jade, jadeite, fei cui, Burma, gems

Walker and Davies compile geographical, political, ethnographic, and administrative information on the Kachin peoples and territories of northern Upper Burma for the use of British officials. The gazetteer describes the distribution of Kachin communities, their tribal and clan organization, chiefs and systems of authority, villages, customs, religion, warfare, agriculture, trade, routes, and relations with neighboring peoples. It also records the physical geography of the mountainous frontier region, communications and principal settlements, and the natural and economic resources encountered there. Of particular relevance to gemological history is the work’s coverage of the northern Burmese districts and trade routes associated with the jade-producing country and commerce with China. As a proof edition compiled by the Intelligence Office shortly after the British annexation of Upper Burma, it provides an early administrative account of a region then being systematically surveyed and brought under colonial control.