gems, jade, China, Burma, border trade, fei cui, jadeite, jade trade, yu, hetian yu, nephrite, archaic jade, jade history in China

While only part of a larger work, this article is extremely important and authoritative. It discusses reverence for jade; the yu (jade) character; jade-bearing rivers; the mountains, towns, and quarries of Khotan; the jade of Chinese Turkestan according to Ying Ho; jade from the Mirtai Mountains and the Yurungkash River; ancient and contemporary jade supplies to Peking; Qianlong-period jade; Burmese jade; prehistoric jade; insignia of rank; symbols used in worship; and talismans and amulets. The article also contains detailed references to the Po Ku T’u (Illustrations of Ancient Bronzes, 30 books), the K’ao Ku T’u (Illustrated Researches of Antiquities, 10 books), and the Ku Yü T’u (Illustrations of Ancient Jade, 2 books), all brought together in an edition edited by Huang Sheng in 1753, as well as the Ku Yü T’u Pu (Illustrated Description of Ancient Jade, 100 books), in its 1779 edition. In effect, Bushell’s article provides an extensively annotated bibliography of both Chinese and Western works on jade. Considerable material presented therein is extremely difficult to locate elsewhere, including quotations from works containing eyewitness accounts of jade mining and related activities.