Fuping Black Jade

Fuping Black Jade

Fuping Black Jade is a protected geographical indication product.

　　Black Jade

　　Black jade is a precious and rare natural resource, found only in the northern mountainous regions of Fuping County, Shaanxi Province. It features a deep, smooth texture with fine grain, jet-black in color and glossy to the touch, enjoying great renown. With a hardness of around Mohs 4, it has long been prized as an excellent material for crafting inkstones and carving tools. Ancient people ranked it alongside diamonds, gemstones, and colored stones as one of the “precious beautiful stones.” Black jade mining in Fuping dates back to the Qin and Han dynasties. According to the county annals, “Ore is produced in the northern part of the county, attracting miners from various prefectures and counties. It can be engraved and polished, and is known as black jade,” making the area also famous as China’s renowned “hometown of stone carving.” Fuping black jade and its artworks hold a glorious place in the history of Chinese civilization. The Xi’an Stele Forest, known as China’s largest treasure house of stone carving art, houses over 1,700 cultural relics, more than 80% of which are made from Fuping black jade. Masterpieces such as Li Si’s “Yishan Carved Stone” from the Qin Dynasty, the “Cao Quan Stele” from Heyang in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ouyang Xun’s “Huangfu Dan Stele,” Yan Zhenqing’s “Pagoda of Many Treasures,” and Liu Gongquan’s “Mysterious Pagoda” are considered the museum’s crown jewels. Even today, whether for replicating historical stelae or engraving contemporary calligraphy, the stones used are sourced from Fuping and carved by local artisans. The vast Guanzhong Plain in central Shaanxi, dubbed an “open-air stone carving art museum,” is home to numerous large-scale stone sculpture complexes, countless carvings, statues, and horse-tethering pillars. These range from the 15-meter-high, 40-ton stone pillar at Qiaoling Mausoleum to the mysterious uncarved stele in front of Qianling Mausoleum, as well as the national treasures known as the “Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum,” all crafted from Fuping black jade. The Qing Dynasty scholar-official Li Yindi wrote in his poem “Black Jade of the Tang Mausoleums”: “Massive layers of rock tower by the million, Tang imperial tombs rose in their prime; Black jade from verdant hills was quarried nearby, Its inscribed brilliance shining everywhere.”