Lapis lazuli
A polished specimen of lapis lazuli.
General
Category	Rock
Chemical formula	mixture of minerals
Identification
Color	Blue, mottled with white calcite and brassy pyrite
Crystal habit	Compact, massive
Crystal system	None, as lapis is a rock. Lazurite, the main constituent, frequently occurs as dodecahedra
Cleavage	None
Fracture	Uneven-Conchoidal
Mohs scale hardness	5–5.5
Luster	dull
Streak	light blue
Specific gravity	2.7–2.9
Refractive index	1.5
Other characteristics	The variations in composition cause a wide variation in the above values.

Lapis lazuli specimen (rough), Afghanistan

Lapis lazuli ( /ˈlæpɪs ˈlæzjʉlaɪ/ or /ˈlæzjʉli/ LAP-iss LAZ-zew-ly/lee,^[1] Arabic: لازورد‎ Persian: لاژورد‎ Urdu: لاجورد) (sometimes abbreviated to lapis) is a relatively rare semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense blue color.

Lapis lazuli was being mined in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan as early as the 3rd millennium BC,^[2] and there are sources that are found as far east as in the region around Lake Baikal in Siberia. Trade in the stone is ancient enough for lapis jewelry to have been found at Predynastic Egyptian and ancient Sumerian sites, and as lapis beads at neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and even as far from Afghanistan as Mauritania.^[3]

Description[link]

Lapis lazuli is a rock, largely formed from the mineral lazurite.^[4]

The main component of lapis lazuli is lazurite (25% to 40%), a feldspathoid silicate mineral with the formula (Na,Ca)₈(AlSiO₄)₆(S,SO₄,Cl)_1-2.^[5] Most lapis lazuli also contains calcite (white), sodalite (blue), and pyrite (metallic yellow). Other possible constituents: augite; diopside; enstatite; mica; hauynite; hornblende, and nosean. Some lapis lazuli contains trace amounts of the sulfur-rich löllingite variety geyerite.

Lapis lazuli usually occurs in crystalline marble as a result of contact metamorphism.

Etymology[link]

Lapis is the Latin word for "stone" and lazuli is the genitive form of the Medieval Latin lazulum, which is taken from the Persian لازورد lāzaward, meaning "heaven" or "sky", since the sky is blue; therefore, it is the "stone of heaven" or "sky stone". Lāzaward is from the Persian لاژورد lāzhward, the name of a place where lapis lazuli was mined.^[6][7] Taken as a whole, lapis lazuli means "stone of Lāzhward".

The name of the place came to be associated with the stone mined there and, eventually, with its color. The French azur, the Italian azzurro, the Polish lazur and the Spanish and Portuguese azul are cognates.

Sources[link]

Lapis lazuli is found in limestone in the Kokcha River valley of Badakhshan province in northeastern Afghanistan, where the Sar-e-Sang mine deposits have been worked for more than 6,000 years.^[8] Afghanistan was the source of lapis for the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, as well as the later Greeks and Romans. During the height of the Indus valley civilization about 2000 BC, the Harappan colony now known as Shortugai was established near the lapis mines.^[3]

In addition to the Afghan deposits, lapis has been extracted for many years in the Andes (near Ovalle, Chile), the Lake Baikal region of Russia; Siberia; Angola; Argentina; Burma; Pakistan; Canada; India; and in the USA in California and Colorado.

Alternatives[link]

Lapis lazuli is commercially "synthesized" (actually simulated) by the Gilson process, using artificial ultramarine and hydrous zinc phosphates.^[9] It may be substituted by spinel or sodalite, or by dyed jasper or howlite.^[10]

Uses[link]

Lapis takes an excellent polish and can be made into jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, and vases. It was also ground and processed to make the pigment ultramarine for tempera paint and, more rarely, oil paint. Its usage as a pigment in oil paint ended in the early 19th century when a chemically identical synthetic variety, often called French ultramarine, became available.

Historical usage[link]

In ancient Egypt, lapis lazuli was a favorite stone for amulets and ornaments such as scarabs; it was also used in ancient Mesopotamia by the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians for seals and jewelry. Lapis jewelry has been found at excavations of the Predynastic Egyptian site Naqada (3300–3100 BC), and powdered lapis was used as eyeshadow by Cleopatra.^[3] In ancient Mesopotamia, lapis artifacts can be found in great abundance, with many notable examples having been excavated at the Royal Cemetery of Ur (2600-2500 BC).^{[citation needed]}

In ancient times, lapis lazuli was known as sapphire,^[11] which is the name that is used today for the blue corundum variety sapphire. It has also been used in the Tajmahal in India.

Color[link]

The intense blue color is due to the presence of the S₃^- radical anion in the crystal.^[12] An electronic excitation of one electron from the highest doubly filled molecular orbital (No. 24) into the lowest singly occupied orbital (No. 25)^[13] results in a very intense absorption at λ_max ~617 nm.

