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Re: Re: Myth & Fact regarding nephrite jade & asbestos
Posted By: Trish Wilson
Posted Date: Jan 16, 2010 (11:48 PM)
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Quote from the Introduction by Yang Jianfang (Yeung Kin-fong), "Jade Carving in Chinese Archaeology - Volume One":

"As to the mineralogical qualities of jades in the late Shang period, 61 specimens from Anyang were studied by Dr. Li Ji in 1945. The result, being limited to type, colour, specific gravity and hardness, is imperfect for lack of the most important factor, the examination of raw materials (ZYLYYJ, no. 13, pp. 179-182). However, a few jades from Yinxu were said to be made from Nanyang yu. In recent years, a number of jades from Tomb of Lady Hao have undergone scientific identification providing different results. In an examination report, seven of the eight specimens are tremolite, a type of nephrite (KG, 1982, no. 2, pp. 204-206). In a primary excavation report, among more than forty pieces of Lady Hao jades, most are similar to Xiuyan yu, some to Nanyang yu and a few to Hetian yu (KX, 1977, no. 2, p. 74). But in the formal excavation report, among some 300 pieces of Lady Hao jades, most belong to nephrite somewhat like those from Hetian, Xinjiang, only three specimens resemble Xiuyan yu, and a few are Nanyang yu, marble or silicious slate ((42) p. 114). The latter identification, if reliable, would be another surprise to students of Chinese archaeology and art. How jades were transported from Xinjiang to Henan over 3000 years ago remains a mystery, although records such as "obtaining jades" and "levying jades" are found in oracle inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty, and a jade halberd from Tomb of Lady Hao bears an inscription which says that the piece was a tribute offered to the king of the Shang Dynasty from Lu, a country acknowledging allegiance to the Shang Kingdom."




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