{"id":189,"date":"2020-07-02T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pagodared.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/14\/chinese-scholars-rocks-twists-turns\/"},"modified":"2024-07-15T17:10:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T17:10:08","slug":"chinese-scholars-rocks-twists-turns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pagodared.com\/blog\/2020\/07\/02\/chinese-scholars-rocks-twists-turns\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Scholars’ Rocks: Twists & Turns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The horticulturist and garden designer Gertrude Jekyll once said, \u201cA garden is a grand teacher.\u201d It\u2019s fitting, then, that Chinese scholar\u2019s rocks<\/a> and stones should be sources of inspiration for the past thousand-odd years. <\/span>Chinese scholars of antiquity were\u00a0masters of painting, calligraphy, poetry, or ancient texts, and they saw stones as teachers, not only in gardens, but in interiors, where they were\u00a0displayed on painting tables or writing desks<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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“Falcon Red” Taihu Scholars Rock on Rosewood Stand<\/a> | W: 10.75″ D: 5.75″ H: 20.0″<\/p><\/div>\n

At first, scholars collected these rocks specifically for their rugged beauty. They were chosen to inspire poetry and landscape paintings, though later on they were collected simply for their natural beauty and often resided next to ink slabs<\/a>, libation cups<\/a> and other tools of the scholar.<\/span> Beauty wasn\u2019t <\/span>exactly<\/span><\/i> in the eye of the beholder, though.\u00a0Thinness (\u7626 sh\u00f2u), perforations (\u6f0f l\u00f2u), openness (\u900f t\u00f2u) and wrinkling (\u76ba zh\u00f2u) soon became the\u00a0<\/span>four aesthetic criteria<\/span><\/a>\u00a0upon which these pieces were judged. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Winged Guardian Lingbi Scholar’s Rock<\/a> | W: 17″ D: 6″ H: 14″<\/p><\/div>\n

The scholar\u2019s rock might even\u00a0travel with the artist for inspiration when painting mountain scenes\u2014an ancient version of Googling \u201cmajestic mountains.\u201d Sometimes referred to as \u201cportable mountains,\u201d these rocks were complex, wild, and rugged. Characteristic of Chinese aesthetics, the more irregular and eroded these rocks appeared to be (even if human enhancement may have, at times, played a hand), the more desirable they were. The rocks\u2019 jagged crags, peaks and ravines embodied the transformative and awe-inspiring whims of nature, conjuring up images of remote mountain grottos,\u00a0ancient sages and the monumental cliffs of the immortals.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Petite Greenery Meditation Stone<\/a> | W: 3.5″ D: 3″ H: 5″<\/p><\/div>\n

Beyond their unique form, some rocks were also naturally adorned with patterns and\u00a0veins\u00a0of vibrant colors:\u00a0deep greens, icy grays, and desert reds. Stones like the peony<\/a> and chrysanthemum<\/a> revealed incredible bursts of white which resembled flowers (hence the name). Many rocks were named after the creatures and habitats they mimicked. And all were a little bit special in their own way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, Googling \u201cportable mountains\u201d just doesn\u2019t cut it. Sometimes, beauty really is something you have to hold.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Meditation Stones<\/a><\/p>\n

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