Jade: The Healing Stone
Ounce for ounce jade is more valuable than gold.
And that's without taking the value of a piece's antiquity into account.
Nowadays the jade market is booming.
The Chinese value above all else the cream-coloured marbled jade which they call 'mutton fat jade'.
However, all jade is valued and collected by China's rising middle class and this is now fueling the boom.
Everyone seems to want jade, not necessarily for its beauty, nor its monetary value, you might be surprised to hear, nor as an investment - but for its health benefits! Jade was first found in the Rivers of Chinese Turkestan where two such rivers are still known as the 'Black Jade river' and the 'White Jade river'.
Jade is considered to be a 'Yang' (male) force.
So, what better to attract it than a 'Yin' force - which came from women.
It was women therefore who, naked, collected the jade.
To save their modesty, all jade collecting was done at night.
Nephrite, a softer jade, was first carved into amulets to 'relieve stomach heat, enhance heart function, calm the nerves, strengthen blood vessels and improve eyesight and hearing and to harmonise the body, to ward off fear and anxiety and achieve longevity'.
Moreover it was not only the Chinese that believed these things.
The Egyptians, the Maoris, the Koreans and the Mesoamerican Aztecs and Mayans also loved it.
When the Conquistadors arrived in South America, they found people wore jade stones around their waists to alleviate kidney and stomach problems.
This they named Piedra de Jada, 'the stone of the loins'.
Thus was coined our word for this beautiful substance.
Drinking 'The Divine liquor of Jade' was thought to be beneficial, the water being filtered through jade stones before being made into a tea.
A German study of mice given such water showed a decrease in blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels and an increase in sperm count.
It is well documented that fish live longer in jade-filtered water.
Jade crushed into a powder and applied to open wounds facilitates healing.
However, there is some disparity of opinion as to whether it is effective when taken internally as some believe that the body's own strong gastric juices destroy it.
But many believe that its external power greatly benefits health.
So what is happening in the modern market place? Many people in the Far East believe in the power and existence of Ch'i or Qi, - a person's life force.
Some believe that jade enhances this.
The Korean Research Institute of Standards and Science has approved new indoor building materials incorporating jade based on the beneficial properties of its mineral content and its ability to emit negative ions.
In Taiwan one hi-tech company is making clothing material incorporating ground jade.
Garments made of this can apparently cool down the wearer by as much as 1 or 2 degrees C.
Pillows, beds and saunas incorporating jade are fairly commonplace.
Skeptical? Maybe.
But belief in the health benefits of jade has persisted for thousands of years and is still held today by millions of people.
There just might be something in it.
And that's without taking the value of a piece's antiquity into account.
Nowadays the jade market is booming.
The Chinese value above all else the cream-coloured marbled jade which they call 'mutton fat jade'.
However, all jade is valued and collected by China's rising middle class and this is now fueling the boom.
Everyone seems to want jade, not necessarily for its beauty, nor its monetary value, you might be surprised to hear, nor as an investment - but for its health benefits! Jade was first found in the Rivers of Chinese Turkestan where two such rivers are still known as the 'Black Jade river' and the 'White Jade river'.
Jade is considered to be a 'Yang' (male) force.
So, what better to attract it than a 'Yin' force - which came from women.
It was women therefore who, naked, collected the jade.
To save their modesty, all jade collecting was done at night.
Nephrite, a softer jade, was first carved into amulets to 'relieve stomach heat, enhance heart function, calm the nerves, strengthen blood vessels and improve eyesight and hearing and to harmonise the body, to ward off fear and anxiety and achieve longevity'.
Moreover it was not only the Chinese that believed these things.
The Egyptians, the Maoris, the Koreans and the Mesoamerican Aztecs and Mayans also loved it.
When the Conquistadors arrived in South America, they found people wore jade stones around their waists to alleviate kidney and stomach problems.
This they named Piedra de Jada, 'the stone of the loins'.
Thus was coined our word for this beautiful substance.
Drinking 'The Divine liquor of Jade' was thought to be beneficial, the water being filtered through jade stones before being made into a tea.
A German study of mice given such water showed a decrease in blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels and an increase in sperm count.
It is well documented that fish live longer in jade-filtered water.
Jade crushed into a powder and applied to open wounds facilitates healing.
However, there is some disparity of opinion as to whether it is effective when taken internally as some believe that the body's own strong gastric juices destroy it.
But many believe that its external power greatly benefits health.
So what is happening in the modern market place? Many people in the Far East believe in the power and existence of Ch'i or Qi, - a person's life force.
Some believe that jade enhances this.
The Korean Research Institute of Standards and Science has approved new indoor building materials incorporating jade based on the beneficial properties of its mineral content and its ability to emit negative ions.
In Taiwan one hi-tech company is making clothing material incorporating ground jade.
Garments made of this can apparently cool down the wearer by as much as 1 or 2 degrees C.
Pillows, beds and saunas incorporating jade are fairly commonplace.
Skeptical? Maybe.
But belief in the health benefits of jade has persisted for thousands of years and is still held today by millions of people.
There just might be something in it.
