gems, jade, China, Adam, Chinese jade books, jade lore

The Kao Gong Ji [考工記; Record of Craftsmen’s Work] is an ancient Chinese technical text concerned with the organization, materials, methods, and standards of state-controlled craft production. Probably compiled during the late Warring States period and subsequently incorporated into the Zhou Li [周禮; Rites of Zhou], it describes specialists engaged in metalworking, woodworking, leatherwork, pottery, vehicle construction, weapon manufacture, architectural planning, and other crafts. Of particular interest to historians of materials and gemology are its discussions of the selection and working of natural materials such as jade, systems of measurement, standards of workmanship, and the relationship between material properties and successful manufacture. Although it is not principally a lapidary text, the Kao Gong Ji provides exceptionally early evidence for systematic Chinese technological thought and for the sophisticated classification and manipulation of materials in ancient craft production.