Scrolling through Edward Schafer’s book on the many minerals in China I came across something I genuinely did not think I would come across. Every once in awhile, but more often in the past, I used to play Minecraft. I used to come across an Ore called Lapis Lazuli. It was this blue ore that had many different uses in the game. There are many ores in the game such as gold, iron and diamonds. I honestly did not think Lapis Lazuli existed, I thought it was part of the game. Turns out, I was wrong!
Lapis Lazuli is in fact real and it is as cool in real life as it is in the game. So, what is it used for in real life? For starters, one of it’s main features is that it was and is still used as gift. People would use the Lapis as Jewelry. That is not very surprising though, look how beautiful it is! Blue is one of my favorite colors and the design of it is beautiful. Another interesting thing about Lapis is that some people actually valued it higher then gold! The Tibetans valued Lapis more then they value gold! I can see why, the beauty of the ore is breathtaking! Men and Women would wear the ore on their head. Finding out that this ore was real was a pretty exciting moment.
References
Schafer, Edward H. The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of Tang Exotics. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.
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