The Emperor’s Stone: Monopolizing Jade Quarrying and Trade in Xinjiang in Qianlong’s Reign

During the reign of the Qianlong emperor (r. 1735-1796/1799), an unprecedented amount of nephrite jade was quarried and transported overland from Inner Asia to China’s heartland, particularly to the imperial capital of Beijing and the economic centers of Jiangnan. This shift was a direct consequence of the Manchus’ occupation of the so-called “New Frontier” (Xinjiang). The Qianlong emperor’s enthusiasm and wealthy Jiangnan consumers’ rising demand for this material made jade a highly profitable commodity. While the Qing court established itself as the sole legitimate power to mine jade in this new territory and gradually institutionalized its monopoly there, Han and Muslim merchants, with or without state-issued licenses, traded jade for profit. Qing court documents show that the central government gradually established its exclusive control of jade quarrying and trading after occupation of this new territory. In the meantime, a large body of jade smuggling cases indicate a gap between the state’s intention to monopolize these precious stones and the actual implementation of court policy in the frontier area. By analyzing official documents and jade smuggling cases, this paper aims to examine the policies that the Qing court developed to monopolize jade quarrying and trading in Xinjiang and the consequent impacts of these state policies on the jade trade. I ask: how did the Qing government establish regulations, such as the government licenses system, to regulate the private jade trade? How did Muslim and Han Chinese merchants negotiate with government’s policies on jade quarrying and trade? By focusing on the Qing’s monopoly of jade quarrying and trade, this paper further aims to reveal the role that jade played in the court’s Xinjiang policies and the dynamic relationship between objects and Qing empire building in general.