Jade: meaning, properties and lore

The mineral

Jade is a generic term, and the gem materials it covers are nephrite and jadeite, with green omphacite included more recently under certain conditions. Gemologists have long treated jadeite and nephrite as the materials that may be called jade, and the name is used for the umbrella of these two gem materials. Jade materials are metamorphic rocks made of tiny interlocking mineral crystals, and the same structure is what makes them so tough.¹²³⁹⁷

Nephrite has the chemical composition Ca2(Mg,Fe)5Si8O22(OH)2, and it is classed by mineralogists as a fibrous variety of the monoclinic amphibole actinolite, differing from tremolite and actinolite only in its structure. Nephrite is a silicate of calcium and magnesium, generally with a small amount of iron replacing magnesium. Its fibrous, interlocking felted structure gives it the toughness important to jade, and its Mohs hardness is 6 to 6.5.¹⁵⁴¹⁰

Jadeite is a silicate of aluminium and sodium that almost always contains small amounts of iron, calcium, and magnesium, and it belongs to the pyroxene group. Its crystals belong to the monoclinic system, as Professor S. L. Penfield found in a Tibetan specimen, and its hardness is about 7, equal to that of quartz. Omphacite, which may be green and count as jade, has the composition (Ca,Na)(Mg,Fe2+,Al)Si2O6.⁵⁴¹

The green colour of jade is mainly due to ferrous silicates of iron, while the emerald-green of certain jadeites is probably always due to chromium. Jade occurs in green, white, orange, yellow, lavender and black colours, and nephrite ranges from translucent to opaque in light to dark green, yellow, brown, black, gray, or white. Nephrite colours tend to be more muted than those of jadeite, and jadeite has a brighter and clearer colour than nephrite.⁵¹⁶²⁷

Jade's birefringence is usually not detectable, and jadeite has a refractive index of 1.666 to 1.680 while nephrite has 1.606 to 1.632. The specific gravity is given as 3.34 and 2.95. Jadeite is often more vivid and glassy in appearance than nephrite, but the only reliable way to tell the two apart is by X-ray diffraction.¹⁵⁴

Guatemala is a source of green jadeite-omphacite and Guatemalan jadeite jade, and rare examples of Guatemalan jadeite in a blue colour exist. Some jadeite is mined in Myanmar, and most nephrite used by the Chinese was said to come from the Kuen-lun mountains in Turkestan. Nephrite came from the rivers and mountains of Turkestan and Siberia, and its principal source was the Xinjiang region, while neither nephrite nor jadeite is found in China proper.^1361148

History and lore

The character for jade is one of the oldest in written Chinese, dating to 2950 BC. Jade was first used from around 6000 BCE, and green long remained the preferred colour. Stone Age workers made jade into weapons, tools, and ceremonial objects hundreds of thousands of years ago, according to the Gemological Institute of America, and the same institute notes that they shaped nephrite, described as the toughest of minerals, into weapons and ornaments.¹⁸⁷¹²

Confucius wrote that jade resembles virtue and that its brightness stands for heaven; he described it as a white rainbow, a thing of heaven, of earth, and of the way of virtue. In A.D. 100, Hsu Shen defined jade in his dictionary as the fairest of stones, endowed with five virtues. Confucian thought ascribed moral ideas of purity and goodness to jade. In ancient China, jade was regarded as the most precious stone and symbolised purity and moral integrity.¹⁴⁸

In China, the traditional flat jade disc with a hole in the middle, called a bi, symbolizes heaven. The Gemological Institute of America describes the bi as a disk-shaped Chinese eternity symbol that carries great spiritual significance for many Asians. The Chinese associate jade with clarity of mind and purity of spirit, and the jade bangle, first carved in China from nephrite, is a style thought to date back at least four thousand years.¹¹²³⁶

The Mayans and Aztecs of Central America prized jadeite and used it for medicinal purposes as well as for jewelry, ornaments, and religious artifacts, according to the Gemological Institute of America. The name jade comes from the Spanish expression piedra de ijada, meaning stone of the pain in the side. Jadeite reached China from Burma (now Myanmar) in the late 1700s, and carvers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries created masterpieces, while the Chinese revered its fine green colour since that discovery.¹²⁶

Sir Walter Raleigh wrote in 1595 of stones the Spaniards called Piedras Hijadas, which were used as spleen stones. In the 18th century Dr. A. G. Werner suggested the term nephrite from the ancient name Lapis Nephriticus, and in the 19th century Professor A. Damour demonstrated the chemical difference between jade and jadeite.¹¹⁴

The name jade is said to come from Spanish words meaning stone of the pain in the side, because jade was believed to cure kidney diseases. Ko Kei, a Chinese mystical writer quoted by Dr. Kunz, asserted that a man who consumed five pounds of powdered jade did not change colour when he died.⁷⁴¹¹

Jade was placed with dead emperors or nobles in tombs or enshrined in rituals in ancient times, and jade was believed to impart a kind of immortality on its owner because it was considered indestructible, so jade objects were frequently buried with the dead. Ancient jade burial suits were used for Han Dynasty royalty in China, and one example is more than 2,000 years old.¹³⁵⁸⁷

Birthstone and zodiac links

Jade is the official gem for the 12th anniversary, a modern list of anniversary gems. Some interpret jade as an alternative birthstone for March, according to crystal practitioners, though it is not commonly listed among modern birthstones. Jadeite is said to symbolize prosperity, success, and good luck, according to the Gemological Institute of America.¹¹²

The Nephrite family is under the celestial Libra, a modern modern zodiac link recorded in The magic and science of jewels and stones. Jade was used by ancient Olmec and Maya cultures for artistic and ritual purposes, with an impure jadeite as the stone of choice, a view crystal practitioners hold about those cultures.¹¹

What crystal practitioners say

Practitioners believe jade can absorb negative thoughts and protect the wearer. Some practitioners see jade as an ally for intention work and a focus for desired outcomes.

Chinese believers held that jade expressed the nine accomplishments and the five cardinal virtues, and that jade was the emblem of love, beauty, protection and charm. Jade is regarded by Chinese as a token of divinity and associated with royalty, held above silver and gold. Believers hold that a smooth circle of bright jadeite wrapping the wrist brings peace and protection to its wearer.¹¹¹³⁶

Some practitioners place jade on or near energy centers, and link it with the root, heart, sacral and crown chakras. The chakra link is a modern practitioner view.

Indians call jade the Divine Stone and are credited with using it as a cure for gravel and epilepsy and as a charm against animal and reptile bites. Taoist philosophers taught that jade swallowed under certain conditions could produce immortality by preserving the body from decay. Jade bangles are traditionally worn all the time and are made to fit tightly so they won't clank against tables.¹¹⁴³

What testing has found

Ernst states that a scientific proof of any positive effect of crystal healing beyond a placebo effect does not exist. Ernst describes crystal healing as a historical belief similar to that of charmstones rather than one based on modern scientific practices.¹⁴

In a 2001 study, British psychologist Christopher French asked 80 volunteers to distinguish real crystals from fake ones after holding them and meditating. Those holding fake crystals reported impressions similar to those holding real ones, which led French to suggest a placebo effect may be involved.¹⁴

Ernst attributes pleasant feelings or seeming successes of crystal healing to the strong placebo effect or to believers' cognitive bias. Jarry says alternative medicine's reputation benefits from non-specific placebo effects.¹⁴