Chinese Jade: Stone for the Emperors

Denyse Guilbeault-Chong was General Librarian at Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario.

In China, jade objects have been produced for 7000 years to serve a great number of functions. These can be broken down into five basic categories: tools and weapons; objects of daily use such as drinking vessels and chopsticks; ceremonial objects; burial objects, including jade suits; and ornaments, such as pendants worn for good luck and protection against illness and harm. Over the years, the Chinese have valued jade as much as those in the West have prized gold and diamonds, for it is “not only a reflection of beauty but also a symbol of wealth and authority.”

The first part of the book contains a history of jade in China, and includes some comments of Confucius, comparing the qualities of the stone to that of a perfect gentleman. Written in a scholarly fashion, complete with footnotes, charts, illustrations and lots of Chinese words, itremains interesting and readable. Readers will, for example, be intrigued to discover how, over the years, shady entrepreneurs tried to confect phony “antique” jade, making the job of later art historians much more difficult than it might otherwise have been.

In view of the interest in jade, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria mounted an exhibit of jade objects taken not only from its own collection but also from two major private Hong Kong collections, those of Brian McElney and Charles Dyer. Set up in Victoria in early 1986, the collection toured major galleries across the country, winding up in Nova Scotia in late 1987.

The second part of the book is the catalogue of the exhibition. On pages 57-130 may be found 112 photos — many in color — of the individual items in the exhibit. The last few pages contain short descriptions of each of the items.

While this book has been published to honor a relatively ephemeral exhibition, it will still have lasting value to those interested in Chinese art and history.