A preliminary survey by Chinese scientists of the "Jadestone Road" has confirmed that Hotan County, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is not a place for producing jade as people have long believed, but a site used for jade trading.
The scientists collected a large number of important and reliable materials, laying a solid foundation for the formal survey due in late June.
They found six jade mines to the north of the Kunlun Mountains, most of which are in the frigid zone at an elevation of over 4,000 meters. They also discovered large areas of jade ore veins. The veins were proved to be the earliest jade production bases and historical records about jade miners around these areas were found.
To their surprise, the scientific research team also found some broken or relatively complete pottery ware in Yutian County of Xinjiang. After careful study, experts say these cultural relics are closely related with the culture of this region 3,000 years ago.
The formal scientific research team, including Wang Renxiang, Wu Xinhua and Gu Fang from the Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, will start from Beijing. Once they arrive in Xinjiang, they will go eastward from Kuerle. They have to scale mountains, cross deserts and traverse Lob Nor. Therefore, the preparatory work is considered very important. They will carry all the equipment necessary for fieldwork, such as tents, sleeping bags and moisture-proof mats.
The upcoming formal scientific research along the "Jadestone Road" will help people unveil the mystery of jade in northwest China and understand the history and culture of the period before the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), thus enriching the 5,000-year-old civilization of China.
(china.org.cn by Li Jinhui, June 29, 2002)
