Feature Gems & Gemology, Fall 1989, Vol. 25, No. 3

Chicken-Blood Stone from China


"Chicken-blood" stone is one of the most prized ornamental materials in China, especially for use in elaborate carvings and seals. A fine-grained mixture of dickite/kaolinite and quartz, with varying amounts of red cinnabar, chicken-blood stone is found in only two localities in China: Chunghua and Balinyouqi. This article describes this material and its gemological properties as well as the occurrence at the two known localities.