The inscription may be translated, '(There was) an old jade scroll end, length two inches;
And in circumference it measured in all 5 inches
Cut into two pieces: one became a thumb ring.
The other I had made into a little treasure with writing carved around it.
The text read: Ancient Rarity appropriate for imperial use.
While enjoying (?) calligraphy and painting.
The thumb ring if worn on the hand gives a feeling of its essence.
For the interior circumference was partly carved in and partly left intact;
In the carved parts the substance of the jade is wholly revealed;
Where uncarved, it was all lustrous colors - originally this had been earth.
Sometimes I use it for sticky weather, for wasting sickness, for a sore arm - its uses are innumerable.
Carved incantation: how subtle and great is your intent
The autumn of the renyin year of the Qianlong reign (1782)
An imperial subject'