Chinese

5 Pages 1151 Words

Chinese Art
China has the world's oldest living civilization. It's written history
goes back almost 3,500 years, and the history told by it's artifacts and
artwork goes back much farther. The oldest known works of Chinese art
include pottery and jade carvings from the time of 5000 BC.

Jade is a general term used to describe either jadeite or nephrite, known
as true jade. It's composed of several minerals. It's smooth and rich in
texture, but it's also extremely tough. It can be off-white, or dark
green, and sometimes has a reddish tint. Authentic jade is cool and never
translucent. The philosopher Confucius described jade perfectly when he
said:

"It is soft, smooth and shining- like intelligence. It's edges seem sharp
but do not cut- like justice. It hangs down to the ground- like humility.
When struckm, it gives clear, ringing sounds- like music. The strains in
it are not hidden and add to it's beauty- like truthfulness. It has
brightness- like heaven. It's firm substance is born of the mountains and
the waters- like the earth."

The material has been used since the Shang dynasty, which lasted from
1766-1022 B.C. They see it as a sign of wealth and authority and also as
an object of beauty. The chinese word for jade is yu. During the Ming
dynasty, the Chinese people thought that only green or white stones were
true jade, and the other colors were called fu yu, or false jade. It was
classified into nine different colors during the Tsin dynasty, and has more
recently been classified into many different categories.
Jade is one of the touchest stones in the world, near the diamond because
of overlapping fibers within the stone. Tons of pressure are needed to
crush some of the larger pieces of jade. A single cut through a one foot
cube of jade would take several weeks.
The ancient chinese people thought that jade had special powers, and they
used it in rituals and ceremonies. It wa...