Scholar's Rock

For millennia, unusual rocks have been popular in China for aesthetic, metaphysical, and symbolic reasons. Beyond the unique beauty of the different types of rocks placed in the gardens or studios of Chinese scholars and officials, such stones were seen as a kind of domesticated or educated form of nature. In the microcosm of a garden, the experience of viewing them was equivalent to seeing a rock formation, or even a mountain, in the wild.

Particularly prized, however, are rocks of this type, top-heavy and punctuated with a network of holes and indentations. The overall shape is reminiscent of Pénglái 蓬萊, one of the legendary Islands of the Immortals, described as a mountain that rises from the Pacific Ocean on a small base. The many holes suggest the magical Daoist cave-heavens (dòngtiān 洞天), a network of caverns and underground tunnels that were believed to connect sacred sites throughout China. By looking at this rock, a scholar could appreciate its distinctive visual qualities, connect with nature, and escape by visualizing these magical spaces.