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XIX
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Jade in the Land of China
P
erhaps it
is impossible to know the true glory of Jade unless you have been to
the country of Jade and have lived there as a resident among its
citizens. To four hundred million Chinese this stone has a
significance more spiritual than can be attributed to any other gem
anywhere.
Few
men, I presume, are so abysmally conceited that they imagine they have
nothing more to learn concerning their own trade or profession. Yet I
must confess that prior to my first visit to China my own conceit went
the length of assuming that I could, given a sympathetic hearing, hold
forth intelligently on almost any known gem stone. When I think of this
now I wish that my age, sex and years of experience would allow me to
blush. How much, for instance, did I know about Jade (it is the
stone above all others that must be spelt, like a person's name, with a
capital)? Nothing. Had I ever traded in the gem? No. Had I ever handled
a good specimen? No. And yet in every big Chinese city into which my
business took me
the jewellers' shops and antique and curio repositories
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