I. Production and Development of Hetian Jade
Chinese people have used Hetian Jade for thousands of years. Historically, there are many records and praises of Hetian Jade. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Qu Yuan left in his famous "Lisao" the words "climbing Kunlun to eat Jade Ying, living with the heaven and the earth, and shining with the sun and the moon." American Sentences.
Hetian jade mainly distributes in the northern slope of Kunlun Mountains, which stretches 1500 kilometers in the last area of Shache-Tashkurgan, Hetian-Yutian and Minfeng, Xinjiang, and has nine origins. Because the quality of the jade produced here is the same, people used to call it "Hetian Jade" or "Kunlun Jade".
Hetian Jade is a fine product in Chinese nephrite and also in the world nephrite. Hetian Jade has white, sapphire, topaz, jasper, ink, flower jade, Ruby and other varieties. The best products are white as lamb fat, yellow as ripe chestnut, red as chicken crown, black as ink dyed.
Hetian Jade is divided into "seed material" and "mountain material". The jade picked up in the river is called "Shuiziyu", which is mostly produced in the middle and lower reaches of the river. It is of good quality, but its output is low. Mountain material is also known as "mountain water", "mountain water" mostly occurs in the upper reaches of rivers. Mountain water material is relatively close to primary minerals, relatively larger, slightly more output, but uneven quality. Hetian seed jade is mainly produced in the Yulong Kashi River and the Karakashi River. Every summer when the mountain torrents erupt, the original natural weathering and collapse of the mountain jades will be washed into the river, the turbulent river water wrapped in large and small rocks forward, after repeated rolling, impact, the external impurities of the mountain jades will be exhausted. After the flood, people can look for the beautiful seed jade like Grease Paste on the river beach.
Most of the jade mines in Kunlun are above the snowline of 3500-5000 meters above sea level, so mining is difficult. Since ancient times, the local people have picked up jade mostly from the gravel flowing into rivers and streams from the natural relocation of mountain torrents.
The mining history of mountain materials in Kunlun Mountains is not long. Amazon mine is relatively early, but only a few hundred years of mining history, and then interrupted. The mountain material grows in the rock, and must be peeled off after harvesting. In addition, because of the climate, it can only be mined for 3-4 months every year. It is difficult to imagine. Before 1949, the local Kangxiwa Jade Mine in Pishan was opened again, and its production stopped after a short period of time. In 1962, Hetian County officially opened a new jade mine on the Kunlun Snow Line at an altitude of 5000 meters, but it was still restricted by season and climate, and did not form much development.
Hetian history in modern times has been mainly mining and selling raw materials, there is no own jade processing industry. By 1986, Hetian had set up the first Jade Carving Factory in Hetian's history, which was co-operated with Yangzhou Jade Carving Factory in Jiangsu Province. A group of teachers from Yangzhou came to Hetian. They brought equipment, technology and apprenticeship. From then on, Hetian had a department of design, drawing, cutting, making, polishing and polishing. Pipeline operation line. However, at present, the jade carving industry in Xinjiang is still underdeveloped, relying mainly on the joint processing of Yangzhou, Suzhou and Shanghai, so the jade carvings in Xinjiang are much more expensive than those in the mainland.
2. Variety and Economic Value of Hetian Jade
1. White Jade: less output, white color, pure texture, delicate, luster and moist. It is a high quality variety of Yuzhong with a purity of 95%. Generally, high quality white jade carvings are high-quality pieces.
2. Sheep fat white jade: "Sheep fat" is people's best name in white jade. Its texture and purity can reach 99%, and it is the best product in Hetian Jade. The color is white and shows the general luster of gelatin and gel. The output is very small, and the price is several to several hundred times that of ordinary white jade.
3. Qingbaiyu: There is no obvious difference between the texture and Baiyu, but the color of the jade is light and green, which is the third-class jade material in the middle of the jade, and its economic value is slightly lower than that of Baiyu.
4. Qingyu: Qingyu is called Qingyu with light green, green and gray-white color. It is a three-grade jade with uniform color, fine texture, greasy luster and rich output and reserves. The price is moderate and popular.
Topaz: The base is white jade, because it has been leached by iron oxide in surface water for a long time to form yellow tone in its crevices. According to the specific color, it can be divided into honey wax yellow, okra yellow, chestnut yellow, egg yolk and so on. Honey wax yellow and okra yellow with high quality and strong color are extremely rare, and their economic value can be equal to or exceed that of sheep fat white jade.
6. Sugar and Jade: Iron oxide is formed by infiltrating into the cracks of white or blue and white jades. It can be divided into whole sugar, half sugar and dotted sugar. These materials can be used as ingenious carvings. Generally, it has better economic value to carve with whole sugar or dotted sugar.
7. Moyu: Jade has graphite and magnet in it, so it is dark and waxy. Moyuli can be divided into many kinds according to its colour and lustre. Generally, it is mosaic of gold and silver. Its economic value is second to third grade jade.
8. Jasper: The output of Hetian Jasper is not large, generally grey-green, dark-green, oily and delicate texture, and its appearance feels dignified. Hetian Jasper is opaque, so we should pay attention to the distinction between Hetian Jasper and Tianshan jasper. Hetian Jasper is of good color, even texture and green color. The economic value is secondary jade.