Red-Stained Stone

Jixueshi (literally, chicken-blood stone) is a precious stone found in China and it particularly good for making seals. A piece of this red-stained stone, greatly valued because it is rare, is worth up to 10,000 yuan.

Produce at YuyanMountain in Changhua Country, Zhejiang Province, the stone is a mineral intergrowth of cinnabar and pyrophyllite. It derives its name because cinnabar is brilliantly red, like chicken blood.

Pyrophyllite, on the other hand, may be in any of a variety of colours – white, yellow, grey, green or black – which, stained with the red, presents at its best a glittering and translucent splendour never to be matched by human creations.

The market value of such a piece of stone is assessed by the amount of red in it, the brilliance of its colours, its translucence and purity.

First discovered during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the stone was carved at the time into art objects used by the nobility as gifts to one another Down to the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911), the imperial family and the aristocrats chose the best of the stone to make seals, buying it at high prices for their collection. Today it is occasionally available at antiquarian shops and Friendship Stores.