2. Jade was discovered in China in the early Ming Dynasty at the latest, but its commercial development was very slow. From the unearthed cultural relics and national and folk collections, it is strongly proved that there are very few ornaments and pieces from the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty. Many jade experts of the older generation believe that the main reason for the low jade production and trading volume from the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty is that the northern Myanmar, which produces jade, is mountainous, with endless forests, dangerous roads, more smoke, more poisonous snakes and more scorpions. In addition, the local indigenous people were not civilized at that time, and they took "autistic" measures out of psychological defense against foreigners. These unfavorable factors made the pioneers who first entered the jade producing area for prospecting and treasure hunting generally gain little. If they encounter plague and robbery, they will surely die. Therefore, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was a folk song "If you want to leave the dam, marry first". It is said that the original discovery of jadeite was also related to ancient caravans.
According to legend, caravans often come and go on the ancient road of "Southern Silk Road". /kloc-In the middle of the third century, a caravan returned to the Central Plains from Myanmar with wood and spices, and the piles of a horse were unbalanced. The horse driver picked up a stone by the pile. The horse went to the Central Plains, unloaded it, and the stone was thrown away by the merchants. I don't know how long it took, but a jade carving master passed by and saw a green glittering and translucent thing in the sun from a distance. When he approached and took a closer look in his hand, the green light disappeared again. It's just a gray stone with green silk in the middle. I'll take it back and cut it open. Wow, crystal clear, jade was discovered like this.
4. In the late Ming Dynasty, the political situation on the border between China and Myanmar was relatively stable, and the politics, economy and culture of the jade-producing areas in northern Myanmar developed greatly, and the traffic was also improved. Since then, businessmen from all over the world have poured into the Tunxi area (Tengchong, Longling, Dehong and the northern border of Myanmar) and traded customs with each other. There are more than 1,000 people over the age of ancient times, and Burmese people exchanged hundreds of thousands of gold for jewelry and jade.
5. In the forty-eight years of Qianlong (A.D. 1784), the Sino-Burmese war broke out, the border was blocked, and diplomatic and commercial exchanges were cut off. 10 years later, "following the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries, businessmen gradually drifted away and the country's trade was rich."
6. 1800, when the Ming dynasty king of Myanmar was in power, he formulated policies, issued a proclamation to encourage Sino-Myanmar trade, and set up a tax bureau in other places with 1806, which opened up a jade trading market centered on Meng Gong. At the same time, troops were sent to set up checkpoints along the way to protect businessmen, which made the jade trade flourish rapidly. Excavators from Yunnan, various vendors from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places came one after another, plus local people who did odd jobs. "The number of people in the jade field has increased to thousands, the mining scene has become more and more grand, and the number of people exported to China has also increased rapidly."
7, 1825, after the British-Burmese war, in order to speed up the plunder of Myanmar, Britain increased its investment in various mining areas in Myanmar and accelerated exploration and exploitation. However, due to the accumulation of jade cultural knowledge every month, the British are not good at managing jade articles, and they have suffered losses year after year, so that this priceless treasure in the eyes of China people is regarded as a "gray stone", and finally they have to contract all the mining, trade and taxation of jade articles to Yunnan people. Nevertheless, during this period, the overall trade of jadeite rose.
8. 1840, the Sino-British Opium War broke out. In order to resist the British invasion of China, all China businessmen withdrew from the jade field. Yutian, once called Ma Si, suddenly fell into cold, and there were few diggers. Until 1860, Sino-British relations slowed down and jade trade gradually improved.
9. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the love for jade became more and more popular, and there was a certain demand for jade in Europe and Asia, so the trade volume of jade rose sharply. In the 28th year of Guangxu (1902), the import of jadeite was 27 1 CTN, and in the 6th year of the Republic of China (19 17), it had risen to 80 1 CTN, which was the heyday of jadeite trade. According to the Records of Guangdong Customs, it is estimated that as many as 6708t tons of jadeite flowed into China during May1year in the late Qing Dynasty.
10. In the jade market at that time, the best jadeite was used to make beads, dragon hooks, fingers, bracelets and rings for dignitaries and their families to enjoy, while inferior materials were made into cigarette sticks, ashtrays, hairpins, ordinary bracelets, etc., which ordinary people could afford.
1 1. At that time, from 32,000 (Yang Guang) Cui Banzhi to 32,000 Cui bracelets, 3200 pendants, 320 earrings and cigarette holders in 3 yuan and 2 yuan, jade products were very popular and met the needs of all walks of life, so the collection in society was quite large.
12, 1942 In the summer, the Japanese invaded Myanmar, and in May, Myitkyina fell, followed by Ruili, Wan Ding, mangshi, Longling and Tengchong in China. The north of the China-India highway was completely cut off. The blockade of the Japanese invaders has seriously affected the circulation of jewelry and jade, and the jade trade has suffered huge losses. After War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's victory, the whole of Asia was devastated, the people were poor and the economy was depressed. The sales volume of jadeite, which is hungry and cold, is less than 100 tons. The market is depressed and trade has dropped sharply.
13, in the middle and late 1950s, the door of China was closed, and the trade between China and Myanmar shrank. In the 1960s, due to historical reasons, the overall jewelry processing and import and export trade basically stopped, and the jade market quickly moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand.
14. Since the reform and opening up in China, with the reopening of the country, many jewelry markets have risen rapidly, and the whole jade trade volume has reached the highest level in history, showing an unprecedented prosperity. In recent years, a lot of manpower has been invested in the whole jade field, and a variety of modern large-scale machines have been used for mining. The mining volume has risen sharply, and the supply of low-grade materials is very strong.