Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1904-04-29
JADE COMES FROM CHINA
INTENTIONALLY PRICED AS THE
STONE PAR EXCELLENCE.

Every Woman In the Celestial King.
dom Wears at Least One Jade orna-
ment-Powdered Jade Used for
Stomschic Trouble.
With Chinese, jade has been priced
from time immemorial as the stone
par excellence 1t may be fairly stat.
ell that every woman in China wears
at least one jade ornament, which, if
not the genuine article. is at least a
good imitation. What the bamboo is
to the ordinary Chinaman. providing
him as it does with almost every imag-
Unable article required by the social
conditions of China, that Jade is to the
cCnnoisseur and man of refinement, if
within somewhat narrower limits. 1t
has been made into snuff-boxes, cups,
plates, bowls, bracelets, earrings,
vases, boxes, inkstones, flutes, pestles
and mortars, seals, ear-stoppers, scep-
ters (so-called), pillows, boats, hair
pins, rings, head ornaments, paper
weights, Buddhas, human figures,
beasts, birds, fishes, etc., etc.
| Now, what is iade?-a question fire.
quently heard since the siege of the le-
cations at Picking. Here is Chinese
answer: Jade is the Quintessence of
heaven and earth. 1t is marked with
the dark hues of the hills, with the
blue tints of streams. 1t is white as
sliced lard, red as a cocks comb, black
as pure lacquer, and yellow as cook
| ed chestnut" Some writer's add
fifth color, crimson as rouge" Near
er, perhaps, to the mark for western
readers will be the following details,
gathered from conversation with Prof.
Lewis of Cambridge. The term jade,
as popularity employed, includes two
minerals, jadeite and nephrite. The
specific gravity of jadeite is about 81;
| that of nephrite 90. The fusing point
of iadeite is much lower than that of
nephrite. BY the mere process of
handling and inspection it is impossi-
| BILE to tell one from the other
The Chinese, who until recent times
have known nothing of specific grav-
| ity, test jade by it's hardness: Jade is
hard and fine and steel can do it no
injury" Again, - your jade is white
as pigs lard, and rings when struck
then it is genuine. There are so
many substances which resemble jade
that it is necessary to discriminate
carefully.
Genuine jade is soft looking and
glossy, as though STEPPED in some kind
of fat. On being struck it gives forth
clear, ringing sound, like bell, which
seems to stop and then goes on again,
dying away in the distance and gradu-
ally" The Chinese classify jade &C.
cording to color and provenance: THE
best kind of jade" says one writer, is
orange yellow; the second best is the
color of mutton fat; the next best is
yellow, which is not easy to obtain;
then comes white. Among the rest
is a stone, called by the Chinese
/ fei is vi, from its resemblance in col
o. to the plumage of the kingfisher,
which, appears to be chrysoprase. and
is now very highly priced. White jade
with black or smokelike streaks also
commands fancy prices; though, OF
course, all really depends upon the
treatment by the artist of well-selected
material.
Everything in China of any rarity
whatever is quite certain to be dragged
into the pharmacopoeia of the Chinese
physician. Jade is no exception to the
rule. 1t may be swallowed as a pow
der or in little pieces the size of hemp
seed, for various stomachic complaints,
even pock-marks and scars may be
eliminated by being daily rubbed with
piece of pure jade. 1t IS also consid-
cred to be of very moist nature, and
we read of an imperial favorite of the
eighth century, who was cured of ex-
ces sive thirst by holding fish-shaped
piece of jade in her mouth. And so
when the tomb of the great command
er. Ts'ao Ts'ao, third century, A. D.,
was opened two hundred years after
his DEATH among the usual objects
found in such circumstances was
large silver bowl full of water. That
the water had not dried UP was ac-
counted for by the presence in the
bowl of a jade figure three feet in
height
Jade is chiefly brought from the
K'un-un or Koulkun range, between
the desert CT Cobb and Thibet; from
Khoten or Ilchi, in Yarkland and
from Lan-t'ien, On the Belurtagh noun
tains, and still further to the west.
hry
Chinese writer's with another Lan-tien
in the province of Shensi. near the city
of Hsian, whittier the Chinese court
fed in August, 1900. upon the relief
OF Picking. In the tenth century the
latter was actually known as the jade
hills district, although it does not ap-
pear that any jade has even been found
there One writer says: When white
jade is very good. you can see your
face in it as in a mirror"
AS regards color. it is necessary to
correct previous quotations by another
from an apparently more sober writ
err:
Jade occurs only in two colors,
white and green. Specimens of red
and yellow jade, SO called, are in real
i,y other stones, equal perhaps in val
ue to jade, but not actually jade. All
jade in it's natural state is found in
the rocky bed of flowing stream Be-
fore it has been removed from its
place, the jade inside the rough block
is as soft as cotton wool; but when re-
moved it becomes hard at once, and
when exposed to the air still harder.
1t is inaccurate to speak, as is done, of
working soft jaoe The outside of a
block of jade in its natural state is
called "iade skin 1t is used for ink
slabs and trays, and is of no great val
ne. Of old, if the jade within the out
er covering was over a foot square,
and without flaw. IL was used for i'm
perial seals. This is what was meant
by the jewel worth several cities"
and is not eaSy to obtain If about