is produced in Qilian Mountain, with dark green color and many black spots, which are not found in xiuyan jade and Nanfang jade.

Beijing topaz is light yellow and also made of serpentine. It is named because it is produced in the contact metamorphic marble of Laojuntang in the Ming Tombs of Beijing. It was discovered in the 1960s, and it is unknown whether it has been mined in history. Mining has stopped because of too little output.

Anle jade is also a serpentine jade, named after it was first discovered in Lvshui River, Ji 'an County, Jilin Province. It appears in the ancient strata of serpentine marble. Jade is pure, delicate and smooth, apple green to dark green, slightly transparent to translucent.

There are many places of origin and varieties of serpentine jade similar to Xiuyu jade. Therefore, when we identify jade articles belonging to this kind of jade since the Neolithic age, we must not easily determine the source of jade. During the period of 1977, among the Neolithic jades found by Nanjing Museum in Caoxie Mountain and Zhangling Mountain in Wuxian County, Jiangsu Province, 1 jade tube was identified as serpentine jade, which was not produced in Liaoning Province, and the jade material may be produced in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province.

Fourth, lantian jade.

Lantian jade's name first appeared in History of Han Geography, and beautiful jade was produced in Lantian Mountain in the north of Beijing (now the north of Xi 'an). Later, there were records of Lantian's jade production in ancient books such as Biography of consorts in the Later Han Dynasty, Zhang Heng's ode to Xijing, Guangya, Notes on Water Mirror and Yuanhe County Records. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Song said in "Heavenly Creations": "The so-called Lantian is the alias of jade in Qingling (Kunlun Mountain), which was later mistaken for the Lantian of An. "Since then, it has caused disputes for later generations. Some people say that Lantian doesn't produce jade at all, and some people say that even if it produces jade, it may be laiyu (green jade with a color like a vegetable leaf). In recent years, Shaanxi geologists have discovered serpentine marble jade in Lantian, which is regarded as an ancient recorded lantian jade (1978165438+1People's Daily on October 23rd). This discovery not only attracted the attention of geologists looking for raw materials of Yuzhu, but also attracted the interest of archaeologists. 1982 geological museum, Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources, exhibited the above-mentioned lantian jade rough stone. When this serpentine is strong, some parts have become jade like Xiuyu. From the appearance, jade has uneven tones such as yellow and light green, accompanied by light white marble. Although this kind of jade is not very beautiful, it is easy to process because Lantian is located near the ancient city of Xi 'an.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) nanyangyu

Nanyang Jade is named after its production in Nanyang, Henan Province, and it is also called "dushan jade" because its mining area is in Dushan, Nanyang.

Nanyang jade has bright color, fine texture, good luster and high hardness, which can be compared with jadeite. Germans once called it "Nanyang Emerald", and Soviet geologist Kivlinko once classified Nanyang jade as jadeite jade deposit. According to the research of Henan geologists in recent years, Nanyangyu is an altered plagioclase, which consists of zoisite, epidote, tremolite, sericite, biotite and sphene. Through microscopic identification, jade contains a variety of altered minerals, mainly zoisite, epidote and tremolite. Because jade contains all kinds of metal impurities, there are many colors of jade, mainly green, white and variegated, as well as purple, blue and yellow.

Sixth, turquoise.

Turquoise is a cryptocrystalline dense block, which is mainly composed of fine turquoise minerals and contains phosphate of copper, aluminum and water, and usually occurs in secondary epithermal deposits. Most of them are sky blue, dark blue, blue-green and green, and those with strong weathering are green and white. It has a soft waxy luster. Hardness 6, specific gravity 2.6 ~ 2.8. The average refractive index is 1.6 1 ~ 1.63.

Turquoise is also an ancient traditional jade in China. As early as the Neolithic Age, it was used as an ornament with jade such as sapphire and agate. According to the statistics in The History of Ancient Mining Development in China, turquoise ornaments have been found in many places from Qijia Culture and Dawenkou Cultural Site in the late Neolithic Age to tombs in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

Seven, agate

Agate has been decorated by people since ancient times because of its beautiful stripes. Among the unearthed jade articles, strings of agate beads are more common, mostly necklaces.

