A type of stone not particularly valued in Western society, but is held in very high regard in China. Perfect jade fetches prices many times higher than gold or platinum will ever bring. Jade appealed because it represented ideals that humans should have, durability and beauty. Jade has been carved into art since the Shang Dynasty. One emperor was buried in a priceless jade coffin.

Cheap jade is seen everywhere, it is espescially popular on necklaces worn by Chinese guys and girls, that type jade is almost dirt cheap. It is easily recognized by its pale light green color, blotchy texture, uneven coloring and poor polishing. Light reflects poorly off it. Good jade is dark green, or better yet, other colors such as white or light brown. Superior jade looks as if it has been coated with oil, and has good uniform coloring. Very smooth to the touch.

Chinese jade pieces have always been highly prized, some even making it to Rome on the Silk Road. The early trinklets and figurines were crude, carving techniques back then were not well developed. The oldest pieces I saw in Shanghai Museum barely have any shape to them (but they're still worth millions in the auction afterwards). Jade carving really hit a high tempo in the Qing Dynasty, with the support of several emperors, the Forbidden Palace is full of them. Burma was the source of some fine jade.

Jade is also supposed to bring luck. Then again, so are thousands of other jewelry stones. I like jade for its hypnotizing dark green color.

Despite DMan's comment about jade not being particularly valued in Western society, jade (either of the two kinds, jadeite and nephrite) is valuable to gemstone aficionados.

Jade jewelry pieces are measured in millimeters across, rather than carats like most gems. (Since jade for jewelry is usually cut as flat or cabochon pieces, or round beads, this is more practical than it would be with gems that are faceted.) The color and the presence or absence of inclusions of some other mineral are the major forces in determining the price of a piece of jade. Sometimes jade is dyed to appear a more valuable color than it originally was, but this can be identified by a skilled examiner. The color can also be altered by too much heat, most commonly from machine polishing. (It can also turn grayish if left in direct sunlight for too long.)

Some other green stones have been mistakenly (or purposely, to make them sound more valuable) called "jade." For example "Korea jade" is actually serpentine; "Transvaal jade" is a grossular garnet. Other materials that have been called or passed off as jade are green feldspar, quartz, aventurine, chrysoprase, jasper, soapstone, malachite, marble, and even glass.

JAmes' DSSSL Engine - ie, a program that takes a SGML file, looks at a DSSSL stylesheet and produces a formatted output. It was written by James Clark, and it's under BSD-like lisence.

It can spit out SGML (ie, HTML), RTF and TeX.

I must say Jade-generated HTML looks WAY worse than even what Frontpage sometimes generates, but it is remarkably correct what comes to syntax. With DocBook -> HTML conversion, HTML Tidy gives only a few warnings and generates fairly readable source.

JaDE - Java Development Environment

JaDE is a program where Hope College students can program and compile Java. It was written by a group of Hope College students as a summer research project. Hell, even CowboyNeal participated in this excursion!

GO CowboyNeal!

I currently use it in my Intro To Comp Sci class.

JaDE cannot be used in Microsoft's Internet Explorer because it was written for Solaris. However, it can be used in Netscape on any PC if you download the applets.

I once held a six-inch cube of the finest jade in my hands. Nothing more than a simple cube, yet it was extraordinarily beautiful. It was a dark and lustrous green that drew the eye, to the touch the surface felt smooth and almost oily. Beyond it’s beauty the most noticeable thing about jade was its weight. It was very, very heavy.

Jade is an opaque gemstone that ranges in color from dark green to almost white. The minerals jadeite and nephrite are both considered jade, with jadeite being the more valued form.

Jadeite is a silicate of sodium and aluminium, NaAl(SiO3)2, often also containing some iron, calcium, and magnesium. Jadeite is one of a group of minerals called pyroxenes. Jadeite does crystalize as a monoclinic crystal, but is seldom found in this form. It generally occurrs as a compact aggregate. Jade is extremely tough, hard (6.5 – 7 on the Moh's scale), and difficult to break. Jadeite is found in eastern Asia, Burma, Tibet and southern China.

Nephrite, is a silicate of calcium and magnesium, it also contains small amounts of iron. It has a hardness of 6 to 6.5, and is found in Alaska, Mexico, New Zealand, Siberia, and Turkestan.

The Chinese and Japanese consider jade the most precious of all stones. Jade carvings dating from the Neolithic have been found in China. Jade items from the Shang dynasty include the pi, (a round disk), the kuei, (an ax), and the tsung, (a cylinder). Jade, because of its toughness, is carved by abrasion, and until the development of the iron drill during Anyang era of the Shang dynasty simple forms predominated. After this time jade carvings become ever more intricate.


(alcoholic drink)
Shake the above ingredients together with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. May also be made with light rum.

More Drinks at Everything Bartender

Jade (?), n. [F., fr. Sp. jade, fr. piedra de ijada stone of the side, fr. ijada flank, side, pain in the side, the stone being so named because it was supposed to cure this pain. Sp. ijada is derived fr. L. ilia flanks. Cf. Iliac.] Min.




© Webster 1913.

Jade, n. [OE. jade; cf. Prov. E. yaud, Scot. yade, yad, yaud, Icel. jalda a mare.]


A mean or tired horse; a worthless nag.


Tired as a jade in overloaden cart. Sir P. Sidney.




She shines the first of battered jades. Swift.



A souple jade she was, and strang. Burns.


© Webster 1913.

Jade, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Jaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Jading.]


To treat like a jade; to spurn.




To make ridiculous and contemptible.


I do now fool myself, to let imagination jade me. Shak.






© Webster 1913.

Jade, v. i.

To become weary; to lose spirit.

They . . . fail, and jade, and tire in the prosecution. South.


© Webster 1913.

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