Large communities of OTT audiences across age groups and demographics are swooning over the new Mandarin Chinese historical drama series, titled Pursuit of Jade, starring two attractive leads – a disgraced nobleman and a woman pig butcher. A gripping storyline and beautiful choreography, lilting theme song, superb performances and lots of eye candy – what more could one ask for?
The title was intriguing, leading me to explore the different aspects of jade. The title itself, refers to exploring the quest for power and hidden virtue. AI tells me that in Chinese culture, an ‘unpolished jade’ represents a talented person who is not yet trained. Pursuit of Jade represents the uncovering of this potential, that is as precious as jade.
As a gemstone, jade is semi-precious but is valued more than gold in China. Its colour ranges between dark and light green, sometimes it is even whitish, but the significance is more in terms of what it represents in the psyche of people who value its spiritual import relating to soul and immortality. In the mundane world, jade is associated with political power and religious authority. Experts on Chinese culture say that jade symbolises Chinese ethics and ideologies and therefore it mirrors that progression of Chinese culture.
There have been many uses of this exalted gem, including using it for tools, writing material, decorative pieces, jewellery, money and even burial suits. Mouthpieces of some opium pipes were crafted with jade to ensure longevity by breathing through it.
The royal seal in the drama Pursuit of Jade, the ownership of which will signify the one who sits on the throne, is made of jade. And so the stone has a multi-faceted history of meaning and usage. Jade has always meant something higher, stronger, spiritual, meaningful. Does it have anything at all to do with the word ‘jaded’ which has negative meaning? In fourteenth century Europe, mainly Iceland and Scotland, the term jaded referred to a ‘a broken-down, worthless, vicious horse.’ In contemporary usage, the word jaded has come to mean tired, weary, uninterested, unenthusiastic and so on, as in ‘a jaded movie star’ or, ‘a public jaded by political scandal.’ So jade the stone, and ‘jaded’ the adjective, have no link at all.
Interestingly, jade, the tough stone, has hidden musical qualities. The following saying sums it up: “If you take a hammer and hit a diamond, the diamond will shatter into a dozen pieces. Hit a piece of quartz and it will split in two. But if you hit a piece of jade, it will ring like a bell.” And so it came to be that jade was used in the making of musical instruments like xylophones and also gongs and chimes. According to the International Gem Society, some use these instruments to produce ‘heavenly’ tones for ritual practices. Chinese poets have compared jade’s melodious sound to the voice of a loved one, calling it ‘the concentrated essence of love’. A truly spiritual, romantic, ethereal interpretation of jade, adding to its enigma and aura.
Starting off with the goal of self-entertainment and engagement, Pursuit of Jade led me on an enchanting path of discovery and knowledge of ancient Chinese culture, jade philosophy and its contemporary import – in the course of exploring the meaning of the title!
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