Henrik Möller’s doctoral thesis examines intersections of material, economic and cultural aspects of carving, trade, and consumption of the gemstone jadeite (feicui 翡翠).
Abstract for the chapter:
Based on fieldwork among jade traders and carvers in Ruili, this chapter discusses the realization of economic and spiritual potentials of a type of jade called feicui 翡翠 as determination of a partially indeterminate material.
Some traders posit feicui as an empty container for economic value, while the material constitutes spiritual fullness especially for carvers. An opaque layer of surface skin constitutes feicui as partially indeterminate by hiding its content. This invites investments of labor, meaning, and value that necessitate intimate human interactions with feicui in determining and realizing its economic and spiritual potentials.
Exploring how its material properties configure the determination of feicui, the article adds a post-anthropocentric perspective to a structuralist analysis of human-jade interactions as mutually constitutive of both entities.
