gems, jade, China

Sinkankas: Description of the rivers of Chinese Turkestan.” Five books, by Ying-ho, a learned Manchu officer, published in 1823, according to Stephen Wootton Bushell, “On jade in China,” 1900. This work gives an itinerary from Yarkand to the jade mines in the Mirtai Mountains of Turkestan, and also describes stations along the way, the “jade-fishing” camps, quarries, and the jades obtained from both types of deposits. RWH: The work referred to is now generally identified as: Xiyu Shuidao Ji 西域水道記 (Record of the Waterways of the Western Regions) compiled by Xu Song, with a preface by Yinghe. Older Western writers sometimes attributed the work directly to Ying-ho/Yinghe because of his association with the publication.