Jade

Chinese tradition

• Jade is used in Chinese tradition.

  Chinese yu is a worked stone of ritual, burial, and court. Laufer’s study is archaeological and dated; it is still about China, not Maya jadeite.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  used in · sourced · documented

• Chinese dragon belongs to Chinese tradition.

  Lóng belongs to Chinese rain, river, and imperial sign. Not a hoard-wyrm.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  belongs to · partially sourced · documented

• Chinese dragon is associated with Water.

  Chinese dragons are creatures of rain and watercourses in art and text. Not fire-breath as a European default.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  associated with · partially sourced · documented

• Rice appears in Chinese tradition.

  Rice agriculture is also a Chinese fact. Do not fold it into Inari or into a generic “Asian harvest.”

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  appears in · interpretive · documented

• Chinese tradition is used in Jade.

  Jade working is a Chinese craft-history. Laufer’s book is one named survey.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  used in · sourced · documented

• Chinese dragon is associated with Jade.

  Imperial and burial jades may carry dragon imagery. A Chinese pairing of creature and stone, not a Mesoamerican jadeite cosmology.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  associated with · partially sourced · documented

• Jade is used in Death.

  Chinese burial practice, as Laufer treats it, places jade on and in the corpse (mouth pieces, plugs, tomb jades). A Chinese mortuary craft, not Classic Maya funerary jadeite and not “jade energy.”

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  used in · sourced · culturally specific

• Bi appears in Chinese tradition.

  Laufer’s Jade treats the bi as a named perforated disc of early Chinese jade. A named form in that archaeological survey, not He Shi Bi the treasure-gem and not generic jade.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  appears in · sourced · culturally specific

• Cong appears in Chinese tradition.

  Laufer’s Jade treats the cong as a named squared jade tube of early Chinese rite. A named form in that survey, not the bi disc and not generic jade.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  appears in · sourced · culturally specific

• Gui appears in Chinese tradition.

  Laufer’s Jade treats the gui as a named pointed jade tablet of early Chinese rank. A named insignia-form in that survey, not the bi disc, not the cong, and not an ofuda dump.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  appears in · sourced · culturally specific

• Huang jade appears in Chinese tradition.

  Laufer’s Jade treats the huang as a named arc-shaped jade of early Chinese sets. A named form in that archaeological survey, not the bi disc, not the cong, and not generic jade.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  appears in · sourced · culturally specific

• Zhang tablet appears in Chinese tradition.

  Laufer’s Jade treats the zhang as a named forked jade blade of early Chinese burial sets. A named insignia-form in that survey, not the gui tablet, not the bi disc, and not huang-jade.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  appears in · sourced · culturally specific

• Heshi bi appears in Chinese tradition.

  Laufer’s Jade treats the Heshi bi as the named circular jade of Chinese story, the Ho-shih treasure. A named disc in that handbook, not jade as a material, and not every later bi-disc of archaeology.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912

  appears in · sourced · culturally specific

• Jade is associated with Green.

  Jade is often green in both China and Mesoamerica. Color is shared; the rites are not.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912; Karl A. Taube · The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion, 2005

  associated with · sourced · culturally specific

• Jade is associated with Stone.

  Jade is a stone that can be worked. Ritual jobs come after hardness.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912; Karl A. Taube · The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion, 2005

  associated with · sourced · documented