Hetian jade is the best jade in China today, and it is also the best nephrite in the world. It is known as "the king of jade". 8,000 years ago, a number of jades, mainly nephrite and jasper, were unearthed at the Xinglongwa Culture site in the Xiliaohe and Dalinghe river basins in northeast China. Hetian jade was also found in Yangshao cultural site 7000 years ago, which shows that Hetian jade has a long history. 1996 in the second Asian film war, British and French invaders invaded Beijing and set fire to Yuanmingyuan, and took the opportunity to plunder a large number of jewels and jade articles and transport them to Europe. 1863, a famous French mineralogist, A. Demoures, made a systematic mineralogical and petrological appraisal and analysis of Hetian jade and jadeite, and found that there are two kinds of traditional "Chinese jade" (Dong Fangyu for short): Hetian jade is amphibole jade composed of extremely fine fibrous amphibole, and jadeite is pyroxene composed of extremely fine alkaline pyroxene.
Therefore, the traditional "Dong Fangyu" abroad mainly refers to nephrite (Hetian jade in China) and jadeite (jadeite in Myanmar).
There are many kinds of jade, nephrite and jadeite have always been the best of all kinds of jade. In the history of China, Hetian jade (nephrite) has always been favored by the royal family and ordinary people. The word "nephrite" is also a mineralogical name commonly used in geological industry. When foreigners say Chinese jade, they often refer to Hetian jade. For example, the geologist of the former Soviet Union and Academician Felsmann of the Soviet Academy of Sciences collectively referred to nephrite as Hetian jade or Chinese jade.
China ancient traditional customs were generally named after jade, such as Kunlun jade (Kunshan jade), dushan jade, xiuyan jade and lantian jade. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Lisi wrote a letter to Qin Shihuang, in which it was recorded that "the jade your majesty sent to Kunshan today is a treasure that is easy to get". Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals is also called "the Jade of Kunshan". Records of the Historian Zhao Shijia's Biography recorded people's worries at that time that "the jade in Kunshan is unavailable, and the three treasures do not belong to the king". Obviously, the name "Kunshan Jade" can be established in practice and theory. Thousands of words have the saying that "Jinshan Lishui, Jade Kunlun" is named after Kunlun Mountain, or Kunlun Mountain Jade (Kunlun Jade). Kunshan Jade is also the ancient name of Hetian Jade. "Yutian Jade" refers to the jade produced by the ancient Yutian Kingdom. The center of Yutian Kingdom is now Hotan area in Xinjiang. Hotan Zhili Prefecture was established in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty, so it was named "Hotan Jade".
"Hornblende jade" and "tremolite jade" refer to the main components of minerals contained in Hetian jade. Hornblende is a general term for hornblende minerals. According to the different crystal systems, it can be divided into amphibole and monoclinic amphibole. Monocline amphibole belongs to monoclinic crystal system, mainly including tremolite, actinolite and ordinary amphibole, so it is called amphibole jade. When the main component of jade is tremolite, it is called tremolite jade. Through investigation and study, the mineral composition of Hetian jade is mainly tremolite, and the content is generally above 95%. The higher the tremolite content, the better the quality and variety of Hetian jade, which has a strong fat wax luster. Geologically speaking, Hetian jade refers to nephrite ore distributed in Kunlun Mountain and Altun Mountain in China, which was formed by contact metasomatism between magnesium marble and intermediate-acid magma, and has nothing to do with ultrabasic rocks. Its genesis is not regional metamorphism, but typical contact metasomatism. This is very unique among nephrite found in the world. In other parts of the world, nephrite has a single variety, mostly jasper. Jade like Hetian jade and white jade is very rare. Therefore, the jade quality of Hetian jade ranks first in the world among nephrite, which should be well deserved.
The naming of hetian jade mainly considers the following three points: ① fine structure, extremely small particles and strong gloss of fat wax; ② The regional distribution is represented by Kunlun Mountain in China; ③ It belongs to nephrite, white jade is the basic variety of Hetian jade, suet jade is high-quality white jade, and others include sapphire, sapphire, jasper, jet, topaz and sugar jade.
"Real jade" is people's evaluation and trust in Hetian jade since ancient times. The ancients put five physical properties of jade: ① moist and shiny; ② Dense and consistent in appearance; ③ The sound is soothing and long; 5 meticulous and solid, and flexible; ⑤ The fracture is angular and not sharp. Hetian jade should have these five attributes, so Hetian jade is called real jade in ancient literature, and those without these five attributes are called fake jade. The current naming rule of China's national standard for jewelry and jade is: "directly use the basic name of natural jade or its mineral (rock) name." Point out: 1. It is not necessary to carve the shape when naming natural jade; 2. Except for some traditional names, the place of origin does not participate in naming; 3. It is not allowed to use "jade" or "jade" alone to directly indicate the name of natural jade. Although Hetian jade belongs to nephrite, it is the best of nephrite, and its name has been used in China for thousands of years. Therefore, in the National Standard for Jewelry and Jade revised in June165438+1October, 2003, it is clearly stipulated that it can be named "Hetian Jade". Hetian jade has evolved from the name of origin to the name of natural jade variety, which is no longer simply the meaning of origin. In the long history of Chinese jade culture, Hetian jade is deeply imprinted in the minds of China people, and it is difficult to erase people's permanent memory of it. Hetian jade has become a famous jade variety in China and even in the world.