Jade
Jade is a dense, hard, silicate-based metamorphic stone admired throughout the world for its color and symbolic properties. Jade (actually two different materials: nephrite and jadeite) occurs in a variety of colors, from white and creamy yellow to brown and black, although the green and grayish-green varieties are most familiar. Some varieties are semi-translucent, and can seem to glow with an inner light.
The Chinese word for jade is yu. The use of jade in Chinese culture dates back at least to Neolithic times, and examples of jade objects have been found in Chinese burials as early as 6,000 BCE. Jade was believed to have healing and protective powers. Ritual objects made of jade were placed near the bodies of the deceased, as the stone was associated with the soul and immortality. During the Han Dynasty, imperial and aristocratic burials often included whole jade suits enclosing the entire body of the deceased: small, thin rectangles of jade were pierced at their corners and attached together with fine copper wires.
In later Chinese dynasties, jade was widely used for ornamental purposes in objets d’art created for scholars. Large pieces were even carved into “jade mountains,” their surfaces decorated with high relief scenes and poetic texts expressing Daoist spiritual and philosophic beliefs.
But the Chinese were certainly not alone in having a high regard for jade. Other ancient cultures, from Pre-Columbian Meso-Americans to the Maori of New Zealand, also sought jade, and worked it into valued objects that were regarded as significant enough to include in the burials of important individuals. Today, many people still believe in the healing properties of this magical green stone, and use it to cure their headaches and abdominal pains.
See MCAD Library's catalog record for this material.
Jade
Jade is a dense, hard, silicate-based metamorphic stone admired throughout the world for its color and symbolic properties. Jade (actually two different materials: nephrite and jadeite) occurs in a variety of colors, from white and creamy yellow to brown and black, although the green and grayish-green varieties are most familiar. Some varieties are semi-translucent, and can seem to glow with an inner light.
The Chinese word for jade is yu. The use of jade in Chinese culture dates back at least to Neolithic times, and examples of jade objects have been found in Chinese burials as early as 6,000 BCE. Jade was believed to have healing and protective powers. Ritual objects made of jade were placed near the bodies of the deceased, as the stone was associated with the soul and immortality. During the Han Dynasty, imperial and aristocratic burials often included whole jade suits enclosing the entire body of the deceased: small, thin rectangles of jade were pierced at their corners and attached together with fine copper wires.
In later Chinese dynasties, jade was widely used for ornamental purposes in objets d’art created for scholars. Large pieces were even carved into “jade mountains,” their surfaces decorated with high relief scenes and poetic texts expressing Daoist spiritual and philosophic beliefs.
But the Chinese were certainly not alone in having a high regard for jade. Other ancient cultures, from Pre-Columbian Meso-Americans to the Maori of New Zealand, also sought jade, and worked it into valued objects that were regarded as significant enough to include in the burials of important individuals. Today, many people still believe in the healing properties of this magical green stone, and use it to cure their headaches and abdominal pains.
See MCAD Library's catalog record for this material.