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- the wax model. The jade craftsmen then set to work carving the monumental moun�tain. Finally on July 27,1787 after years of patient and diligent work they loaded the sculpture aboard a boat and transported it along the Grand Canal under guard to Beijing. It arrived on September 27th and was taken to the Imperial Palace. On March 2,1788 Qianlong ordered that a 287 character poem, which he had com�posed, be engraved on it. This verse may be found in the �Collected Works of Qian�long,� Second Series, Volume 18, page 3. When the engraving was completed, the project was declared finished. It took approximately ten years to complete from the selection of the jade material and the making of the designs until the final en�graving of characters. This mountain marked the climax in large-scale jade carv�ings and after this time, large jade carvings decreased in number and in size.27
Hindustan Jades
A special category among the jades of the Qing dynasty is Hindustan jades. They exerted a strong influence on the Chinese jade carving industry.
Qianlong was greatly enamoured with Hindustan jades, which flowed through Xinjiang following the suppression of theSungar rebellion. These jades, usually in the shape of vessels, came from the north India-Pakistan area, which atthistime was part of the Mughal Empire, and from the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Since both types of jade were coming to the Qing imperial court via Xinjiang, Qianlong was unaware of their different origins, and uniformly called them �Hindustan jades.� (They have also been called Mughaljade, Turkish jade and Islamic jade.) Qianlong encouraged the large-scale importation of these jades, and was so fascinated by them that he often wrote poems praising them, and would even have the poems carved on the vessels themselves. The Qing court officials in the Xinjiang region vied with each other to buy the finest Hindustan jades from the traders, so that they could send them to the emperor as tribute, and thereby curry his favour. These Hindustan jades were of two general categories: food vessels and miscellaneous objects. The former includes bowls, cups, vases, ladles, etc., and the latter includes such things as pen-cases, dagger-handles, boxes, censers, etc. These objects often had incised patterns inlaid with gold and silver thread and inset with precious stones, which made them highly decorative.
Qianlong greatly appreciated their thinness and meticulous detail and gave or�ders to the imperial workshops to make imitations of the Hindustan pieces.28 By doing this, he stimulated Chinese jade craftsmen to raise their standards and re�fine their skills, so that they could produce even finer jade vessels.
The import of Hindustan jades dwindled after Qianlong�s death because his son and successor, Jiaqing, was much less interested in Hindustan jades. When Hin�dustan jade arrived as tribute, he had it piled in the storehouse. This indifference to Hindustan jade combined with new disorders in Xinjiang caused very few Hin�dustan jade pieces to arrive at the Qing court, and they may have ceased com�ing altogether by 1850.
Burmese Jade
Another type of jade coming into China during the latter part of Qianlong�s reign was Burmese jadeite. There might be some early references to the importation of Burmese jadeite into China in the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, but these would appear to be very isolated incidents. Thefirst large-scale imports of jadeite must have occurred after the hostilities between China and Burma ended in 1784. This date marks the opening of regular trade between the two countries.
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