Freshwater pearls are non nucleated pearls produced in rivers and streams, mainly cultivated using triangular sail clams. Zhuji in Zhejiang, Suzhou in Jiangsu, and Hubei in China are the main production areas, accounting for 95% of the world's production. Among them, Zhuji is known as the "hometown of Chinese pearls". Its shape is mostly elliptical or flattened, with obvious surface wrinkles and small bead diameter, widely used as a raw material for cosmetic pearl powder. Colors include white, pink, purple, and other color schemes. In recent years, circular freshwater AKOYA, Edison pearls, and rare fantasy purple varieties have been cultivated through technological improvements.
The history of pearl utilization in China can be traced back to the period of Emperor Yu, and the "Book of Documents Yu Gong" records that river clams produce pearls. The Zhou Dynasty began to use pearls for decoration, while the Han Dynasty divided them into North Pearl (Northeast Freshwater Pearl) and South Pearl (Guangxi Hepu Sea Water Pearl). After the depletion of resources in the Northern Pearl River during the Qing Dynasty, the focus of aquaculture shifted to the Yangtze River Basin. Modern freshwater pearl farming began in the 20th century, with a cultivation scale of approximately 800000 acres in the six provinces along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The Song Dynasty had already mastered the technology of artificial pearl cultivation, and modern large-scale breeding technology was first industrialized in Japan. At the end of the 20th century, Duchang County in Jiangxi Province broke through the cultivation technology of freshwater nucleated pearls and built a pearl shell industry cluster with an output value of over 1 billion yuan.
What Is Freshwater Pearl ?
