gems, jade, pyroxene jade, fei cui, Chinese history, 1766 BC-220 AD, Chinese history, 220-960, Featherwork, tian tsui, nephrite, mineralogy, history of mineralogy, jadeite, fei cui, omphacite, kosmochlor, Fischer-Other, Broken Bangle

Broken Bangle | The Blunder-Besmirched History of Jade Nomenclature is an in-depth discussion of jade nomenclature and features works from the studios of some of China’s leading contemporary jade and stone carvers. The book takes readers through the entire tortuous history of jade nomenclature, detailing how the current monikers were based on misinformation and misunderstanding of the gems’ true natures. Thus, the Chinese gem yù (amphibole jade) was named “nephrite” by French mineralogist Alexis Damour in the mistaken belief it was the same as the Mesoamerican pyroxene jade that a 16th Century Spanish doctor himself misinterpreted as being used to treat kidney disease (‘nephritus’). Later, Damour created a mineral species he called “jadeite” for what was actually a gem rock already known in China as fei cui. But this gemological whodunit is much more than a dry recitation of jade nomenclature. It includes a detailed section on the occurrence and mineralogy of both yù (nephrite) and fei cui. Because jade is so intimately connected with Chinese culture, much of the Middle Kingdom’s fascinating history is also woven through its pages. Broken Bangle features dozens of color images of both historical documents and spectacular photos of contemporary jade and stone carving in China. For those whose mental picture of jade sculpture is a cliché Chinese goddess statue, prepare to have your minds blown.