Yellow Jade vs Yellow Topaz

Topaz is a type of mineral containing fluorine aluminosilicate , it is formed from the exhaust steam produced during crystallization process of igneous, it is generally produced in the holes of the rhyolite and granite. For it is often mixed with tin ore, any signs of topaz can be used to find tin ore mine. Topaz is generally found in cylindrical shape or appears as irregular granular or block. There are a variety of colors, usually yellow, blue, green, red, brown and other light colors. Most have luster of a glass, and some others are colorless and transparent. Color can fade under prolonged exposure in the sun. Topaz can be used as abrasive materials, or as instrument bearings. Transparent and beautiful looking topaz is considered high valued precious stones.

Jade or jadeite is a very confusing area after all the research I've done while writing all about jade. I thought there was definitely red jade, but it turns out those red jade we see on the market are all carnelian or red chalcedony; the chicken blood jade I once thought was a type of high valued red jade turns out to be merely fire jade, and fire jade is not really a jade; then just when I thought the (chicken) blood stone must be the highly desirable red jade, I realized that it was the same as the bloodstone in the west; at one point I thought yellow jade was yellow topaz after realizing topaz was actually called yellow jade (even they are in other colors rather than yellow) in Chinese, I finally found enough of information about yellow jade and wrote a hub about it.

As of what is jade, please refer to two of my hubs: Jade Color, Jade Jewelry and Chinese Jade: Culture, Meaning, & Humanity

This, I believe, has to be the Chinese specific. The main reason is somehow for whatever reason, the entire topaz family has been given the name "yellow jade" in Chinese! I didn't know that till I had to write stuff about the true yellow jade. At one point I concluded yellow jade was actually yellow topaz, or topaz as a whole, to be more accurate and almost wrote a hub about it. I'm glad I later discovered some key information from a Chinese website about the real yellow jade. While doing the research, it was simply no surprise to see how many Chinese people confused these two totally different stones, so many of them believed yellow jade indeed referred to topaz. Since yellow jade has had such a long history in China, I have to put the blame on the person (whoever it was) who invented the name "yellow jade" in Chinese characters for the topaz family. Why creating all the unnecessary buzz, especially using the word "yellow" for topaz when there are quite a few colors other than yellow itself?

To be more specific, topaz is called "黄玉" in Chinese, "黄" basically means yellow, "玉" basically means jade, though it also has a much broader meaning such as gemstones, precious stones, or semi-precious stones. If having the word "玉" isn't confusing enough, adding the word "黄" would just stir up all the mess for sure. Now on the Chinese internet world, one has to search for "黄色的玉石" (it basically means the same, but put it as yellow gemstone would be more accurate, then why not use this name for topaz?) in order to find certain information about the real yellow jade.

I haven't found useful info about true yellow jade from any of the English sites. The only place offers little information is the ehow.com, yet it appeared to be misleading as well. Just look at the places to mine yellow jade "Yellow jade can be found in Japan, Myanmar, Guatemala, California and Alaska", it doesn't include China, a country with long long history of using yellow jade. Other than ehow, the information is extremely limited. I'm confident the info I gained from the Chinese site is much more reliable. China is a country of jade, I'd say.

If you want to learn about jade, topaz or other gemstones in a reliable way, I'd suggest to check out the precious gemstone books and guide for sale from amazon in this hub.

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