In addition to chalcedony, sometimes a small amount of opal or aphanitic granular time is found in the fine minerals that make up agate. Strictly speaking, without the characteristics of grain and pattern, it can't be called agate, but chalcedony. Now some chalcedony without grain and pattern on the market is also called "agate", which is inconsistent with the meaning of ancient agate. Pure agate is white. Because it contains other metal elements (such as iron and nickel), it is gray, brown, red, blue, green, emerald, pink green and black, and sometimes several colors are mixed or appear alternately. Agate blocks are transparent, translucent and opaque, with glassy to waxy luster. The hardness is 6.5 ~ 7 and the specific gravity is 2.65.

There are many kinds of agates according to the thickness and shape of stripes. Those with onyx stripes are called onyx, and those with red stripes are the most precious, called red onyx. In addition, there are strip agate, city agate, Tanagate, moss agate, red agate, zygote agate, sauce agate, cypress agate, arc agate, water bile agate and other varieties (Li See Compendium of Materia Medica

In the "chalcedony" without grain and pattern, there are also many jade raw materials. According to different colors, there are "carnelian", "chrysolite" (also known as flesh color), "chrysolite", "blood chalcedony" (also known as blood stone) and "jasper".

Agate, like nephrite, is a traditional jade in China. There are agate cups and agate beads in the jade unearthed from the ruins of Nanjing Beiyinyangying. Among a large number of agate beads, one is made to ward off evil spirits, with a length of 1.7 cm. Agate ornaments were also found in Qijia Cultural Site in Dahezhuang, Yongjing, Gansu, Chunqiu Tomb in Dadian, Junan, Shandong and Jin Dong Tomb in Xiangshan, Nanjing.

Eight, lapis lazuli

Lapis lazuli jade material is composed of lapis lazuli minerals, often containing calcite, pyrite and sometimes a small amount of diopside. Lapis lazuli jade material is produced in Afghanistan, and the average content of lapis lazuli mineral accounts for 25 ~ 40%. Emerald is blue, dark blue, light blue and ultramarine. Opaque, glassy to greasy luster. The hardness is 5.5 and the specific gravity is 2.7 ~ 2.9. Dark blue is thick but not black, which is called "green gold"; When the content of deep blue and pyrite is more than lapis lazuli mineral, it is called "Jingelang"; Light blue and white calcite (generally excluding pyrite) is called "birthstone" (this name comes from the ancient saying that lapis lazuli was used as a childbirth medicine).

Nine, Bidianzi and Malachite

Fifty-six-year volume of Summary of Reading Historical Records: "Tianzhu Mountain is fifty miles west of Zhou (Xing 'an Prefecture, now Ankang County, Shaanxi Province), and there are more than 20 temples and caves under it. Tributes were paid in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and the dynasty was sealed in the early Ming Dynasty. " Xia et al. thought in the History of Ancient Mining Development in China: "Bidian in Yuan Dynasty was not a shop, and Bidian in Ming Dynasty was no exception. "This is because turquoise (ideas) generally does not coexist with malachite (turquoise, also known as" stone green "), and malachite often coexists with malachite. Since it is known that Bidian was born with malachite, Bidian or Bidianzi probably refers to malachite.

Malachite is a secondary oxidized mineral, which usually occurs in the upper oxidation zone of copper mine. Malachite is named after its color is malachite green, which is mostly in the form of blocks, stalactites, shells and concentric strips. The hardness is 4 ~ 6 and the specific gravity is 3.9 ~ 4. It often coexists with limonite, calcite, manganese soil, chalcedony and chrysocolla.

Chrysocolla is also a secondary mineral, mostly formed by chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite, which was changed by the hot solution of alkaline silicate. It is green, blue-green to sky-blue, usually opal or enamel-shaped, but there are also mud or grapes. The hardness is 2 ~ 4 and the specific gravity is 2 ~ 2.24. Opaque as malachite, glassy to earthy.

