Is that really fake jade? Misinformation on the internet.

There are a lot of websites out there about what jade is and what isn't, what is fake and what isn't, etc.  Unfortunately, in my opinion there is a lot of misinformation out there, and it really comes down to a language problem.

You might have read that the Chinese word for "jade" is "yù" (玉), and vice versa the English word for "yù" is "jade". You will also read that jade refers only to two minerals nephrite and jadeite, and that nothing else is jade.

This is all true, but here is where it gets tricky.

The word "jade" was coined by French mineralogist Alexis Damour who was in China during the late 19th century. He analyzed the chemical composition of sculptures and jewelry in China that were called yù (玉) and defined jade as a gemstone being either the minerals nephrite or jadeite.  Why only these two? I can't say for sure but probably because those two were the most popular at the time and the most valuable and perhaps that was all he was exposed to.

On the flipside, the Chinese word "yù" (玉) can actually refer to many different stones.  For example, all the way back 1600 B.C. to the Shang Dynasty where we have our first written record of the Chinese language, yù also referred to sausserite, which is a mineral aggregate found on Dushan mountain in Anyang, Henan province.  Actually, of the Four Great Jades (四大玉 or sì dà yù), none are nephrite or jadeite!  The Four Great Jades are said to be Dushan jade which is sausserite, Hetian jade which is tremolite, Xiuyan jade which is a tremolite and serpentine mix, and Lǜ sōng shí which is turquoise!  Tremolite is very similar to nephrite (same chemical composition and crystal structure, but tremolite has more magnesium than iron, and is much softer) so for the definition of "true jade" in the West, people count it as a nephrite jade.

I have also seen the list of the Four Great Jades with Lantian jade, which is tremolite typically with a lot of impurities from Lantian county of Shaanxi province, replacing turquoise.

Dushan jade tends to be mottled.  However, a good artist can use this to his advantage.

Another fine example of polychrome Dushan jade carving

In Chinese, the stones are typically associated with their provenance as opposed to their chemical composition.  So the ever so popular Hetian jade is from the city of Hetian, Xinjiang.  Afghanistan Jade is from the Himalayas on the Afghanistan side.  Dushan jade is from Dushan mountain.

This is why the translation is a problem.  Because of this, I would say the word "gemstone" is a more accurate translation for "yù" and not "jade".

If you go online you will see a lot of these "lost in translation" problems. You will see things for sale such as "Dushan Jade", "Jasper Jade", "Afghanistan Jade", etc. for sale which are neither nephrite nor jadeite. This is probably because some Chinese guy used a translation app, typed in "独山玉" (Dushan yù), hit translate and out popped "Dushan Jade". Unless he is telling you that Dushan jade is nephrite, he's not purposely trying to trick you.

You will also see a lot of information on the web saying that these aren't "true jades" and that these are fakes and imitations of legitimate jade.

This is actually the point of all this rambling: these aren't fake jades or lesser jades.  True, they might not be worth as much pound per pound when compared to jadeite and nephrite, but they aren't inherently fraudulent or wannabe imitations. Is Swarovski Crystal a fake diamond? Is silver fake platinum? Is peridot a fake emerald?

A peridot gem, for those unfamiliar

Now if someone were to try and sell you a silver ring while telling you it's platinum then he's giving you a fake.  And unless someone is selling you serpentine and calling it jadeite (this happened to me in a very expensive and well known art gallery in San Francisco), he's not trying to cheat you.

They aren't as rare, but they are still considered beautiful stones worthy of the being called 玉 and capable of being made into fine pieces of art.

As a small aside, once I was talking to someone on eBay who listed a "Green Jade sculpture".  I asked, "Why did you list it as green jade?  It's purple and gray with little spots of black.  There is no green at all".  He replied, "Do you know about green jade? It has many colors".  What the heck?  After more confusing talk he showed me a screenshot of his Chinese translation app.  In it he typed the Chinese characters for "fěicuì", which is a common nickname for jadeite, and his translation options were "emerald" and "green jade" and "jadeite".  He picked the wrong option.

Actually I just did the same in Google Translate and it just gave me "emerald".