Master Liu - Buddhist first, jade merchant second

Master Liu wants you to know that jade is a lot more than pretty green rock. “Jade, to the Chinese, is like diamonds for you Westerners.” A devout Buddhist, Liu imparts an air of calm detachment. But once off on his subject, his livelihood, the jade trade, his fluttering hands and flashing eyes betray passion.

“China is 5,000 years old. But people were picking out and keeping beautiful rocks from the earliest times, and mining jade for 6,000,” he claims. Sure, jade makes for some pretty bracelets, maybe even the odd Buddha sculpture. But what’s the attraction? Why not rubies, amber, or some other precious stone? A fleeting hint of offense crosses his face, replaced by a look of suffering compassion, the look of a father telling his child why the vegetables must be eaten before the ice cream.

“Jade is one of nature’s most wonderful substances,” he begins, “delicate looking, but with a stronger chemical composition than any metal. It is unchanging, yet it can be shaped and polished by skilled hands into objects of ethereal beauty. This explains why articles of the earliest religious practices in China were made of jade. We knew that nature in its purest form, unalloyed by alchemical processes, was the ideal for man to follow. Metals are useful, but a natural substance like jade, stronger and longer lasting, is much closer to the ideal, to perfection.”

Ceremonial Ruyi - 40,000RMB

“Can you eat metal?” he asks rhetorically. “Ancient physicians use to grind tiny amounts of jade into nostrums for emperors. They had figured out that jade’s mineral composition imparted calming and life preserving powers to those who took it in the right combinations.”

Few entering Master Liu’s store on the west side of Beijing want to eat any of his wares; they’re far too beautiful. His shop is in a large building a short walk from the Yuquanlu subway station, where the whole panoply of China’s specialty goods, from cloisonné to calligraphy brushes, can be found. Even better, large foreign noses rarely cast a shadow under the massive building’s skylights, making price gouging a minor risk rather than a certainty, as it would be on Wangfujing Street. Still better, all the vendors are licensed and have certification to prove the authenticity and/or value of their wares.

Besides, Liu seems like the last person on earth who would cheat you. Beat you for dissing his jade, perhaps, but that kuai-starved energy that animates so many other vendors is entirely absent from Liu’s vibe. “Look,” he whispers, drawing an ornament from his display case with practiced grace, “Liu Hai.”

Liu Hai - 9,ooo RMB

What may pass for the umpteenth jolly Buddha pendant is anything but. Liu Hai is actually sheng xian, a divinity residing in the heavens. The orange radiance behind his head is one clue. The other can be found in the ostensibly undifferentiated orange furls on his sides. Remember, nothing about traditional Chinese art is undifferentiated or without significance. To his right is the mythic jin cha, a golden frog with only three legs, which used to terrorize mankind with his cunning and venom until taken to task by Liu Hai. The deity persuaded the misshapen amphibian to mend his ways and propitiate mankind, which he did in the most pragmatic way possible, with money. Thus the coin usually stuck in the mouths of jin cha reproductions.

Indeed, virtually all of Master Liu’s offerings are loaded with symbolism and stories, but we want the story on how to choose quality jade, and how much to pay. “Look at ten thousand pieces; then you’ll never go wrong!” Liu advises mischievously. Like so much else about Chinese art, appraising jade is an inexact science, one that requires carefully cultivated intuition as much as empirical tools and judgments.

Color, of course, is an obvious place to start, with yellows at the low end and greens at the high, for no other reason than popularity. However, the most expensive type of jade, yang zhi yu, sheep fat jade, is an oily white variety that can’t be bought for love or money. All known to exist has been mined and sculpted; the pieces are invaluable. Asked if he could procure some for the right price, Liu laughs that quintessentially Chinese laugh which means, “What makes you think we know each other well enough to be discussing this seriously?”

Guan Yin - 30,000RMB

Other than shade, degree of luminescence vastly affects price. Liu shows me a few pieces that seem to be made of glass, so readily do they transmit and diffuse light. One might be sure the circular Guan Yin piece is a glass or crystal composite, until hearing the price – 30,000RMB. A simple pendant is both translucent and classically jade-green, and not so simple. Those who look at it and guess “green bean” are exactly right: it’s called a ‘safety bean’, and is of especial feng shui value to travelers who want an uneventful journey.

'Safety Bean'-3,000 RMB

Liu presents a jade pearl necklace, one that looks so similar to the cheap fugazies to be had all over China that the ten-thousand kuai price tag seems unjustified. Liu, sensing skepticism, wordlessly places a certificate in the middle of the strand. “See the ‘A’? That means it’s certified pure jade. Never pay good money for a piece unless the seller can show you one of these, a jian ding,with the ‘A’.”

Necklace -10,000RMB, and JianDing Certificate [Note the 'A']

Grade ‘B’ as it turns out, is jade, but shoddy stuff saved from the slag heaps of the jade mine, then washed with chemicals to add luster. The chemicals, and even more so the lasers oft employed to heat up such rock to make it sparkle, alters the jade’s composition, rendering it entirely un-natural. “So this necklace, which I’d give to you for ten thousand, would only be worth a hundred kuai at most, were it Grade ‘B’,” Liu concludes.

As for Grade ‘C’, Master Liu doesn’t deign to discuss it, but with prodding concedes that it is stone, after a fashion, stone which has been adulterated by an admixture of resins and plastics that make it an abomination in the eyes of purists. “How could you wear such a thing on your skin all the time, much less give it to someone you care for?” Liu asks accusingly. Along with his jade expertise, Master Liu proves that nothing makes the sale like a salesman who loves his product.

To visit Master Liu, or to find a reasonably priced treasure trove of traditional Chinese crafts, get off Line 1 at Exit C, head south on Yu Quan Lu until the traffic light, turn right, and stop at the first multi-story monolith on your right, about a block past the south entrance of the International Sculpture Park [covered here]. Liu's shop is on your right hand side as you ascend the escalators, on the second floor.

Actual address: 1268 Floor 2

Yudu Yafeng Gong Wei Shi Chang

Lugu Lu Dong Kou

Shijing Shan District