For What Purposes Has Jade Historically Been Used?

A piece of greenish-white jade weighing 640 pounds having been brought into Peking, Emperor Ch'ien Lung ordered it to be fashioned into a representation of a mountain landscape. The job was completed in 1874—a beautiful work of art, a mountain with streams, trees, pavilions, bamboo groves, peopled with literary scholars of the fourth century. Even larger scenes were reproduced by the Peking craftsmen. However, this particular one may be viewed by Westerners, for it now stands in the Walker Art Gallery, Minneapolis—probably the largest piece of worked jade in the United States.
Countless other objects have been fashioned out of jade—thrones, beds, pillows, screens, chopsticks, teapots, plates, books (with writing inscribed in gold on jade plaques covered with brocade and stored in sandalwood boxes), statues of Buddha and other prominent persons, flowers, combs, chessmen, fans, toys, opium pipes and various items of jewellery. At one time jade was even used for making tools, but the advent of metal made for more effective tools.