Discovery and Significance of “Records of Jadestone Import”in Guangzhou Customs

Records of the jadestone import in Guangzhou Customs from 1873 to 1878, the“Tongzhi to Guangxu” period of Qing Dynasty in China, are found in the fiche of “Guangzhou Customs Record” in Archives of Guangdong Province for the first time. The jadestone in the records is proved to be jadeite jade which is still not seen as “real jade” at that time. It is estimated that the jadeite jade imported to China in the 51 years of late Qing Dynasty could be about 6 708 tons. It is believed that the seaway is the one of the important channels and Guangzhou is one of the most important ports in Qing Dynasty for jadeite jade import trade.