Chinese scholar's rocks

Chinese scholar's rocks
Yingde rocks, a type of scholar's rock
Chinese	供石
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin gòngshí Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping gung1 sek6

Chinese scholars' rocks or Gongshi (Chinese: 供石; pinyin: gōngshí), also known as scholar stones or viewing stones, are small shaped or naturally occurring rocks appreciated by Chinese scholars from the Song dynasty onwards, and quite frequently found in traditional Chinese gardens.

The most highly regarded stones are lingbi rocks (Chinese: 灵璧; pinyin: língbì) from Lingbi County of Anhui Province, with the finest examples dating from the Ming dynasty and Song dynasty. Taihu rocks are also prized, and are commonly used as garden stones. They influenced the development of Korean suseok and Japanese suiseki aesthetics and styles and were an important part of Confucian art.

Stone appreciation

Gongshi in Wenmiao Temple, Shanghai

Summer Palace rock

Natural stone and rock formations, with no artificial carvings, are preferred. Rocks would sometimes be carved and then thrown back into a lake so that any markings could be washed away. Scholars rocks can be any color, and contrasting colors are not uncommon. Sometimes they feature painted patterns, which can be of any subject, either natural or abstract. The size of the stone can also be quite varied: scholars rocks can weigh either hundreds of pounds or less than one pound. Subtlety of color, shape, and markings is also desired, as is beauty of texture and shape. Scholars stones are usually reminiscent of someone or something, or it may convey a spiritual nature that moves viewers in some way. They are usually set upon a stable surface, such as a rosewood pedestal that has been carved specifically for the stone.

By the Tang dynasty, a set of four principal aesthetic qualities for the rocks had emerged consisting of: thinness (shou), openness (tou), perforations (lou), and wrinkling (zhou).^[1]

See also

• Penjing
• Suseok
• Suiseki
• Chinese garden
• Floral Arrangement
• Lake Tai - source of many Chinese scholar's rocks

References

• Little, Stephen, Spirit stones of China, the Ian and Susan Wilson collection of Chinese stones, paintings, and related scholars' objects, Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, 1999, ISBN 0865591733

Footnotes

1. ^ The Metropolitan Museum of Art

External links

• Visuals and examples of scholar rocks
• Galleries of scholar rocks
• Books on scholars' rocks
• Chinese scholar's rock history, an introductory historical background
• Classification of Chinese scholar's rocks

This sculpture article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Outdoor sculptures in China Chinese art Chinese gardening styles Landscape design history of China Rock art in China Traditional Chinese objects Garden ornaments Sculpture stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу Typhlosole Georg Ratzinger (politician) Look at other dictionaries: Chinese garden — redirects here. For other uses, see Chinese Garden (disambiguation). Chinese garden Zhishan Garden in the the garden styles of the Song and Ming dynasties[1] …   Wikipedia The New York Chinese Scholar's Garden — History= The New York Chinese Scholar s Garden (or New York Chinese Garden ) is a part of the Staten Island Botanical Garden, located in the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. The garden materials were shipped to Staten Island in the spring of 1998 and …   Wikipedia Chinese rock (disambiguation) — Chinese rock is a style of music. Chinese rock may also refer to: Chinese Rocks, by The Heartbreakers and later by The Ramones Chinese scholar s rocks, small rocks appreciated by Chinese scholars This disambiguation page lists articles associated …   Wikipedia Chinese ceramics — Ming covered red jar with dragon and sea design from the Jiajing reign Chinese ceramic ware shows a continuous development since the pre dynastic periods, and is one of the most significant forms of Chinese art. China is richly endowed with the… …   Wikipedia Chinese painting — Wall scroll painted by Ma Lin in 1246. Ink on silk, 110.5 cm wide. Loq …   Wikipedia Korean stone art — began as votive art over 3000 years ago, and began to be seen as worthy of scholars a thousand years ago. The art usually works on three scales: large installations of monumental shaped stones as ornamental gates; medium sized shaped stones for… …   Wikipedia Confucian art — is art inspired by the writings of Confucius, and Confucian teachings. Confucian art originated in China, then spread westwards on the Silk road, southward down to southern China and then onto Southeast Asia, and eastwards through northern China… …   Wikipedia National Bonsai Foundation — Coordinates: 38°54′45″N 76°58′08″W / 38.9124°N 76.9689°W / 38.9124; 76.9689 …   Wikipedia Lake Tai — Location map China label=Lake Tai lat=31.17 long=120.15 position=right width=300 float=right background=#FFFFDD caption=Lake Tai on the map of China Infobox lake lake name = Lake Tai image lake = IMG 0142 Tai.jpg caption lake = Lake Scenery At… …   Wikipedia Missouri Botanical Garden — U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. National Historic Landmark District …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”