THE YU. 
133 
most which is whitest : of this was formed the sceptre sent from the 
Emperor to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent. 
The Yu, although of the hardness of rock crystal, is worked 
into an endless variety of forms ; into beautifully carved rings, 
worn on the thumbs of archers to defend them from the friction 
of the bow-string ; into fine chains, cups, and vases. Yet so re- 
fractory is this substance to the tools used in its manufacture by the 
Yu-tsiang, or workers in Yu, who succeed each other in their 
labours night and day in the imperial palace, that many of the forms 
into which it is wrought require, according to the Missionaries, ten 
years for their completion. That much time, infinite patience, and 
great ingenuity are sometimes expended in working it, I could not 
doubt, when I held in my hand a small vase which I found in a shop 
at Tien-sing. It was formed from one entire mass of greenish white 
Yu. * The handle represented a lizard, with all its characters mi- 
nutely displayed. Figures of the same animal were sculptured in 
high relief on its sides, some crawling up, and others overlooking 
the rim of the vessel. Whatever part of the exterior surface they left 
unoccupied, was filled with ancient Chinese characters deeply engraved. 
Its price was one hundred and twenty Spanish dollars ; or, according 
to the value of silver in China, upwards of thirty guineas. The 
partiality of the Chinese for this stone seemed to me quite unac- 
countable, from any quality that it exhibited to my observation. It 
is generally of a dull, sometimes of a muddy colour, and does not 
admit so high a polish as agate. 
The greenish white variety of the Yu has long been known in this 
country under the name of Chinese Jade or Nephrite, but has lately 
been classed with Prehnite. j' I am disposed, however, to believe that 
it will be found an undescribed species, but closely allied to axestone. 
Its analysis, which can alone determine its nature, I have had no 
* Of their manner of working this stone I could obtain no information in China; but 
there can be little doubt that they use largely the powder of the Corundum, or Adamantine 
Spar, which they employ in Canton in cutting lenses for spectacles from rock crystal, 
f Jameson’s Mineralogy, 2d edition, vol. i. p. 505. note. 
