Jade in Chinese Culture

Jade witnessed the development of Chinese civilization starting from around 6000 thousand years ago; it played an important role in Chinese culture. But what is jade, why Chinese fancy jade so much, and what kind of role did jade play in Chinese culture?

What is jade?

Definition of jade from Shuowen dictionary explained that, jade is a stone that is beautiful. The dictionary also noted that jade has five virtues: There is warmth in its luster and brilliance; this is its quality of kindness. Its soft interior may be viewed from the outside; this is its quality of rectitude. Its tone is tranquil and high and carries far and wide; this is its quality of wisdom. It may be broken but cannot be twisted; this is its quality of bravery. Its sharp edges are not intended for violence, this is its quality of purity.  

 

Jade’s role in Chinese culture

The role of jade can be divided into three stages in the history. At the earliest stage around 5000-6000 years ago, jade was a ritual tool used to connect human being with god during the sacrificial ceremony. For instance, the C- shape dragon unearthed from the north of Chinese belongs to Hongshan Culture of around 5500 years ago. The priest used C – shape jade dragon to pray. So jade was a holy item that can connect human being with heaven and earth.

Gradually, the priest became the head of tribe; the whole society was controlled by few people. Jade’s function developed to stand for power and social status, and was used by emperor and royals only. During Shang dynasty around 3600 years ago, jade was commonly used for the royals according to the founding of empress Fuhao’s tomb unearthed from Anyang, China. Jade was used to stand power, social status and strict hierarchy.  

Tang dynasty was an inclusive period and Chinese culture was influence by foreign countries during that time. Since late Tang dynasty, jade started to appear among citizens, rather than royals only. Jade was valuable decoration and ornament, with good meanings carved on it. For the Olympic Games held in Beijing in 2008, three different colors jade was inlaid in the medal, which stand for Chinese unique characteristic. 

Jade in Chinese language

Jade （玉yu） is the one of the earliest word in Chinese language. At the earliest stage, jade was used to communicate with god from heaven and earth, and this can be found from its Chinese character 玉, the above part stands for heaven, while the middle part stand for human being, and the lower part stand for ground, the vertical line connected the heaven, human being and earth. In the Chinese history, emperor is the most powerful man in the entire country, and the character jade 玉 is nearly same as character emperor 王. In order to differ two characters, people add one more dot for character jade玉，this dot stand for an emperor’s precious belonging. So here is the new character jade 玉。

Meanwhile, jade 玉represents the power belongs to emperor. From the character 国 which means country, we can find that this character is a jade inside of brick wall. So for each emperor in each dynasty, the emperor had a jade stamp which stand for his power, and the emperor will give this jade stamp to the next emperor when he retires.

One interesting thing about Chinese language, we know that in Chinese language two characters can form a new one. The character jade is the only character that when it is part of the character, then this new character represents something wonderful and beautiful. For example, 珍珠 which means pearl, and 瑞 which means auspicious.

Jade related story

Nv wa bu tian

It is said that there was a hole on the sky, and human being suffered from natural disaster due to the hole on the sky. In order to help people from the suffering, Nv Wa made a special stone and fixed the hole with it. After that, everything was fine and human being didn’t suffer from natural disaster any more. The stone she used to fix the hole was jade.

Zi han ci yu

This story happened in Song dynasty. It is said that one person got a precious jade, and gave it to Prime Minister Zihan. This person said to Prime Minister, “professionals have already checked the jade, and it proved to be very precious, so I would like to give it to you.” The Prime Minister answered, “For you, this is something precious; however I consider incorruptness as something precious. If I took this jade, then you will lose your precious item, so will I.” Therefore, Prime Minister Zihan refused to accept this jade. This story indicates that noble virtue is the most precious thing in the world that everyone should treasure.  

Reference: www.shenyumuseum.com