Note 79 — Chapter XIII · The Symbolism of Jade

Beliefs connected with jade, which date back to the time when the jade fished from the rivers of Chinese Turkestan was identified with pearls and gold, were similarly developed in China. At first the jade was used to assist birth and to cure diseases. It likewise brought luck, being an object that radiated the influence of the All-Mother. As the living had their days prolonged and their youth revived by jade, so were the dead preserved from decay by the influence of the famous mineral. The custom ultimately obtained of eating jade, as has already been noted in these pages. Ground jade or “pure extract of jade” was not only supposed to promote longevity, but to effect a ceremonial connection between the worshipper and the spirits or deities. In the Chou li it is stated that “when the Emperor purifies himself by abstinence, the chief in charge of the jade works prepares for him the jade which he is obliged to eat”.79 It is explained by commentators that “the emperor fasts and purifies himself before communicating with the spirits; he must take the pure extract of jade; it is dissolved that he may eat it”. Jade was also pounded with rice as food for the corpse. “A marvellous kind of jade”, says Laufer, “was called Yü ying, ‘the perfection of jade’,” which ensured eternal life. “In 163 B.C. a jade cup of this kind was discovered on which the words were engraved ‘May the sovereign of men have his longevity prolonged’.” Immortality was secured by eating from jade bowls, or, as we have seen, by drinking dew from a jade bowl.80