Its mysterious lore has captivated Chinese imagination more than any other of nature's creation has.

 Jade best represent Chinese ideal of beauty.

 Chinese scholars of yesteryear wrote a great deal about the colors of jade one academic from the Ming dynasty Song Ying-xin felt that jade was either green or white which is to say that a jade of any color is not a jade.

 Chen Xing of the Ching dynasty believed that the jade came in nine colors, parrot blue, aqua marine, emerald green, yellow, scarlet, crimson, black, and white plus a red and white combination.

 There is a specific Chinese character for each differently colored jade.

 Color uniformity and luster are indeed the most important standard for judging a piece of jade.

 The six types of jade objects differ not only in shape but also in color.

 The ancient jade object called Bi Chang in Chinese is a case in point. The syllable pee refers to the jade shape and the syllable Chang refers to the jade's color. What color is tong? It is a soft blue streaked with soft grays and it is a mysterious sky blue.

 The famous Fei Cui jade is usually emerald green with white and occasionally with a little red.

 The famous cabbage displayed at national palace museum is so realistic because it was carved from a piece of Fei Cui jade that naturally green and white.

 Chinese so enervate jade that they would bury it with the dead so that the parting soul would be accompanies to the afterworld with a memento of earthly beauty.

 These funerary objects of jade buried deep within the earthy gradually absorbed minerals from the surrounding earth. Over a millennium the minerals changed the color of the jade.

 Bronze objects buried deep in the ground acquire a blue petunia if jade is buried in earth that has traces of bronze the jade will turn green.

 If jade is buried in mercury bearing soil the jade turns black

 This is a chemical process of permeation.

 Some jade objects were not purposely buried but entered the soil through many of the chaotic wars that reeked havoc on China.

 Some of the unearth pieces of jade have three or four different colors due to this process of permeation.

The archaeologist believe that permeation is activated by the acidity surrounding earth.

Mr. Hamada a Japanese expert on jade has written that due to this processes of acidic permeation jade if it has been buried for any length of time will develop splits and fritters because the dirt contains iron acid. The jade will change to an amber yellow or deep brown and sometimes will change to a deep black.

White jade buried for long will change into three different colors

Of course if the original color of the jade was not white it could turn into a variety of colors.

 Now days archeologist and genealogist have a new theory how permeation works they now believe that instead of being triggered by soil acidity permeation I set off by heat.

 If a piece of jade is covered with limestone then heated it will turn white as a boiled chicken bone.

 Jade that has been exposed to flame will also turn white but it looses its luster and can't really be called bone white.

 Ancient jade funerary objects acceding to this theory turn different coloreds because they were merged in different geothermal layers of the earth.

 These scientific explanations of color changes caused by permeation are more reliable then speculation then jade merchants.

 A piece of jade that has a striking coloration caused by permeation is called Zhou Qin.

 One jade figurine at the national palace museum is a completely white except for the eyes, which due to permeation are red in color.

 There are chestnut jades and honey jades.

 Some jade is sky like asker while jade with a deeper shade of blue are said to be as blue as a lapis lazuli

 Jade that has turned peach in color is called child's face.

 Jade with a burnish brown tent is called pure lacquer black.

 While jade that has been permeated by copper and turned a deep emerald color is said to be parrot green.

Jade officials praise these special colors caused by permeation but one shade of green that is called vegetable green is particularly detested by those in the know.

 During the Ching dynasty jade carvers invented an artificial method of changing color of jade called firing the skin.

 Jade found in river beds usually have a accumulated an outer crust that is red and yellow if the jade carvers leave this colorful crust on the jade it actually looks good.

 Jade collectors were very fond of this encrusted jade and since it was so rare some one inevitably came up with a way of creating a false crust.

 This method was the same oil appliqué used to counterfeit ancient jades.

 The counterfeiter would place a piece of new jade in a smoker changeling the color of the jade to a more ancient jade hue.

 Firing the skin is actually the processes of smoking the jade to produce a brownish yellow tent.

 Firing the skin was common during the middle eighteen century a jade peach carved during this time for instance would have been fired to produce a pink tent.

 If a jade egg was going to be carved the jade would first be smoked to produce an effect resembling the tea eggs so favored by Chinese gourmands today.

 Sometimes jade craftsmen would add a layer of mortar to a layer of jade fire it to produce an artificial incrustation and then crack the mortar shall to create a startling realistic effect.

 But this kind of jade art deprive the jade of its natural beauty and is not overly popular with jade collectors

 Since ancient jades are more valuable then moderns ones jade merchants have come up with a myriad of methods of changing new jade into old.

 Most counterfeiters are after a quick profit so they don’t spend much capitol on their counterfeiting processes, which are thus inherently crude

 Dyeing was the most popular way of reproducing the permeation of ancient jades and many techniques of dyeing jade are known today.

 Right jade, which has been boiled in oil to recreate the soft colors of ancient jade, is called fried jade.

 Modern counterfeiters prefer to use chemical dyes to work their alchemy dyed jades appeal to collectors and enabling counterfeits to demand very high prices.

 It is very possible that the jade once confined to the jade market have been artificially dyed under great heat and pressure.

 Even if the jade is green it might only be green on the outside red jade that has cinnamon or tea tent is definitely faked.

 Usually the dyed jades lack a natural luster so one must rely on a good set of eyes and experience to distinguish dyed jades from natural jades.

 Ancient jade or jade objects that have been buried permeated and then unearthed

 The permeation changes the jade's color sometimes to as many as five or six different tents.

 However these colors are not imminently apparent when ancient jade objects are first unearthed that is because a layer of dirt is encrusted around the jade. This layer must first be removed in process call parturition

 Then the jade must be warn on ones body where it can be inconstant contact with one skin after ten years the jades original glow can be restored.

 If one does not have, rubbing the jade daily with a clean cloth for three years can contain decade faster results.

 These methods not only restore the jade's natural luster they also generate a feeling of respect and affection for ones jade possession.