Jade is a stone used in jewelery and ornamentation. Its color ranges from white to dark green. It has long been valued in Chinese culture as a gem of the aristocracy, in ancient times having more value than gold or silver.
The Chinese character for jade is 玉, pronounced yù. This character can also mean "precious stone" or "gem".
The character 玉 is a pictograph, showing a sting of jade pieces.
The character 玉 is a radical, but when used as part of more complex characters, it usually takes a compressed form, as can be seen on the left of the character 玎 (dīng).
Characters which incorporate the 玉 radical are often related to jewels, gems, or objects of value.
Here are some characters based on the radical 玉:
- 王 – wáng – king
- 玥 – yuè – sacrificial pearl
- 珍 – zhēn – precious
- 理 – lǐ – logic
- 瑗 – yuàn – large jade ring
- 璽 / 玺 – xǐ – ruler's seal
Mandarin Vocabulary With Yù
You will most often see the character 玉 used in place names.
| Traditional Characters | Simplified Characters | Pinyin | English |
| 玉米 | 玉米 | yù mǐ | corn |
| 軟玉 | 软玉 | ruǎn yù | nephrite (a type of jade) |
| 玉山 | 玉山 | Yù shān | Jade Mountain (the highest mountain in Taiwan |
| 墨玉 | 墨玉 | mò yù | Moyu (place in Xinjiang) |