Gem

From a large number of archaeological data, it is known that the jade unearthed in China is mainly traditional jade, but also accompanied by precious stones. Some important gems are briefly introduced as follows:

Diamond mineral scientific name diamond. Equiaxed crystal system, mostly octahedron, also has rhombus and hexaoctahedron. The chemical composition is carbon. Hardness 10, specific gravity 3.5 ~ 3.6, refractive index 2.40 ~ 2.48. /kloc-Before 0/8th century, India was the only diamond producing area in the world. 1728 Discovery of Brazilian diamonds; 1850 Discovery of African diamonds. Shandong diamond production in China is said to have a history of only two or three hundred years. According to the report on page 32 of Cultural RelicsNo. 1 1, a ring inlaid with diamonds was found in the Eastern Jin Tomb at No.7 Xiangshan, Nanjing. This is the earliest diamond unearthed in China so far, and it should belong to Tianzhu in time.

The mineralogical name of ruby and sapphire is corundum. Trilateral crystal system, the crystal is often barrel-shaped, conical, plate-shaped, columnar, irregular granular and so on. And the crystal surface often has twill or horizontal stripes. Hardness 9, specific gravity 3.95 ~ 4. 10. Refractive index: n0 = 1.767 ~ 1.772, n0 =1.759 ~1.763; The folding rate is 0.008 ~ 0.009. Metal chromium mixed in the composition is red; Mixed with iron, titanium, manganese, etc. , is blue or other colors. Nowadays, in the field of gemmology and jewelers, all transparent crystals of corundum (which can be used as gems) are called "sapphires" except red ones. If it is yellow, it is called "yellow sapphire"; Green, called "green sapphire" and so on.

There are two special varieties of rubies and sapphires, namely "Xing Cai Ruby" and "Xing Cai Sapphire". This kind of gem is generally opaque or nearly translucent. After polished into an arc-shaped gem, six radial bands of light appear on the top surface of the arc, just like a shining star.

Ruby was called "red thorn", "red as a temple" and "folk song" in ancient China. Now, people know that "ballas" refers to a kind of gem, and its mineralogy is called "spinel". Sapphire was called "rustling" in ancient China, and the ancient name of "rustling" also refers to other blue or green gems. In recent years, the origin of sapphire has been found in East China and South China, but ruby has not been found yet. If sapphire is found in the ancient tomb, it is likely to come from Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and other places; Ruby may come from Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia.

Tao, a jadeite writer at the end of Yuan Dynasty, called it "water-helping thorn" in the Record of Farming.

Emerald generally refers to all kinds of transparent beryl mineral crystals, which can be used as gems. Everyone has his own name according to the color. For example, sky blue is called "aquamarine"; Yellow and green people call it "olive aquamarine"; Pure yellow is called "golden emerald"; Pale red is called "rose jade" and so on. Emerald will appear dark green or green only when its composition contains chromium.

The unique turquoise color of emeralds is due to the mixing of chromium ions in the crystals. The content of chromium trioxide is generally 0. 15 ~ 0.20%, and the content of dark emerald can reach 0.5 ~ 0.6%. Crystals are usually hexagonal cylinders. The hardness is 7.5 and the specific gravity is 2.7 1. Transparent, with glass luster. Refractive index: no = 1.585, no =1.579; The folding rate is 0.006. There are often flaws in the crystal, mostly shiny small pieces, also known as "cicada wings". Emerald is known as the "king of emeralds" because of its beautiful colors. More than 4,000 years ago, it was used as a jewel inlay in ancient Egypt and Greece, and was often shaped into a plate or a price ladder, which was called "emerald type" by arts and crafts circles.

Ancient emeralds were produced in Egypt. Emerald was discovered in the middle of Urals by the Soviet Union in 1930. Since the 1920s, a large number of emerald deposits have been discovered in South Africa (azania), Zimbabwe and Brazil. Today, the famous emeralds are produced in Chival and Muzo regions of Colombia. In addition, emeralds are also produced in India, Tanzania and Zambia. So far, the origin of emeralds has not been found in China. The emeralds embedded in the belt of Emperor Wanli unearthed in Ming Dingling don't know where they came from.

Opal stone, commonly known as "cat's eye", was called "lion's burden" in ancient times, which means to be carried by a lion. This gem is mainly produced in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), so it is also called Ceylon Opal.

