Gongshi
{{short description|Chinese shaped rocks (natural or artistic)}}
{{distinguish|text=the policy from the Tang dynasty, Gong Shi}}
{{Italic title|reason=:Category:Chinese words and phrases}}
File:Chinese scholar's rock - Gongshi.jpg, Shanghai]]
Gongshi ({{zh|s=供石}}), also known as scholar's rocks or viewing stones, are naturally occurring or shaped rocks which are traditionally appreciated by Chinese scholars.Metropolitan Museum of Art, [http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2000/world-of-scholars "The World of Scholars' Rocks Gardens, Studios, and Paintings"]; retrieved 2012-12-20. The term is related to the Korean suseok ({{lang|ko|수석}}) and the Japanese suiseki ({{lang|ja|水石}}).
Scholars' rocks can be any color, and contrasting colors are not uncommon. The size of the stone can also be quite varied: scholars' rocks can weigh hundreds of pounds or less than one pound.Harvard Shanghai Center, [http://www.spirit-stones.com/2010/11/26/harvard-shanghai-centers-scholar-stone/ "Scholar Stone"]; retrieved 2012-12-20. The term also identifies stones which are placed in traditional Chinese gardens.
History
In the Tang dynasty, a set of four important qualities for the rocks were recognized. They are: thinness (瘦 shòu), openness (透 tòu), perforations (漏 lòu), and wrinkling (皺 zhòu).
Gongshi influenced the development of Korean suseok and Japanese suiseki.Brokaw, Charles. (2011). [https://books.google.com/books?id=T51TNiU9460C&pg=PA73&dq= The Temple Mount Code, p. 73].
Sources
File:Gelehrtenstein Museum Rietberg RCH 167.jpg
There are three main Chinese sources for these stones.
- Lingbi stone (Lingbishi) (Chinese: 灵璧石) from Lingbi, Anhui province, limestoneCousins, Craig. (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=7w-arIGpmfEC&pg=PA246&dq= Bonsai Master Class, p. 246].[http://www.lingbistone.org/ Lingbi Stone and Asian Art Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125160212/http://lingbistone.org/ |date=2019-01-25 }}. (2014)
- Taihu stone (Taihushi) (Chinese: 太湖石) from Lake Tai, Jiangsu province, limestone
- Yingde stone (Yingshi or Yingdeshi) (Chinese: 英石 or 英德石) from Yingde, Guangdong province, limestoneCousins, [https://books.google.com/books?id=7w-arIGpmfEC&pg=PA247&dq= p. 247].
The geological conditions needed for the formation of stones are also present at some other sites.{{Cite journal|url=https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70020774|doi=10.1006/qres.1998.1987|title=Numerical Ages of Holocene Tributary Debris Fans Inferred from Dissolution Pitting on Carbonate Boulders in the Grand Canyon of Arizona|year=1998|last1=Hereford|first1=Richard|last2=Thompson|first2=Kathryn S.|last3=Burke|first3=Kelly J.|journal=Quaternary Research|volume=50|issue=2|pages=139–147|bibcode=1998QuRes..50..139H}}{{cite web| url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261680877_Underwater_dissolutional_pitting_on_dolostones_Lake_Huron-Georgian_bay_Ontario| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170910040756/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261680877_Underwater_dissolutional_pitting_on_dolostones_Lake_Huron-Georgian_bay_Ontario| archive-date = 2017-09-10| title = Underwater dissolutional pitting on dolostones, Lake Huron-Georgian bay, Ontario}}
Formation
Scholar's stones are generally karstic limestone. Limestone is water-soluble under some conditions.{{Citation |last=National Park Service |title=CAVE GEOLOGY: Dissolution and decoration |url=https://www.nps.gov/cave/planyourvisit/upload/cave_geology.pdf |work=Carlsbad Caverns |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123160511/https://www.nps.gov/cave/planyourvisit/upload/cave_geology.pdf |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |archive-date=2023-01-23}} Dissolution pitting dissolves hollows in the limestone. On a larger scale, this causes speleogenesis (when caves dissolve in limestone bedrock). On a still larger scale, the dissolved caves collapse, gradually creating karst topography, such as the famous landscapes of Guilin in the South China Karst.
As rocks are broadly fractal (geology journals require a scale to be included in images of rocks), the small rocks can resemble the larger landscape.
Aesthetics
File:Songhuizong6.jpg painted Auspicious Dragon Rock (祥龍石圖), depicting a water-eroded Taihu rock that was likened to a dragon]]
The aesthetics of a scholar's rock is based on subtleties of color, shape, markings, surface, and sound. Prized qualities include:
- awkward or overhanging asymmetryMendelson, John. [http://www.artnet.com/magazine_pre2000/features/mendelsohn/mendelsohn8-26-96.asp "Chinese scholars' rocks simultaneously original and simulacrum" at ArtNet.com], 1996; retrieved 2012-12-20>
- resonance or ringing when struck
- representation or resemblance to mountainous landscapes, particularly these believed to be inhabited by immortal beings or figures {{cite news | last = Smith | first = Roberta | title = ART REVIEW;Old Chinese Rocks: Rorschach Blots In 3 Dimensions | work = New York Times | access-date = 2014-07-10 | date = 1996-05-31 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/31/arts/art-review-old-chinese-rocks-rorschach-blots-in-3-dimensions.html}}
- texture
- moistness or glossy surface
The stone may be displayed on a rosewood pedestal that has been carved specifically for the stone. The stones are a traditional subject of Chinese paintings.Harvard Museums, [http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/78047 "Scholar's rock", 1993 painting]; Linrothe, Robert N. (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=tJpRtgkYEKkC&pg=PA24&dq= Paradise and Plumage: Chinese Connections in Tibetan Arhat Painting, p. 24]; retrieved 2012-12-20.
Gallery
File:太湖賞石-Rock in the form of a fantastic mountain MET DT208239.jpg|Taihu limestone
File:山形靈璧石-Rock in the Form of a Fantastic Mountain MET L37147 2011 575 3ab.jpg|Black Lingbi limestone
File:靈璧賞石-Rock in the form of a fantastic mountain MET DP350726.jpg|Gray Lingbi limestone
File:靈璧賞石-Rock in the form of a fantastic mountain MET DT208238.jpg|Black Lingbi limestone
File:Taihu rock, China, Qing dynasty, limestone with hongmu wood base - Princeton University Art Museum - DSC07081.jpg|Taihu limestone
File:Guo Xu album dated 1503 (9).jpg|In 1503, Guo Xu painted Mi Fu Bowing to a Rock. The 11th-century calligrapher Mi Fu, often regarded as eccentric, believed that some of these rocks had their own souls and would pay them his respects by bowing.
See also
- {{annotated link|Geode}}
- {{annotated link|Penjing}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- 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|0-86559-173-3}}
External links
{{Commons category-inline|Scholar's rocks}}
- [http://www.spirit-stones.com/category/types-of-scholars-rocks/ Visuals and examples of scholar rocks]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080601175740/http://www.spirit-stones.com/gallery/ Galleries of scholar rocks]
- [http://www.spirit-stones.com/category/books-on-scholars-rocks/ Books on scholars' rocks]
- [http://shimagata.tripod.com/srhist.htm Chinese scholar's rock history, an introductory historical background]
- [http://shimagata.tripod.com/srclass.htm Classification of Chinese scholar's rocks]
- [http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/60050828 Scholar's rock at Metropolitan Museum of Art]
Category:Outdoor sculptures in China