Characters of Gemstones from Liangzhuang King’s Tomb in Ming Dynasty in Zhongxiang, Hubei Province

Liangzhuang King, named Zhu Zhanji and died in 1441, was the ninth son of Renzong emperor in Ming dynasty. More than 5 000 pieces of gems and jewelry are found in his tomb in 2001. There are 700 pieces of mounted gems which can be grouped into 18 varieties, including ruby, sapphire, emerald, chrysoberyl cat's-eye, aventurine quartz, pearl, rock crystal and turquoise. These mounted gems are great different in quality, some are in high quality. All of the gems are cabochon; the manufacture technique is developed in terms of cat's-eye and the drill hole. The ruby, sapphire, emerald, chrysoberyl cat's-eye probably come from the southeastern Asian, and turquoise from Hubei Province, pearl from China according to their grades and the characters of inclusions.