JADE.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 May 1924, Page 1

JADE.

Bv Da, id Ne\ illy ill “Daily Mail.”)

When lay lady buys in Ijond-Siieet tlie necklace or earrings ol emerald • riven iade that will add yet one last touch to her autumn-tinted beauty, does -lie think al all of anything beyond ils given glory:Away at Hie inneriiio-i end of ibe Great Wall el ( !ii:ia. the wonder of Ihe world Hiat -irides westward, 20)T high and gllft wide, from Shan llai Kuan, on Ibe Paeilie coast, to I urkcslan. 1,50(1 miles away. l:es Kiayukwan, and beside it i- a gate through llie wall, one of I lie i.iosi ancient trade routes in the world, that leadinto tlie In-ail of Hie 800 10l the World -the Yil M.'li. the Judo Gate. Through that gale for 3,000 years have passed the caravans carrying iade froai the quarries of linrkul and Kliotan. Io i." wrought by the lapidaries of Chiou and Japan. I'or jade is no material for ibe mere amateur to handle. Very nearly as hard as diamond, il must la- ground patiently with a drill and paste of a powder vet balder that it-ell. firs! garnet, liieii einei.v. an I last m all robv dust, li i- a -tubboru and rcbaliiniis material, mid Hie glorious eolcurs noi in masses hut in streaks through a duller matrix. The art oi tbe (-:•-,ver of iieures and Mowers is to adapt his design as to follow their w award eotli-e.

Long } ears ago the Chinese roceg-ui-cd nine tolours—iroin :: clear white almost like rock crystal., to the brillinat gre.-n that nowadays comes only Iroin Pm nm. Soum e! i iie-.e— tb ■ king-li-hcr Mile, lor example —are -■> rare l| !; .j yen may see them only in a great museum. On iheir value no man eon!.! set a price.

But all to the (' hine-e were symbols of eternity and long life, and from them were fashioned Jim ("As you would wish it”) sceptres, given to friends in token of good will and well known under their foolish modern name of mandarin sceptres. And tbe greygreen iniei-mediate shades were the inspiration of the most perfect Chinese porcelain glives, the celadon greens, to imitate which the potters ol Worcester and Copenhagen admit they have toiled in vain.

i'nnn sublime to tlie ridiculous is :i,.\vr i:tr away. There were jade (jiiarrie-i in Mexico, and the Aztecs roehaind the powdered stone n sovereign remedy for colic. Aid so when stont Cortes’s men tirs! lunu"lit the stone to Spain tltey called it after lie Spanish name of the disease. ijade, ■ado.