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Gansu, Qinghai, and Ningxia, located in the west part of China, have similar terrain and climate. Although the eastern part of Gansu and Ningxia are usually identified with the middle valley of the Yellow River, reflexively from a geographical point of view Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia are viewed as a single cultural entity belonging to the upper reaches of the Yellow River and collectively are called areas of the upper Yellow River valley.
Xinjiang occupies the northwestern most part of China, and is an area with one of the most advanced jade types. Although jades have only belatedly been unearthed in Xinjiang, the area is the single most important source for the finest and purest quality jade, known as Hetian yu, a tremolite nephrite of translucent white.
1. Areas of Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia
The earliest jades(jade is equivalent in meaning to beautiful stone) in this area of northwest China are turquoise and marble pendants, unearthed at the Yangshao Culture site of Dadiwan in Qin’an, Gansu.
With the Qijia Culture, jade-working enters a new stage of development. Jade works of art representing this phase are large, rich in quality and amazing. Stone and jade artifacts, accompanying burials from the site of Huangniangniangtai in Wuwei, Gansu not only include a large amount of stone worked types but also other materials, such as marble, with only a few ruanyu or Nephrite jade pieces.
As if all of a sudden of interest to scholars is that Qijia Culture remains have a large number of important ritual jade types that show major influences from eastern cultures. The most popular Qijia Culture jade type is the bi (includes both bi and huang types) of many forms. The cong gradually disappears, and although in number they are substantial they are not in comparison with the bi.
One of the highlights of Zhou and Qin Period sites in Gansu, and belongs to several prehistoric cultures related with Zhou and Qin.
A large number of Han through Wei Jin period tombs yet with few jades have been discovered in the upper reaches of the Yellow River valley in Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia.
Representative of the Sui and Tang eras are jades from several Tang tombs in the southern suburbs of Guyuan in Ningxia. Guyan is an important center along the Silk Road. The trade route of jade is the same as the Silk Road, but major changes are witnessed in new types and multiple guises of jades during these later periods.
2. Area of Xinjian
Jades from Xinjian in large part do not predate 3000 years ago. Ornamental jade beads are probably the earliest type known, and may date is not less from this period.
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