---
title: "Chinese Jade and What It Means: Bangles, Pendants, the Bi Disc and Jade in Chinese Idioms, With Pinyin"
description: "Why jade, 玉 (yù), matters so much in China, what a jade bangle, a Guanyin pendant and a bi disc mean, nephrite and jadeite 翡翠, the jade burial suit, idioms with jade like 抛砖引玉, and 33 words with pinyin and sound."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-jade"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

Free · 33 words

# Chinese jade

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## Chinese jade pieces, and what they mean

| | In Chinese | What it means |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Jade bangle | 玉镯 yùzhuó | Health and protection; it is said to crack to take a blow meant for the wearer; often passed from mother to daughter |
| Safety buckle | 平安扣 píng’ān kòu | A small round disc with a hole: peace and safety, a common gift for a child |
| Guanyin pendant | 观音 Guānyīn | Compassion and protection; by a popular saying, worn by men |
| Buddha pendant | 佛 fó | The laughing Buddha: happiness and good fortune, 佛 sounding like 福 (fú); by the same saying, worn by women |
| Pixiu | 貔貅 píxiū | A beast that eats gold and never lets it out: wealth that comes in and stays |
| Bi disc | 玉璧 yùbì | A flat round disc with a hole, a sign of heaven, buried with the dead since the Stone Age |
| Cong tube | 玉琮 yùcóng | Square outside and round inside, a sign of the earth, from the same ancient cultures |
| Jade burial suit | 金缕玉衣 jīnlǚ yùyī | Thousands of jade plates sewn with gold wire, in which Han dynasty princes were buried |
| Imperial jade seal | 传国玉玺 chuánguó yùxǐ | The seal carved from jade for the First Emperor and handed down as the proof of the right to rule |

## Kinds of jade

yù玉

jade

yù玉shí石

jade

fěi翡cuì翠

jadeite; emerald jade

hé和tián田yù玉

Hetian jade; Khotan jade

ruǎn软yù玉

nephrite (jade)

yìng硬yù玉

jadeite

bái白yù玉

white jade

yáng羊zhī脂yù玉

mutton-fat jade (fine white nephrite)

bì碧yù玉

jasper

## Jade things

shǒu手zhuó镯

bracelet; bangle

yù玉pèi佩

jade pendant; jade ornament

yù玉bì璧

jade disc (bi)

bì璧

jade disc with a hole in the center

yù玉qì器

jade article; jadeware

yù玉diāo雕

jade carving

yù玉xǐ玺

imperial jade seal

kāi开guāng光

to consecrate (a Buddhist statue, amulet)

pí貔xiū貅

pixiu (mythical beast said to attract wealth)

## Jade in idioms

nìng宁wéi为yù玉suì碎

better to die with honor

pāo抛zhuān砖yǐn引yù玉

to offer a modest view to draw out better ones

bīng冰qīng清yù玉jié洁

pure and noble

tíng亭tíng亭yù玉lì立

slender and graceful (of a girl or a tree)

huà化gān干gē戈wéi为yù玉bó帛

to turn hostility into friendship

jīn金yù玉mǎn满táng堂

a house full of treasures; great wealth

jīn金yù玉liáng良yuán缘

a match of gold and jade

shǒu守shēn身rú如yù玉

to preserve one's virtue

zhū珠yuán圆yù玉rùn润

smooth and polished (of singing or writing)

## Jade in belief and legend

jūn君zǐ子

gentleman; person of noble character

yù玉huáng皇dà大dì帝

Jade Emperor (supreme deity of Taoism)

yù玉tù兔

Jade Rabbit (rabbit on the moon in legend)

guān观yīn音

Guanyin (bodhisattva of compassion)

fó佛

Buddha; Buddhism

huáng黄jīn金

gold

## Now read them in a real story

[**十两饺子**How to order dumplings in ChineseHSK 1 · 1 minRead it free](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-order-dumplings-in-chinese)

## Why is jade so important in Chinese culture?

For thousands of years jade, 玉 (yù), stood for the virtues of a good person: Confucius compared its warmth, hardness and lustre to the qualities of a gentleman, 君子 (jūnzǐ). It is hard to carve, so it was precious; the Stone Age cultures of China made ritual discs and tubes of it more than 5,000 years ago. A saying puts it plainly: 黄金有价玉无价 (huángjīn yǒu jià yù wú jià), gold has a price, jade is priceless. 玉 also means pure and beautiful in names and words, as in 玉女 (yùnǚ), a fair maiden.

## What does a jade bangle mean?

Health, protection and a long life. A jade bangle, 玉镯 (yùzhuó), is often a gift from a mother or grandmother, worn for years without taking it off; people say that wearer and jade nourish each other, 人养玉，玉养人 (rén yǎng yù, yù yǎng rén), and that if it cracks or breaks it has taken a blow meant for the wearer. Many wear it on the left wrist.

## What is the difference between nephrite and jadeite?

Chinese jade for most of history was nephrite, 软玉 (ruǎnyù), soft jade, above all the white and green 和田玉 (Hétián yù) from Hotan in Xinjiang; the finest white is mutton-fat jade, 羊脂玉 (yángzhīyù). Jadeite, 硬玉 (yìngyù), hard jade, came from Burma in the Qing dynasty and became the bright green 翡翠 (fěicuì) loved today. 翡翠 is also the word for a kingfisher, whose bright feathers gave the stone its name.

## Why do men wear Guanyin and women wear Buddha?

A popular saying goes 男戴观音女戴佛 (nán dài Guānyīn, nǚ dài fó): men wear Guanyin, women wear the Buddha. The usual explanations are that 观 sounds like 官 (guān), an official post, and Guanyin’s calm tempers a man’s; while 佛 (fó) sounds like 福 (fú), good fortune, and the laughing Buddha brings a woman happiness. Before wearing one, many people have it blessed at a temple, 开光 (kāiguāng).

## What are Chinese idioms with jade?

抛砖引玉 (pāo zhuān yǐn yù), to throw out a brick to draw out jade: to offer a modest idea so others will share better ones. 宁为玉碎，不为瓦全 (nìng wéi yù suì, bù wéi wǎ quán), better a broken jade than a whole tile: better to die with honour. 化干戈为玉帛 (huà gāngē wéi yùbó), to turn weapons into jade and silk: to make peace. And 玉不琢，不成器 (yù bù zhuó, bù chéng qì), uncut jade is no vessel: no one grows without learning.

## How do I know if Chinese jade is real?

We cannot tell you that, and no web page can: real jade is cold and heavy for its size and hard to scratch, but dyed, treated and imitation stones are everywhere. Ask a gem lab for a certificate, 证书 (zhèngshū).

## Can’t hear it?

Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; a browser with none plays each character in our recorded voice instead.

## More Chinese culture

- [Chinese good luck charms and symbols](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-good-luck-charms)
- [Chinese idioms by theme](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms)
- [How to read old Chinese coins](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-coins)
- [Chinese Buddhist words](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-buddhist-words)

Words, pinyin and meanings from our own dictionary; the history from Wikipedia’s Chinese jade, Bi, Cong, Jade burial suit and Heirloom Seal of the Realm. We do not value or authenticate jade.