Archaeology in China, the latest research suggests China's late neolithic in bronze and iron age before there is a period of a large number of mainly use jade, after thousands of years. It is the origin of Chinese civilization.
The land in China, since the trail of the human, jade became their partner surroundings. They met in the process of the jade as a tool of the beauty of jade, jade also became people beautify life decorations and treasures. Of beauty, as it were, to know, that is, the origin of human civilization.
On the economic and cultural exchanges between the east and the west most people know, there is a world famous "silk road". But many people don't know, "silk road" of the predecessor is "jade road". The formation and development of the silk road is only 1600 years of history, while "jade road" has a history of more than 6000 years. History proves that: the frontier and the central plains, eastern and western culture and business communication medium of the first, is neither a silk is not China, instead of hetian jade. Hetian jade opened the frontier and the central plains in China, east and west exchange transport corridor, in the economic and cultural exchanges between east and west plays an important role than silk. And the "silk road" is "jade road" later, the silk trade traders use the old channel, arguably, hetian jade is the pioneer of economic and cultural exchange between east and west.
How ancient xinjiang hetian jade across the mountains and the gobi mountains and rivers to the central plains in China, and how to travel to the west? Midway through a relay? "Jade road" is formed and developed? These experts and scholars at home and abroad has been a focus on research topics, the mystery of the hidden many charming.
About 3000 years ago, the xinjiang jade has a lot of production, has been mining jade jade and cut tribes, jade has a large number of flows into mainland China. The mu tianzi biography of king mu west tour routes, also illustrates the xinjiang roughly to the route of "jade road" in the central plains. These myths and legends and historical records, not only is rich in historical sites, and, through these colorful images, and to the excavation of the jade, we can clearly see on the Yellow River, the middle reaches of the ancient patriarchal clan and kunlun matriarchal tribes north slope is how to hotan jade as the carrier of communication skills. Ancestors' from the Northern Slope of kunlun in hotan area spread wings outspread, hetian jade to the distant place. Then, from near to far, east and west extension stretch, finally develop a earliest hetian jade transit - "jade road".
The old transportation, hetian jade is later "silk road". Zhang Qiantong the western regions of the western han dynasty, in fact, go the way of is jade, he cut through the silk road is actually a way to settle. Yumenguan han dynasty in gansu province, is famous for its transport jade, after the han olive-branch road more prosperous. As tang dynasty poet du fu's poem: "return with han made thousand of treasure, answer to the king ten thousand horse less." And as the yuan dynasty Ma Zuchang Uighur poet wrote: "collect jade green stones along the river, close to easy SangMa east countries."
Modern mineralogist, geologists of hetian jade, after careful study concluded that the cause of hetian jade to magnesian marble and intermediate-acid magmatic intrusion, both occurred metasomatism. Hetian jade belongs to the product of "contact metasomatic metamorphism, hundreds of millions of years before dinosaurs dominate the earth, hetian jade was born. Hotan river of jade, is as the summer river north flow and leave the kunlun mountains, arrived in hotan oasis. Its native ore, shall, in the kunlun mountains at an altitude of 5000 meters above the mountain, the elevation of geological weathering serious, permanent snow and glaciers in the vertical and horizontal. Summer snow melt, the weathering of primary ore surface breakage and caving valley, as the flood rushed to the downstream.
