Idea Log 06122011

Jade Symbolism in China

Revered for its hardness and texture, jade symbolizes the cosmos, wealth, political power, security, good health and strength. In China, jade cicadas have been placed on the tongue of the dead to speed resurrection; jade pigs symbolize prosperity, jade disks represent heaven and a piece of jade enclosed within a square signifies the earth.

Confucian scholars compared the 11 virtues of jade as models for human behavior. Confucius himself equated the stone with intelligence, truth, loyalty, justice, purity and humanity, and he used the stone to symbolize the idea of junzi, the noble or superior man. Taoist alchemists mixed up elixirs with powdered jade that they hoped would make them immortal.

The emperors communicated with the gods through jade disks; and Chinese poets called the skin of beautiful woman "fragrant jade" and the part of her body which men love so much to enter, her "jade gate." A jade donut has traditionally been given as a gift to newborns. Jade gifts were commonly given as bribes to corrupt Chinese officials. In athletic events second and third place contestants were given trophies of gold and ivory, while the winners were awarded jade.

Jade is prescribed as a medicine and credited with having miraculous powers and the ability to ward off evil and bad luck. A villager in Xinjiang told the Los Angeles Times, “I believe it will cure everything. I have heard when it touches your skin, it sucks out the poisons.”

CHINESE JADE

Qing period Jade cabbage

The Chinese have revered jade since Neolithic times. Archeological data shows that the ancient Chinese were using nephrite jade to make ornaments and weapons between 7000 and 8000 years ago. Archaeologists have unearthed Neolithic jade tools along the Yellow River. Starting around 1600 B.C., Shang dynasty royals began sleeping on jade pillows and signing edicts with jade chops. [Source: Fred Ward, National Geographic, September 1987; Timothy Green, Smithsonian magazine, 1984]

According to an ancient Chinese proverb: "You can put a price on gold, but jade is priceless." The word for jade is used to describe beautiful and pure women. Many people believe it has medicinal and even magical powers. A chip of jade worn around the wrist can soothe a frightened child, improve circulation or absorb bad energy, the Chinese say. According to an age-old belief, jade provides a link between the physical and spiritual worlds. Some of those beliefs are bolstered by the tendency of some jade to change color when worn on the body.

The Chinese word "yu which we translate as "jade" actually refers to any rock that is carved. Some 30 or 40 different kinds of mineral in China are called yu. Nephrite is known as "lao-yu" (“old jade”) or "bai-you" (“white jade”) and jadeite is known as "fei-cui-yu" (“kingfisher jade). John Ng, a jade specialist and author of Jade and You, told Smithsonian magazine, " The Chinese or Japanese have no hesitation in buying good pieces to give their families or friends for good luck. To the Asian, giving jade conveys a special feeling."

According to the Chinese creation myth, after man was created he wandered the earth, helpless and vulnerable to attacks from wild beasts. The storm god took pity on him and forged a rainbow into jade axes and tossed them to the earth for man to discover and protect himself with. According to legend only emperors were allowed to possess carved jade. There are stories of quests for particularly prized pieces resulting in the deaths of 10,000 soldiers. The Chinese character for king has the same root as the character for jade.

Some scholars have suggested that Chinese civilization was built around jade. Known as the "Stone of Heaven," it was more valuable than gold or gems in imperial China and was considered a bridge between heaven and earth. Prized for both its beauty and symbolic value, jade has traditionally been worn as talisman by Chinese and shaped into a variety of objects. Jade was also prized by the Olmec and Mayan civilizations in America and by the Maori in New Zealand.

Jade comes in two forms: nephrite and jadeite, both of which are prized for their hardness, firmness and ability to be carved and the luster they generate that creates an appearance of transparency. Nephrite and jadeite are two chemically different and distinct materials. Both are technically rocks not gems, since they are mineral aggregates rather than crystals. Natural stones passed off as jade include chrysoprase, jasper, serpentine and soapstone.

Source: http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=259&catid=7&subcatid=40