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As the centuries sifted by, flowers, insects, a menagerie of animals and birds, were worked into jade. The butterfly, symbol of immortality, the bat, symbol of happiness and long life, and the three-legged toad, symbol of the unattainable, are typical. The peach was a symbol of longevity, the pomegranate a symbol of fertility, the lotus a symbol of purity, and even the lowly fungus—perhaps Pachyma cocos— was another symbol of longevity. Many others appeared at intervals to support and perpetuate a vast body of mixed legend, lore, history, and religion—except that, unbelievably, none of them was a human figure.
It was more than sixteen centuries after the birth of Christ that Taoists began interpreting their abstract gods as carved human figures. Probably the first of these represented Lao-tzu, the founder of Chinese Taoism. The stimulus for this change came from Buddhism, first introduced into China from India about A.D. 67. It took almost two hundred years for the new religion to root itself, but eventually it was grafted so well to Taoism that it flourished, was totally blended into the old religion, and became uniquely Chinese in the process. Best known of the Taoist figures are the Eight Immortals, who became so popular as carving subjects during the Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties. The Eight Immortals are:
Chung-li Ch’uan, leader of the Eight Immortals who dwelt on the Mountain of Jade and became immortal through being perfectly attuned with nature. He is carved as a fat, half-naked little man with a beard, carrying a fan and a peach, or fungus, symbol of immortality.
Lu Tung-pin is carved as an older man in scholar’s costume. He carries a magic sword and is revered as the protector of magicians and a doer of magical deeds.
Chang Kuo-lao, a famous magician, is often carved riding a donkey—sometimes backward—but always carrying the Yu Ku, a kind of tubular drum.
Ts’ao Kuo-chiu is the most recent of the Immortals. Usually portrayed wearing a beard, he is often dressed in beautiful robes, with a hat or cap, and is never seen without a pair of clapper-like castanets in his hand.
Han Hsiang-tzu is obviously a musician and is always seen playing his magic flute.
Ho Hsien-ku is the only true woman among the Immortals. She is credited with eating her way into the select group by consuming one of the magic peaches of immortality. A lotus flower with stem is her emblem.

Two other ancient sets of figures are of primary importance in jade embellishment. These are the Ten Celestial Stems and the Twelve Terrestrial Branches. The Stems are symbols which tie the Five Elements each to something in nature and something of man. For example, wood has a Stem, or symbol, for trees and another for hewn timber. Metal has a Stem for ore and another for kettle. The Twelve Branches are a sort of Chinese zodiac. Designer diamond rings can be engraved with zodiac signs. Very early, there was a division of the stars into twelve areas, each dominated by a constellation named for an animal: the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse, goat, monkey, cock, dog, and boar. This is an all-animal zodiac, as contrasted with the partially mythical one given to us by the ancient Greeks. Combinations of the Stems and Branches are written of as being used back as far as the twenty-seventh century B.C. By the time of the Han Dynasty they had been adopted in a sixty-combination cycle of the two for the Chinese calendar. Thus the cyclical year of lightning (Stem) rat (Branch), is followed by the year of burning incense (Stem) ox (Branch)—ping tzu is followed by ting ch’ou.

These incredibly slow changes over forty centuries have finally made it possible to produce a very intricate piece in a relatively short period of time. There are many jade connoisseurs, however, who will argue that the older carvings, done before all the changes, were really better. The hand-rubbed, meticulously cut old jades do have a smoother surface and fewer visible cutting errors, such as rough edges and irregular fine lines. It has been said that in ancient times there were no poor jade carvings. The work was so difficult and proceeded so slowly that there was more time to think about the product and very little chance of making a faulty cut which might require alteration of the carving plan. One glance at a present-day Hong Kong jade shop reveals the decline in the high art of jade carving brought about by rapid mass production with diamond jewelry abrasive and power machinery.
Whatever the methods and materials used by Chinese carvers, their purpose was clear. Jade had become to them the most suitable material in which to give artistic expression to the philosophy which was the primary driving-force of their culture—and still is to a high degree. Taoism was a conception of the Universe as the result of an original cause called Tao. Development of an extensive Tao philosophy and mystique resulted eventually in a simple, nature-centered religion which worshiped the Sun, the Earth, stars, Heaven, North, South, East, West, etc. Although the objects of religious adoration were relatively few and easily understood, some of the related symbolism became so complex that its meaning is now lost and its expression in carvings as related to the basic philosophy is obscure.