Gallery[link]

• 

  A Mesopotamian lapis lazuli pendant circa 2900 BC.

• 

  A 11 cm (4.3 in)-long lapis lazuli dove studded with gold pegs. Elamite. Dated 1200 BC from Susa, Iran

• 

  Carved lapis lazuli mountain scene, from the Chinese Qing Dynasty (1644–1912).

• 

  An elephant carving on high-quality lapis lazuli, that includes gold-colored pyrite, is a rare example of Mughal inspired art. (length: 8 cm (3.1 in))

See also[link]

• Sar-i Sang
• Kamboja-Dvaravati Route
• Lapis armenus

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Bowersox, Gary W.; Chamberlin, Bonita E. (1995). Gemstones of Afghanistan. Tucson, AZ: Geoscience Press .
• Oldershaw, Cally (2003). "Lapis Lazuli". Firefly Guide to Gems. Toronto: Firefly Books .

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lapis lazuli

• Lapis lazuli at Gemstone.org
• "The Use of Lapis Lazuli as a Pigment in Medieval Europe"
• Documentation from online course produced by University of California at Berkeley
• Lapis Lazuli from Afghanistan, Sar-e-Sang Mine, Jurm, Afghanistan
• Lapislzuli - occurrence, mining and market potential of a classic blue mineral pigment pdf, in German

Yu Dafu
Born	(1896-12-07)December 7, 1896 Fuyang, Zhejiang, China
Died	September 17, 1945(1945-09-17) (aged 48)
Occupation	Short Story writer and Poet

Yu Dafu (simplified Chinese: 郁达夫; traditional Chinese: 郁達夫; pinyin: Yù Dáfū; Wade–Giles: Yu Ta-fu) (December 7, 1896—September 17, 1945). Born in Fuyang, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, was a modern Chinese short story writer and poet.

Early years[link]

Yu Dafu's father died when he was three, leaving the family poverty-stricken and destitute. He received a number of scholarships through the Chinese government and went on to receive a traditional Chinese education in Hangzhou. Chronologically he studied in Jiangxing-Fu Middle School (before he came to Hangzhou), Hangzhou-Fu Middle School, Yuying Academy^[1] (育英学堂, formerly of Zhejiang University).

In 1912, he entered Hangchow University (later its major part merged into Zhejiang University) preparatory through examination. He was there only for a short period before he was expelled for participation in a student strike.^[2]

He then moved to Japan, where he studied economics at the Tokyo Imperial University between 1913 and 1922, where he met other Chinese intellectuals (namely, Guo Moruo, Zhang Ziping and Tian Han). Together, in 1921 they founded the Chuangzao she 創造社 ("Creation Society"), which promoted vernacular and modern literature. One of his earlier works Chenlun 沉淪, also his most famous, published in Japan in 1921. The work had gained immense popularity in China, shocking the world of Chinese literature with its frank dealing with sex, as well as grievances directed at the incompetence of Chinese government at the time.

In 1922, he returned to China as a literary celebrity and worked as the editor of Creation Quarterly, editing journals and writing short stories. In 1923, after an attack of tuberculosis, Yu Dafu directed his attention to the welfare of the masses.

In 1927, he worked as an editor of the Hongshui literary magazine. He later came in conflict with the Communist Party of China and fled back to Japan.

Second Sino-Japanese war[link]

After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese war, he returned to China and worked as a writer of anti-Japanese propaganda in Hangzhou, and later in Zhejiang. From 1938 to 1942, he worked as a literary editor for the newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh in Singapore.

In 1942 when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Singapore, he was forced to flee to Sumatra. Known under a different identity, he settled there among other overseas Chinese and began a brewery business with the help of the locals. Later he was forced to help the Japanese military police as an interpreter when it was discovered that he was one of the few "locals" in the area who could speak Japanese.

In 1945, he was arrested by the Kempeitai when his true identity was finally discovered. It is believed that he was executed by the Japanese shortly after the surrender of Japan.

Works[link]

• Chenlun 沉淪 "Sinking" (1921)
• Riji jiuzhong 日記九種 “Nine Diaries” (1927)
• Guoqu 過去 “The Past" (1927)
• his first novel?? (1928) (moderately successful)
• his second novel?? (1932)
• Chuben 出奔 "Flight" (1935)

His most popular work, breaking all Chinese sales records, was Jih-chi chiu-chung "Nine Diaries", which detailed his affair with the writer Wang Ying-hsin. The most critically acclaimed work is Kuo-ch'u or "The Past", written in 1927.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

• Encyclopædia Britannica 2005 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, article- "Yü Ta-fu"

External links[link]

• Works by Yu Dafu at Project Gutenberg