The name of Lantian jade was first seen in “Hanshu·Geography”, and the beautiful jade was produced in “Beijing (now Xi’an) North Lantian Mountain”. Afterwards, ancient books such as “The Book of the Later Han Dynasty · Biography of the Foreign Relations”, Zhang Heng’s “Xijing Fu”, “Guang Ya”, “Shui Jing Zhu” そして “Yuanhe Prefectures and Counties” and other ancient books have recorded the production of jade in Lantian. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Song Yingxing stated in Tiangong Kaiwu: “The so-called Lantian is an alias for jade from Congling (Kunlun Mountain), and then he mistakenly thought that Lantian was the Lantian of Xi’an.”
近年では, geologists in Shaanxi have discovered serpentinized marble jade in Lantian, and believe that it is the Lantian jade recorded in ancient times. This discovery not only attracted the attention of the geological community, but also aroused the interest of archaeologists. Although this kind of jade is not very beautiful, because Lantian is located near the ancient city of Xi’an, with a Mohs hardness of about 4, it is easy to process, so the ancients are likely to use it as an ornament. Among the jade articles of the Han Dynasty, there are two pieces that resemble today’s Lantian jade: one is a large jade shop head unearthed near the Mao Tomb of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in Shaanxi, and the other is a Han Dynasty jade pendant from the Palace Museum. Many scholars believe that the quality and color of these two jade articles are very similar to the Lantian jade discovered in recent years. しかし, whether they are really the “lantian jade” that the Dai referred to requires further investigation.
Lantian jade is a serpentinized marble, carbonate mineral, the main mineral components are calcite and serpentine, and a small amount of dolomite, chlorite, tremolite, 雲母, talc and other minerals. Varying granular metamorphic structure, block structure. The colors of Lantian jade are white, 黄色, beige, and apple green. Glass luster, grease luster or waxy luster, 半透明にわずかに透明, the refractive index is 1. 50 ~ 1. 60, and the range is wide. The Mohs hardness is 3-4, and it foams when it meets hydrochloric acid.
High-quality Lantian jade requires bright color, strong luster, 高い透明性, fine texture, uniform distribution of serpentine minerals, and no cracks and other defects.
High-quality Lantian jade is often made into jewelry jade and sold.