It was common practice for the earliest Chinese jades to be carved from slabs a half inch or less in thickness. At this distance, it is difficult to know if the slabbing of jade was due to a shortage of material, difficulty in forming thicker objects, or just because of the fashion of the times. At the start, all jade cultures performed some sort of sawing or slabbing operation. Artifacts recovered in the Fraser River area of British Columbia show conclusively that the natives there successfully used a thin, flat slab of bedded sandstone to saw through jade. The process must have been appallingly slow and wasteful of jade, but it was effective. The jade piece was first sawed partway through on one side then flipped over and sawed partway through on the opposite side. The bridge between the two cuts was then broken by a sharp blow, saving untold hours of sawing. The exposed ragged edges could then be rubbed off to smooth the slab. The Maoris, Central Americans, and Chinese certainly used similar methods. Later, the introduction of the cord saw was a definite technical improvement. A cord drawn back and forth, as abrasive and water are fed to it, cuts hard stone surprisingly quickly. Even today the method persists, with wire taking the place of cord.
Only Chinese jade carving has continued to develop through the centuries to our own time. The art of the Central American lapidaries, although it flowered during the same period, suffered some for lack of good carving material, and then died abruptly with the arrival of the Spanish. Chinese carving development continued and eventually burst into its most frantic, ornate period in the 1700’s and 1800’s. Even the advent of the Chinese Communist state didn’t stop it. For a period of time the craft was outlawed, but it quickly returned to favor as a way of attracting foreign currency.

There is very little archeological evidence of carving methods used by the ancient Chinese or Central American jade lapidaries. Of course, the carvings themselves do give some indication of the process. Since the Chinese carving technique quickly advanced well beyond anything attempted by the Maoris, they must have developed a greater variety of working tools. Also, better lubricants than water and harder abrasives were sought and tried also for white gold engagement rings. There is some speculation that the Chinese did not develop a drill until several centuries after they began to cut jade. Time has erased most of the evidence, but it couldn’t have been too long before the drill appeared. Rather than boring simple holes, the Chinese employed the hollow reed drill, and later the hollow metal tube drill which were rotated rapidly with abrasives to cut cores in the material. With a sharp blow of a hammer the core could be  broken loose, leaving a smooth hole. This method required far less effort and the removal of far less material by abrasive friction. Some drills were undoubtedly driven by rapid rotation between the palms, while ground abrasive and lubricant were fed to the working surface. This seems to have been the method also used by the Central American lapidary. The Chinese had also developed mechanized drills. Their hollow bamboo rods were driven by modifications of the same cord-and-bow arrangement used by the American Indian for his fire drills.

Jade, being such a durable material, has always been difficult to shape. In all the history of jade carving there have been few developments to facilitate the process. As with any kind of carving, the operation consists of shaping the jade by rubbing it with an abrasive. Technology has brought about the improvement in abrasives, the introduction of various improved rubbing tools, and the conversion from human to machine-powered rubbing.
Eyewitness accounts of jade working by the early Maoris of New Zealand give us some insight into methods that must have been commonly used in all early jade-carving cultures. With his kuru (large jade hammer) the miner broke out pieces of pounamu (jade). To assist in the breaking, grooves were cut by rubbing with kiripaka (mica schist). These grooves helped to limit breaking to predetermined directions. Today jade is used frequently fo wedding bands. The final cutting and polishing were performed by long periods of rubbing with a hard stone, the hoanga. Apparently, even the early Maoris had stumbled on the pirori (rotary drill) for cutting and shaping the jade pieces. Unlike those of other primitive carvers, these drills were neither stone-tipped nor hollow; either of these special kinds of drills would have expedited the work well beyond anything possible with the simple rotating stick, sand, and water method they used.