The story of traditional Chinese jade culture

Chinese people have a special affection to jade. In Chinese culture, jade is a fine, beautiful stone with warm color and rich luster. It is carved into various designs by skillful craftsman, and used in many occasions. Symbolizing nobility, perfection and eternity, jade has been an indispensable part of traditional Chinese jade culture as well as Chinese people’s life.
The Chinese jade culture has a long history. The earliest jade object found in China can date back more than 12,000 years ago. Archaeological discovery found that the earliest jade was used as personal accessory as well as emblem for witchcraft.
As early as 16th century B.C., the Shang Dynasty already developed the manufacture of Chinese jade objects in every type, shape and size as you can imagine.
Jade was attribute with traditional cultural characteristics when carved into different shapes. For example, Chinese used to believe that the sky was round and the earth square, so they made the round jade with a hole in the center as the honor to the gods of heaven, and carve a hollow square shape jade to honor the spirits on the earth.
After the Sung (960-1279 A.D.) and Yuan (1271-1368 A.D.) dynasties, the development of jade articles tended to be pure craftsmanship and artistry. At that time, many large jade articles are carved only for the demand of sophisticated aesthetics. Other smaller jade items were still used in people’s daily life as ornaments, set in walking sticks, apparel, and other things.
Even today, jade ornaments are still popular among Chinese people. It is common to wear a piece of jade pendants or other jade items. Apart from its beauty, jade is stilled believed to protect the wearer from misfortune.
As can be seen, jade plays an important role throughout Chinese history, and remains an symbol of Chinese culture today.