jade, jadeite, fei cui, nephrite, Burma, China, jade carving, Chinese jade, lapidary, gems

R.N. Shreve documents the continuation of traditional Chinese jade carving through observations at Yusuf T.C. Chang’s Treasure Jade Factory in Hong Kong, where fifteen cutters and polishers produce ornamental objects and train apprentices. Chang, who transferred his business and skilled workers from Peking, directs design, assesses the stone, supervises successive operations, and undertakes particularly difficult work himself. Shreve emphasizes the coordination of foot-powered equipment, hand control, visual judgment, and artistic planning that permits individual treatment of each piece. Although motor-driven saws and polishers are available, most workers retain traditional methods, citing control, economy, and reduced material loss. Silicon carbide, or carborundum, supplies a significant modern improvement over older emery abrasives. The article follows production from the purchase of Burmese jadeite boulders at Hong Kong auctions through cutting, designing, hollowing, detailed carving, and polishing. Buyers assess rough material through small polished windows and external characteristics, accepting considerable uncertainty about the interior. Large boulders are commonly divided with abrasive-fed twisted iron wire stretched across a wooden bow, while thinner steel discs reduce the resulting pieces to suitable blocks. Freshly exposed surfaces are wetted to reveal colour, texture, and structural quality before Chang develops a design adapted to the material. Skilled artisans rough out the form using iron discs and drills charged with abrasive. Specialists then bore interior cavities with bow-driven hollow cylinders, remove the cores, enlarge the openings, and free the hanging rings characteristic of many Chinese vessels. These operations require careful handling to avoid breakage and unnecessary waste. The most accomplished carvers execute the final detail, after which finer silicon carbide and usually precipitated alumina produce the finished surface. Water basins facilitate inspection and allow abrasive to be recovered for reuse. Photographs illustrate the tools, working positions, and stages of manufacture. Estimated working times for a ten-inch jadeite vase show the substantial labour involved, including several days for hollowing, ten days for detailed finishing, and five to ten days for smoothing and polishing, followed by preparation of a wooden stand and silk-lined box. Shreve also records work in quartz varieties and other ornamental stones. He presents the workshop as evidence that inherited lapidary skills remained active within a contemporary commercial setting and argues that apprenticeship and the movement of trained artisans could sustain the craft.