Lecture: Understanding Chinese Jade in a World Context by Professor Gina Barnes
On 2 February 2017, Professor Gina Barnes of SOAS, University of London, gave the Elsley Zeitlyn Lecture on Chinese Archaeology and Culture, on the fascinating subject of Chinese jade.
The lecture was chaired by Craig Clunas, from the University of Oxford, and hosted by the British Academy.
The British Academy have kindly allowed us to share the text of this lecture, which illuminates some of the distinctions between jadeite, nephrite, and other materials that have been culturally considered ‘jade’, as well as tracing ‘true jade’ in archaeology, and breaking down regions in which these minerals are found.
You can download the text at the British Academy Website, which was published in the Journal of the British Academy.
We also recommend this video of the lecture, shared by the British Academy on Youtube.
“Jades were as desirable and treasured in the ancient past as they are valuable and sought after in today’s world. However, is our focus on ‘pure jades’ obscuring knowledge of differential valuations and uses of the many rocks and minerals historically functioning as jade? Is our denigration of these substances preventing a holistic approach to the mining, production, distribution and use of jade through time? There are solid Earth science reasons governing their source locations and why certain combinations of rocks and minerals occur in the archaeological record as jade.”
Professor Gina Barnes is the Founder of the Society for East Asian Archaeology and author of the textbook “Archaeology of East Asia: the rise of civilisation in China, Korea and Japan” among 90 other works. She is retired from lecturing at Cambridge and Durham Universities. This lecture was part of the Elsley Zeitlyn Lecture series on Chinese Archaeology and Culture. Find out more about the British Academy: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/”
Clickthrough thumbnail image: Bowl in the shape of a chrysanthemum flower, Mughal period (1526–1858), 18th century, India, Jade (nephrite), H. 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm); W. at handles 8 1/4 in. (21.6 cm) Diam. of rim: 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm) Diam. of foot: 2 3/4 in. (7 cm), Gift of Heber R. Bishop, 1902, The Metropolitan Museum, Object Number: 02.18.762, Accessed 26th October 2025 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/56211