Møller, Henrik Kloppenborg (2022) Jade and Guanxi in China. The Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies, 40 (2). doi:10.22439/cjas.v40i2.6745 ISSN 2246-2163.

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Abstract

his article discusses how the gemstone jade mediates guanxi (‘personal relationships’), and how guanxi mediates jade trade in China. Outlining some affective, spiritual, moral and somatic meanings and efficacies of jade, especially as a gift, the article first discusses how jade materialities, cultural history and ontology influence human interactions with, and through, jade in contemporary China. Secondly, the article presents some more economically instrumental investments in, and exchanges of, jade and discusses why and how a national anti-corruption campaign engendered fluctuations in Chinese jade markets. Finally, the article discusses how guanxi ideally forges personal trust that facilitates transactions of jade, even though some younger jade traders consider guanxi insincere. Studies of guanxi in China’s reform era have conventionally given analytical primacy to how social relationships structure and give meaning to material exchanges. In contrast, this article argues that jade itself can be a catalyst for social relationships that span affect and instrumentality. Combining object–oriented, ontological and institutionalist approaches, the article conceptualises the outlined relations between jade and guanxi as material–social congruity and contingency in the Chinese context.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce N Fine Arts > NK Decorative arts Applied arts Decoration and ornament
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > School for Cross-faculty Studies Faculty of Arts > School for Cross-faculty Studies > Global Sustainable Development
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Jade art objects -- Economic aspects -- China, Trust -- Social aspects, Precious stones, Relationship marketing -- China
Journal or Publication Title:	The Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies
ISSN:	2246-2163
Official Date:	23 December 2022
Dates:	Date Event 23 December 2022 Published
Volume:	40
Number:	2
DOI:	10.22439/cjas.v40i2.6745
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)
Date of first compliant deposit:	8 September 2023
Date of first compliant Open Access:	8 September 2023

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