From at least the Song dynasty onwards, 'yellow jade' has been highly prized by the Chinese, although such jades would rarely be termed yellow if compared with yellow glass. As with so many terms in Chinese connoisseurship, descriptive titles have often been superseded by a transcendental meaning, and within this system 'yellow jade' is not just an optimistic expression but rather, a description of superiority for a specific spectrum of nephrite color. It is also the material to which the Qing Chinese connoisseur attached the name 'huangzhengli' ('yellow steamed chestnut'), and the example here is as perfect and bright as one might hope to find, coming as close to a real yellow as any recorded nephrite snuff bottle.