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Hotian Jade, as the name implies, means the Jade produced from Hotian, Xinjiang of China. It is a nephrite specified for density 3, index of refraction 1.62, and hardness 6.5. It is not considered as a Hotian Jade if not meeting any one of the minimum conditions. The real Hotian Jade means the Jade produced from the 325 Km long Hotian River and centered at Hotian, which includes the king of nephrite – Jade pebble. Hotian Jade can further be classified into: water Jade (Jade pebble), slope Jade and mountain Jade. The color varied which includes mutton fat white Jade, white Jade, light greenish white Jade, jasper, dark Jade, and yellow Jade etc. Due to Hotian Jade has become the synonym of China’s national gem stone in the past decade that it was designated as the material used to make the medal for 2008 Olympic Games at Beijing thus it became famous internationally and the price soared. According to the market price of the Hotian Jade in 2013, the first grade pebble Jade of is worth more than one million RMB for one kilogram. (Top grade is more than 10 kilogram, and First grade more than 5 kilogram). The so-called “Jade collection during the prosperous age” and “Gentleman is gentle like Jade” have explained why ancient Chinese scholars liked to wear and collect Jade. It is not only used to symbolize the virtue of a gentleman, but also used to represent the authority and the items used to worship during the ceremony. In order to let those who love and cherish Jade to learn more about the evolution and prospect of the Chinese Jade culture starting from the Hotian Jade, this paper has taken the qualitative research and interview with seven professional and experienced in-depth recreational collectors of Hotian Jade. They are either antiquary or curator so that they can give advice to those who are interested in Hotian Jade collection not only on the collection value of Hotein Jade but also avoid wasting money on poor quality Jade. The research results indicated that the reason the Hotein Jade price soared was because Chinese has had the habit to buy and wear the Jades from the ancient times, besides, the mining of Hotian Jade had more than seven thousand years of history and good pebble Jade only one to two hundred kilograms to be found. This is the main reason that the Hotian Jade price soared as fast as if lifted by a cyclone. To sum up the experience of the above seven experts and the market survey, the appreciation of the Hotian Jade is mainly based on formation and art value, the white color Hotein Jade is preferred for collection. You can also be the expert of Hotein Jade if you uphold such principle.
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