!4 



The National Geographic Magazine 



existence of the mineral along the whole 

 of the Kuenlun range. Much difficulty 

 is experienced in tracing the veins, owing 

 to the shifting sands. 



A huge dike of nephrite embedded in 

 the rocky banks of the Raskemdaria, on 

 the eastern slope of the Pamir, was an- 

 other source from which the Chinese 

 formerly drew large supplies of jade. 

 They extracted it by lighting large fires 

 on the rock and then throwing water on 

 it when it became thoroughly heated. 

 The rock was abandoned some years ago 

 in consequence, it is said, of the illness 

 of a member of the Imperial family, who 

 was taken sick after having slept on a 

 bed made of Raskem nephrite. A large 

 block of the stone which was then on 

 its way to Peking was put in chains and' 

 thrown on the roadside at Kutcha, where 

 it still remains. It was from this ridge 

 on the Raskemdaria that the monolithic 

 tombstone of Tamerlane was cut. This 

 famous tomb of darkest - green jade 

 stands in a half-ruined mosque at Sam- 

 arkand, and is 7 feet 8 inches long, 17 

 inches wide, 14 inches high, and weighs 

 about i,8oo pounds. It is broken 

 through the middle, but is well pol- 

 ished, completely covered with inscrip- 

 tions, and rests on a white marble base. 

 In addition to this and the Karakash 

 quarries, the Chinese also obtained jade 

 from deposits in Yun-nan, Kan-su, 

 Shen-se and Quang-se, and other prov- 

 inces of China. Many mines through- 

 out China are owned b5^ private indi- 

 viduals, who keep the existence of their 

 quarries secret, fearing the extortions 

 of the government. 



Jade has also been found in fair abund- 

 ance on the shores of Take Baikal, Si- 

 beria. The South Kensington Museum 

 possesses a large, water-worn, well pol- 

 ished boulder from this region, weigh- 

 ing more than half a ton. 



The Chinese use the utmost care in 

 carving jade. The workman having 

 determined from the natural form of 

 the block, and its visible and probable 



flaws, into what object he will carve it, 

 fixes it on a lathe and gives it the gen- 

 eral outline. The interior is then hol- 

 lowed out by first drilling, with dia- 

 mond-pointed needles, innumerable lit- 

 tle holes all over the surface which is to 

 be broken away. When this is com- 

 pletely honeycombed the partitions are 

 broken down by being sharply tapped 

 with a hammer. Too hard a tap might 

 develop some hidden flaw and shatter 

 the half-finished object. The piece is 

 finally polished with corundum. The 

 harder the stone and the more difficult 

 the cutting, the more brilliant the polish 

 it is capable of acquiring. It is claimed 

 the jade is softer when freshly taken 

 from the quarries. So great is the dif- 

 ficulty of carving jade that an elaborate 

 piece may represent a lifetime's labor. 

 In Kienlung's ateliers, in the Summer 

 Palace at Peking, the workmen suc- 

 ceeded each other without interruption 

 night and day. Even then many years 

 were occupied in completing a single 

 piece. 



Jade is becoming more and more 

 appreciated as a material for interior 

 decorative construction b}' the splendor- 

 loving Russians. By cutting the stone 

 into sections an eighth of an inch thick 

 it is employed for the panelling of walls 

 and chimney pieces, and even window 

 panes — the translucent pieces showing 

 the most exquisite shading and cloud- 

 ing. 



European and American collections 

 owe many of their finest specimens to 

 the plunder taken from the Summer 

 Palace in Peking in i860, when the enor- 

 mous collections of the Emperor of 

 China were at the mercy of the French 

 and British forces, who were ordered 

 to burn and destroy all the buildings. 

 The palace ateliers, having long been 

 declining in activity and in the quality 

 of their productions, had in a measure 

 ceased jade-cutting a few}'ears previous 

 to the sacking of the Summer Palace, 

 because the tribute of jade from the 



