Chinese jade

Chinese jade is any of the carved-jade objects produced in China from the Neolithic Period onward. The Chinese regarded carved-jade objects as intrinsically valuable, and they metaphorically equated jade with human virtues because of its hardness, durability, and beauty.

Dynastic history

Jade has been used in virtually all periods of Chinese history and generally accords with the style of decorative art characteristic of each period. Thus, the earliest jades, of the Neolithic Period, are quite simple and unornamented; those of the , , and dynasties are increasingly embellished with animal and other decorative motifs characteristic of those times; in later periods ancient jade shapes, shapes derived from bronze vessels, and motifs of painting were used, essentially to demonstrate the 's extraordinary technical facility.

Categories

Jade objects of early ages fall into five categories: small decorative and functional ornaments such as beads, pendants, and belt hooks; weapons and related equipment meant more for ceremonial than for practical use; independent sculptural forms , perhaps used as ; small objects of probably emblematic value, including the '''' , the '''' , the , and the '''' and '''' ; and many examples of larger objects — such as the '''' and the '''' — with certain essential shapes that have invited much speculation as to value and function.