In bygone days, jade ornaments and jewelry denoted rank and status. Highborn women, as celebrated in classical poetry, wore jade jewelry that swayed and jingled melodiously as they moved. But jade had more than a merely decorative function. It was commonly believed that mutual nourishment was engendered between a jade ornament and its wearer. This was based on the theory that when worn on the physical person, the spirit immanent in jade fuses with its wearer's qi. This symboisis is apparent in the enhanced luster and even finer texture of jade worn by a host in good health whose complexion becomes clearer and physique stronger. Should the person wearing jade be in poor health it speeds his or her recovery.
