A Butterfly

You can find a lot of butterflies carved from jade in China. The ancient Chinese legend of "The Butterfly Lovers" (Liang Zhu, 梁山伯与祝英台) is known to all. At the end of the story, the two lovers who cannot be together in life transform into a pair of butterflies and fly to freedom. Because of this, a pair of butterflies is a powerful symbol of eternal love, soulmates, and undying devotion. Just like in Western culture, the butterfly’s metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a beautiful winged creature represents personal growth, change, and spiritual transformation. Many people believe that if one lands on you or near you, it means good news or good luck is coming your way.

Most carvings of a butterfly usually follow a set template where the wings are outspread. There are two main reasons for this. The first is that it makes them quite easy to carve. They can be produced quickly. The second reason is that if they are carved in this way they make great pendants as they lay flat against the chest. The majority of them are now carved by computer and follow this set pattern. They are quite boring. Occasionally you can come across one carved by hand, like the one shown here. The short film below shows how to transform a quite ordinary piece of jade into a unique carving of a butterfly.