Jade dragon, Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

"During Neolithic times, the key known sources of nephrite jade in China for utilitarian and ceremonial jade items were the now depleted deposits in the Ningshao area in the Yangtze River Delta (Liangzhu culture 3400?2250 BC) and in an area of the Liaoning province in Inner Mongolia (Hongshan culture 4700?2200 BC).

"As early as 6000 B.C. Dushan Jade has been mined. In the Yin Ruins of Shang Dynasty (1,600 B.C. to 1,050 B.C.) in Anyang, Dushan Jade ornaments was unearthed in the tomb of the Shang kings. Jade was used to create many utilitarian and ceremonial objects, ranging from indoor decorative items to jade burial suits. Jade was considered the "imperial gem".

From about the earliest Chinese dynasties until present, the jade deposits in most use were not only from the region of Khotan in the Western Chinese province of Xinjiang but also from other parts of China, like Lantian, Shaanxi. There, white and greenish nephrite jade is found in small quarries and as pebbles and boulders in the rivers flowing from the Kuen-Lun mountain range northward into the Takla-Makan desert area. River jade collection was concentrated in the Yarkand, the White Jade (Yurungkash) and Black Jade (Karakash) Rivers. From the Kingdom of Khotan, on the southern leg of the Silk Road, yearly tribute payments consisting of the most precious white jade were made to the Chinese Imperial court and there transformed into objects d'art by skilled artisans as jade was considered more valuable than gold or silver. Jade became a favorite material for the crafting of Chinese scholars objects, such as rests for calligraphy brushes, as well as the mouthpieces of some opium pipes, due to the belief that breathing through jade would bestow longevity upon smokers who used such a pipe.

Hetian jade and gems of the Chinese nation, is China's "National Stone." And distributed in Xinjiang's Hetian jade Shache - Kashikuer dry, Hotan - in Hetian, Qiemo County, stretching 1,500 km north slope of the Kunlun Mountains, a total of nine origin. And the mineral composition of Hetian jade to tremolite - from stone-based and micro-diopside, serpentine, graphite, magnets, and other minerals, a white, blue green, black, and so different colour. Most of the monochrome-yu, a handful of variegated, for the translucent quality jade, after finishing a fat-like luster.
Jadeite, with its bright emerald-green, pink, lavender, orange and brown colours was imported from Burma to China only after about 1800. The vivid green variety became known as Feicui (??) or Kingfisher (feathers) Jade. It quickly replaced nephrite as the imperial variety of jade.
In the long history of the art and culture of the enormous Chinese empire, jade has always had a very special significance, roughly comparable with that of gold and diamonds in the West. Jade was used not only for the finest objects and cult figures, but also in grave furnishings for high-ranking members of the imperial family.