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This research explores the management of abrasive minerals that were widely used in the cutting, carving, and polishing of various stones (including nephrite jade) and glass in Qing court production. These minerals, referred to as treasure sand (baosha) in court documents, were essential in production, but were depleted and discarded in the process. By examining these long-overlooked consumable process materials, this research aims to contribute to our understanding of Qing production infrastructure and, more broadly, provide a fresh perspective on resource management in early modern China.

Dr. Yulian Wu is associate professor of the History Department at Michigan State University. She specializes in material culture, gender relations, and Manchu studies in late imperial China. Her first book, "Luxurious Networks: Salt Merchants, Status, and Statecraft in Eighteenth-Century China," examines the various entanglements between Huizhou salt merchants and material objects in eighteenth-century China. Her current project explores the development of jade industry in the Qing dynasty, aiming to illuminate our understanding of the dynamic relationships among natural resource, craftmanship and technology of governance in early modern China.