appear in tombs around this time in China. During subsequent dynasties, particularly during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1735–96), there was an explosion of interest in jade from Burma. The Qianlong Emperor went to extraordinary lengths to obtain green jade, and when the Burmese king refused to provide him with tribute, the emperor went to war against Burma. The war was a disaster for the Chinese emperor. His army suffered multiple failures, leading the Qianlong Emperor to say "my finest soldiers were scalded, divided, driven into gullies like cows in a pond. They perished pile on pile. My generals are a joke." The disgraced general Mingjui committed suicide. After this defeat, the Burmese king agreed to a peace treaty, which was signed in 1770 and allowed the export of jade to China. During the reign of Burma's King Mindon (1857–78), the jade trade flourished and expanded. King Mindon allowed the Chinese lapidaries to locate in Mandalay, where they could buy, process, and trade in jade between Burma and China and within Burma. Those lapidaries were expanded and continue to exist to this day. Based on artifacts recovered in China, the volume of green jade traded through Yunnan increased through the end of the Ming dynasty and the during the beginning of the Qing dynasty. W. Warry, a member of the Chinese Consular Service on an expedition to Burma in 1888 writes the following about the origin of Chinese demand for jade based on local lore. Jade has been associated with China going as far back as the Liangzhu culture (3400-2250 BC) but this jade was primarily nephrite, a milky white stone more common than the green Burmese jadeite. Often the stone was used in the presence of copper in order to give the illusion of a deeper green color without access to jadeite. As stated in the previous paragraph, most notably during the Qing dynasty, during the Qianlong Emperor's lifetime, he acquired much jade from Burma. He and his court had a particular taste for the Burmese jadeite, or feicui as it was referred to. Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908 CE) was particularly noted for her interest in the stone, often using her political position to acquire the stone and using it in her public clothing. Trade continued under her reign. Before 1949 During the mid-18th century there was an expansion of jade mining and its subsequent export to China