The mineralogical name of opal is "chrysoberyl", which is a special variety of chrysoberyl minerals. This kind of gem is called opal or cat's eye because of the parallel distribution of "tubular" pore inclusions in the crystal. After being processed into an arc-shaped gem (commonly known as waist circle), it can strongly reflect light and appear a light band similar to cat's eye.

When opal appeared in China, historical records are difficult to verify. Zhang quoted from nirvana in fire in Shi Ya. "The immortal raised two Xuanzong lions ... Xuanzong Tibetan Peony Steel Kaoshiyun." Whether the "lion negative" here is an earlier opal remains to be tested. It is understood that opals have been unearthed from the tomb of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty. The Golden Pagoda in the Treasure Hall of the Palace Museum is also inlaid with poor quality opals. China's ancient and modern opal stones were all imported from Sri Lanka, but the earliest time to import them into China remains to be verified.

Tommalin's Canon Map of Qing Dynasty (Volume 43) is called "Abby (Wang Ya) Ai (Wang Yi)"; In natural history, it is called "Piesy"; In Zhi Heng, Yunnan, it is called "Bixiawai", "Bixiaqi (Wang Bi)" and "Bixi". It is called "Bixiaxi" in the Jade Story. In the early years of the Republic of China, jewelers in Beijing often called it "tourmaline" or "Bibi", which are today's "tourmaline". Nowadays, the word "tourmaline" has become the scientific and technological name of tourmaline gems of various colors.

Tourmaline mineral composition is quite complex, the crystal is columnar, the cross section is spherical triangle, and there are two planes on the crystal plane. Gemstones are transparent crystals of various colors with strong glass luster. The hardness is 7 ~ 7.5 and the specific gravity is 2.98 ~ 3.05. According to different colors, there are several varieties such as red tourmaline, green tourmaline, yellow tourmaline, brown tourmaline and tourmaline opal. Deep red is commonly known as "double powder" and light red is commonly known as "single powder". There are a large number of tourmaline products of various colors in the Treasure Hall of the Palace Museum, most of which belong to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Ancient books recorded that tourmaline was produced in Myanmar. At present, tourmaline produced in Altay, Xinjiang, China is the most famous, but its mining age is unknown.

Jinyawu, also known as Ziyawu, is now the technological name of various garnet gems. Garnet is called "the shunner" in Natural History, Dropping out of Farming and other books. Among them, red as ruby is called "Ceylon ruby"; Yellow, known as "yellow garnet"; Emerald is called "garnet" and also called "Ural Emerald". The gems unearthed in China are unknown. Many dark red to purplish red gems in the Treasure Hall of the Palace Museum are mostly purple-toothed black gems, but the source of raw materials is unknown. It is known that garnet gems such as red, yellow-green and so on are produced in pegmatite in Altay, Xinjiang, China. In addition, red garnet gems are also found in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

Spinel Some rubies embedded in British and Russian crowns are modern spinels. The "Black Prince Edward Star" ruby embedded in the center of Queen Catherine's crown weighs 389 carats. According to Kumi Beowulf's precious metal dictionary, it is a very large spinel gem, which was bought in Beijing for 6.5438+0.2 million rubles in17th century.

Spinels are usually octahedral and glassy. Hardness 3, specific gravity 3.5 ~ 4.06. The average refractive index n = 1.7 17. Spinel is a homogeneous mineral. It is different from ruby (red corundum) in crystal form and hardness. When rotating under the polarizer (orthogonal polarization), its thin edge becomes ruby when it turns bright and black (extinction phenomenon), and spinel gem when it is all black (full extinction).

Emerald spinel was recently discovered in China. The main foreign producing areas are Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Australia.

Labrador stone Labrador stone mineral is named after its discovery on the Labrador coast of Canada. There are two kinds known: elongated moonstone and discolored Labrador stone. Minerals belong to the basic species of plagioclase, including 35-50% steel feldspar molecules and 50-75% tungsten feldspar molecules. There may be a small amount of potash feldspar in the composition. The crystal is plate-like or plate-columnar. Opaque to translucent, a few have high transparency and glass luster. The hardness is 6 ~ 6.5 and the specific gravity is 2.67 ~ 2.72. Basic igneous rocks or dikes are declining. The elongated moonstone has the color of "moonlight is like autumn cold" (turning a gem and gradually changing its luster is called "wandering color"). Color-changing Labradors include white, blue and other colors that change with the direction of light source irradiation (that is, "color change").

