Jade: Facts and Folklore

While Jade is often closely associated with Asia (it has been treasured as the royal gemstone in China for over 5,000 years), it is also a highly regarded stone by other cultures. Primarily found in New Zealand, Mexico, Cental America and China, it has been found in the US as well, notably in North Carolina.
One of the toughest minerals, jade measures a 6.5-7 on the Moh's scale of hardness.
Famously associated with China, jade has been used in carving for thousands of years, where rubbing a piece of jade in the hand was thought to bring good fortune to any decision or business venture. The Chinese word for jade is "yü," indicating beauty, nobility, and purity; jade is also thought to prolong life. It is taken medicinally in water or wine, and is believed to protect against heat and cold, hunger and thirst. Powdered jade is taken to strengthen the heart, lungs, and voice. It is also considered an indicator of health and fortune, becoming dull and lusterless when its owner experiences ill health or misfortune.
In Burma, Tibet, and India, jade is considered a cure for heart trouble and a means of deflecting lightning. It has the property of bringing rain, mist, or snow when thrown into water. In Scotland, Jade has been used as a touchstone to cure illness.

"The wise have likened it to virtue. For them, its polish and brilliancy represent the whole of purity; its perfect compactness and extreme hardness represent the sureness of the intelligence; its angles, which do not cut, although they seem sharp, represent justice; the pure and prolonged sound which it gives forth when one strikes it represents music. Its color represents loyalty; its interior flaws, always showing themselves through the transparency, call to mind sincerity; its iridescent brightness represents heaven; its admirable substance, born of mountain and of water, represents the earth. Used alone without ornamentation it represents chastity. The price which all the world attaches to it represents the truth." -Confucius