Now jade is divided into two categories: jadeite and nephrite.
Jadeite is mainly represented by jadeite, which is mainly produced in Yunnan and Myanmar.
Nephrite contains many kinds, mainly the following:
1, xiuyan jade, also known as xiuyan jade, is named after it was produced in Xiuyan Manchu Autonomous County, Anshan City, Liaoning Province, and is one of the four famous jade in the history of China. Its texture is solid and moist, delicate and harmonious, mostly green to lake green, among which dark green, transparent and few defects are treasures.
2. lantian jade was first seen in History of Han Geography, and beautiful jade was produced in Lantian Mountain in the north of Beijing (now the north of Xi 'an). Later, there were records of Lantian's jade production in ancient books such as Biography of consorts in the Later Han Dynasty, Zhang Heng's ode to Xijing, Guangya, Notes on Water Mirror and Yuanhe County Records. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Song said in "Heavenly Creations": "The so-called Lantian is the alias of jade in Qingling (Kunlun Mountain), which was later mistaken for the Lantian of An. "Since then, it has caused disputes for later generations. Some people say that Lantian doesn't produce jade at all, and some people say that even if it produces jade, it may be laiyu (green jade with a color like a vegetable leaf).
3, Qinghai jade, produced in Qinghai, hence the name. Beautiful appearance, the color is white or light gray with green stripes, and the jade is delicate and translucent. Because its appearance is similar to jade, some unscrupulous businessmen regard it as jade.
4. Xinjiang Jasper, also known as Manas Jasper, Junggar Jade and Jasper, is produced in Manas County at the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain and the southern edge of Junggar Basin. It is a kind of green nephrite. Jasper is green jade, and the black spots in jasper (referring to chrome spinel) are the characteristics of jasper. Jasper is the most expensive one, its color is blue like indigo, followed by the light color of Mimo Star.
5. Hetian jade, distributed in shache-Kashi Kurgan, Hetian-Hetian jade and Qiemo counties in Xinjiang, stretches for 1.500 km on the northern slope of Kunlun Mountain, with a total of 9 producing areas. Hetian jade is mainly composed of tremolite-actinolite, and contains a small amount of diopside, serpentine, graphite, magnets and other minerals, forming different colors such as white, turquoise and black. Most of them are monochromatic jade, and a few have variegated colors. Emerald is translucent and has a greasy luster after polishing.
6. dushan jade, named after its production in Dushan, a suburb of Nanyang, Henan, China, is also called "Nanyang Jade" and "Duyu". Nanyang is called the hometown of jade.
7. Jiuquan jade, produced in the mountainous area near Jiuquan, Gansu Province, is also called Qilian Mountain because of its name. Emerald is dark green with many black spots. Geological identification shows that the mineral is serpentine, which is the same as that of xiuyan jade, but the color of jade is easy to distinguish from that of xiuyan jade.
There is also a kind of jade that is very common in the market called Russian jade. Russian jade is produced in Lake Baikal. Although far away from Kunlun Mountain, Hetian jade still belongs to the typical nephrite system. Russian jade is also a good jade developed and utilized in the early 1990s, which is produced in the remnant veins extending from Kunlun Mountain to Russia. The mineral composition and internal structure of this jade material are similar to Hetian jade, mainly including white jade, sapphire, sapphire, jasper, jet and sugar jade. It is oily glass luster, slightly transparent, and its hardness is between 5.2 and 5.4. Generally speaking, it is not as good as Qinghai jade and Hetian jade. First, grasp its low hardness to break through. Use a small steel knife to scratch lightly, or rub on the glass, and you will know the conclusion. Secondly, from the luster point of view, although Russian jade is glass luster, it is slightly like porcelain, with dry whole body and white jade "dead white". Dry from dark white after grinding. It is very white on white cloth, but it is dry in your hand. Thirdly, from the perspective of transparency, Russian jade is brighter than Hetian jade, but it will turn yellow and black after wearing for a long time because of its rough structure and light feel. At the same time, Russian jade is poor in toughness and easy to rise, so we should pay attention to the cracking of jade grain. Fourthly, from the appearance, Russian jade can see the "hairy" structure with the naked eye in the light-transmitting place, while Hetian jade's internal particles are very small, which can't be seen clearly with the naked eye under normal circumstances.
China jade is roughly above.
As for the quality, nephrite and suet white jade are the best, but they are hard to see in the market for a while now. Russian jade is the cheapest, and Hetian jade is often used as white jade. Generally speaking, every kind of jade has its own characteristics. Good jade is expensive and it is difficult to distinguish good from bad.
Jade was not valued in ancient China, and it didn't become a rare jade until the19th century, that is, at the end of the Qing Dynasty. For example, there is a pair of priceless jade watermelons among the funerary objects of Empress Dowager Cixi.
There are six main points to evaluate a piece of jade, that is, six words.
Strong, clean, beautiful, elegant, moist and thorough.
Jane: In other words, it must have a certain hardness. The hardness of jadeite is generally around 6.0-6.5. Generally, the hardness of knives is around 5.2, so the hardness of jade can be imagined.
Solution: It means that jade cannot contain impurities, that is, flawless jade.
Show: refers to the overall beautiful shape and aura.
Ya: It means that the carver is innovative and not kitsch.
Moisturizing: It means that jade is moist, not as dazzling as glass light.
Transparency: it means that jade should be transparent, that is, translucent, and the light can shine to a certain depth.
This is the general standard for people to evaluate a piece of jade.