In Shi Ya, Zhang thinks that China's "Heshibi" should be a jewel of Labrador, mainly based on the description of the color change of "Heshibi" in Lu Yi Ji by Du Guangting, a Taoist in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. Du Guangting said: "The color of' Heshibi' is blue from the side, but it is white directly." Labrador stone also has a change of white and green color, which is generally difficult to find without thinking, so only by managing it well can we get the treasure.

He Shibi is found in the records of Han Feizi and other books in the pre-Qin period. Qin Shihuang processed it into a jade seal and handed it down from generation to generation. When it was passed on to Li Congke in the later Tang Dynasty, the abolished emperor Bobby (national seal) climbed the Xuanwu Tower and set himself on fire because he stayed in Shijingtang in Beijing. Since then, and choi's whereabouts are unknown.

Fluorite 1978 First Excavation Report of Hemudu Site. There are fluorite products in the unearthed jade articles, Journal of Archaeology. Xia and others believe that this fluorite is obviously made from local materials. Fluorite has all kinds of transparent crystals, which are called soft crystals in China's jewelry industry. The chemical composition of fluorite is calcium fluoride, which often contains rare earth impurities such as yttrium and cesium. Crystals are cubes or octahedrons. There are white, green, yellow, blue and other colors. Hardness 4, specific gravity 3. 18. The refractive index is 1.433 ~ 1.435. The composition emits green fluorescence because it contains trace uranium. According to historical records, phosphorescence is a kind of "night pearl". According to legend, the "snake-eye stone" found in ancient India, that is, the firefly-colored luminous pearl, is half a foot away from it at night, so you can read printed matter by its light. According to Needham's History of Science and Technology in China, people in ancient China loved the Syrian-made luminous pearl, nicknamed "Peacock Warm Stone". It is said that there are nine luminous pearls in the crown of Empress Dowager Cixi, including four lost folk. Not long ago, the night pearl was discovered in Luoyang and Fufeng County, Shaanxi Province. None of them have been identified as gems. This shows that there were night pearls in ancient times. Beijing Evening News106/03/983 The second edition of "The Night Pearl Discovered in China" reported that fluorite with strong phosphorescence was also found in the fluorite concentrator of tungsten mine in Guangdong Province, which can be described as a modern night pearl. This discovery not only shows that the ancient legends and records of the night pearl gem do exist, but also has a new origin.

Crystal products unearthed together with jade articles are more common, and they are often unearthed in ancient tombs since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

The chemical composition of the crystal is silicon dioxide, which is a timely crystal with a certain geometric shape. Hardness 7, specific gravity 2.65. There are colorless transparent, purple, pink, brown, black and other colors. Color is related to some impurities; Topaz contains ultrafine colloidal iron hydroxide; Smoke crystals may be related to radium radiation; Rose may contain manganese oxide and hydroxide of amorphous silicon; Microscopic hematite inclusions can be pink; Amethyst may be caused by boron; Black ink crystals may contain more impurities.

Crystals are divided into amethyst, topaz (fake topaz), tea crystal and ink by color, and also into hair crystal (wrapped with various needle-like minerals) and water gallbladder crystal by inclusion. The pink one is called hibiscus stone. In ancient times, crystals had many names, such as jade, water essence, white attached, dry ice, glass, purple hard, red suitable time, purple suitable time, green suitable time and so on. There are not only many kinds of crystals, but also many places of origin in ancient and modern times. In addition to many provinces in China, it was introduced from Daqin and Persia in ancient times.

According to the current data, more than 230 kinds of precious stones and jade minerals have been found in the world today. In addition to the above-mentioned common gems, Tianhe stone was also unearthed in the Western Zhou Dynasty tomb. Comrades interested in many gems and jade can refer to Yi's Gems (published by Metallurgical Industry Press) and General Theory of Gems (published by Science Press 1985).