Nephrite jade was considered more valuable than gold or silver. Nephrite jade in New Zealand is known as "pounamu" in the Māori language, and is highly valued, playing an important role in Māori culture. It is considered a "taonga", or treasure, and therefore protected under the Treaty of Waitangi. The exploitation of it is restricted to Ngai Tahu and closely monitored. The South Island of New Zealand is "Te Wai Pounamu" in Māori — "The [land of] Greenstone Water" — because that is where it occurs. Weapons and ornaments are made of it; in particular the "mere" (short club), and the
The First Series of Standardized Forms of Words with Non-standardized Variant Forms only three times in the "People's Daily" between 1995 and 2000. The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China has called on teachers throughout China to use and teach the forms recommended in "The First Series of Standardized Forms of Words with Non-standardized Variant Forms". Before March 31, 2005, a student's use of one of the variant written forms not recommended in the "First Series" on a test like Gaokao would not influence points earned on a given question. Implementation of the Ministry's policy is not to influence the usage of variant written forms in research on ancient