Shangshiyishu
01 · Historical Records
The art of stone appreciation originated with the emergence of gardens in the Qin and Han dynasties; during the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties the appreciation of stones in gardens gradually rose; in the Tang dynasty it entered a flourishing stage, and criteria for appreciation appeared; in the Song dynasty stone appreciation became part of the scholar's studio pastimes, becoming a relatively independent art category, with monographs on stone appreciation and standards of connoisseurship, and the story of Mi Fu bowing to a rock recorded in the official histories; in the Ming and Qing dynasties imperial and private gardens were built in large numbers, and the placing of stones in gardens and the display of stones in halls and rooms were widely applied — as when the Palace Museum used "meat stones" to evoke the scenery of the north; during the period from 1912 to 1949 the art underwent its transition to modernity, its aesthetic concepts and standards of evaluation shifting from the formal appreciation of "thinness, wrinkledness, openness and perforation" to the natural elements of "form, substance, colour and pattern", while the objects of appreciation also expanded from natural rock to mineral crystals, fossils and the like; after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and especially since the reform and opening up, the art of stone appreciation has moved from elite connoisseurship into the lives of the general public.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The art of stone appreciation is an artistic mode that fuses natural beauty with artistic beauty. It takes natural ornamental stones as its objects of aesthetic appreciation; through discovering and conceiving the artistic images formed by the stones' shapes, textures, colours and material qualities, it endows them with aesthetic flavour and humanistic content. From public spaces to halls, rooms and tables, a fitting atmosphere is created; the stone is summed up by a title (mingti), with poetry, prose, calligraphy and painting to expound its artistic conception, realising the aesthetic pursuit of "heaven creates the marvellous stone, and man bestows the subtle meaning". In ancient times it was concentrated mainly in the Central Plains, Guanzhong, Jiangnan, and the eastern and southern coastal regions; in contemporary times there are stone-appreciation enthusiasts throughout the country. Its development has been rich and marked by clear stages. The project embodies rich philosophical thought: its concept of nature-made perfection is a vivid reflection of such traditional philosophical ideas as the unity of heaven and humanity and the Dao following nature; the stone's special closeness to the realm of Chan accords with Buddhist enlightenment; comparing stones to virtue and "the benevolent delight in mountains" belong to the Confucian manner; and "the great uncarved block" and "the image beyond the image" are expressions of Daoist thought. From their discovery to their becoming an elegant form of stone appreciation, ornamental stones embody in concentrated fashion the ancient ideas of taking nature as one's teacher and the unity of heaven and humanity. It shines in reflection with China's traditional arts of calligraphy and painting, potted landscapes, gardens, architecture, scholarly ornaments and arts and crafts, jointly displaying the aesthetic concepts and humanistic pursuits of Chinese traditional culture, and possesses socio-cultural value that cannot be underestimated.
From four ideals to four elements
The modern turn replaced the four ideals of leanness, wrinkling, hollowness and transparency with form, texture, colour and pattern, widening the field to crystals and fossils.
Mi Fu and the Song treatises
In the Song, stones joined brush painting and incense as scholar's objects, with treatises, criteria and the recorded story of Mi Fu bowing to a rock.
Imperial stones at the Forbidden City
Ming and Qing gardens set stone everywhere — meaty northern stones in the Forbidden City, Taihu rocks in the Suzhou gardens — as the bones of the whole design.
The 2005 appraisal standard
The association's 2005 standard added meaning, naming, mounting and provenance to the criteria, turning a natural object into a carrier of culture.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In ancient times the art of stone appreciation was concentrated mainly in the Central Plains, Guanzhong, Jiangnan, and the eastern and southern coastal regions; in contemporary times there are stone-appreciation enthusiasts throughout the country. Its development has been rich and marked by clear stages: it originated with gardens in the Qin and Han dynasties, gradually rose in the Wei and Jin, saw the appearance of criteria of appreciation in the Tang dynasty, became part of the scholar's studio pastimes in the Song dynasty with monographs and standards, and was placed in large numbers in imperial and private gardens in the Ming and Qing dynasties; between 1912 and 1949 it turned towards modernity, its aesthetics shifting from "thinness, wrinkledness, openness and perforation" to "form, substance, colour and pattern"; and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially since the reform and opening up, it has moved into the lives of the general public.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In the course of transmission from generation to generation, the spread of the art of stone appreciation has constantly expanded. In 2005 the China Ornamental Stone Association was founded and the Standards for the Appraisal and Evaluation of Ornamental Stones were established; humanistic elements such as "flavour and resonance, titling, base-matching and transmission" were added to the aesthetic standards of stone appreciation, promoting the transmission and development of the art. Through the progressive aesthetic experience of "observing, appreciating and comprehending", the art bestows a humanistic realm upon natural objects; this is the cultural value of the art of stone appreciation.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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