Chinese Stones

Stephen Little, the curator of Chinese art at LACMA, spoke at Jill Finsten’s Art Talks on Thursday (3/5/15) about the Chinese veneration of stones, giving us more insight about the Chinese stone that guards our front door, which we really should name.

This respect for stones arises from Daoism, which has a creation myth that goes something like this: In the beginning there is Nothing. Qi (pronounced “chee”) is Energy that inhabits this void. (All matter is made up of energy, the Chinese believed, predating Einstein.) Yin and Yang are the two opposite forces that cause the Qi to move in regular patterns, which then accounts for the world as we know it. Everything is made of Energy, and everything reflects Yin and Yang. Our world is made of Five Elements: water and metal are Yin (female); wood and fire are Yang (male); earth, the fifth element, is neutral. In this conception, stones are made of Qi that is left over from the earth’s creation.

The Chinese have two names for the stones they collect and revere: Scholar’s stones, because they were collected by scholars; and Strange stones, because the more unusual, the more prized.
There are two main reasons the Chinese prize stones:
1. They embody pure energy;
2. They remind Chinese of the 5 Sacred Mountains (which represent the 5 Directions and are places to find Immortals as well as herbs, mushrooms and minerals).

References to Stones are found in Chinese poetry from the Tang Dynasty, and by the late 11th, early 12th century there is a book on how to be a connoisseur of stones.
The most collected stones are made of limestone, laid down in sediments but then subjected to volcanic forces and finally left to erode.
The two most famous stone types are Taihu and Lingbi.
Taihu (Great Lake) stones are dredged from the lake bottom. If they have a strange shape – the stranger the better – they are sent to market. If the stone is not great, a sculptor is engaged to “fix” it, after which it is put back in the lake for ten years to wear down the sculptor’s chisel marks before it is marketable. The 12th century catalogue (Cloudy Forest…) tells of barges taking divers to the middle of the lake to search for stones. As a result, Lake Tai was depleted of its stones centuries ago. You can still find stones that date from past centuries, but you can also find “fakes” – stones that are new and from another source that are passed off as Taihu.

Lingbi means numinous cliff: ‘bi’=cliff; ‘ling’=imbued with divine spirit.
These stones come from Anhui Province and are mined from caves, where they are found 5-10 yards underground. They are usually black or dark grey and very dense.
The two characteristics of Lingbi stones:
1. covered with fine white, chalky veins*;
2. ring like a bell when tapped.
Lingbi are the most prized by collectors.
*Chinese believe that dragon veins carry energy through mountains. This becomes a characteristic of Chinese landscape painting. Landscapes with mountains can look very similar; how the artist paints the lines that run through the mountain energizes the work.

Dr. Little also briefly discussed Dream Stones, the small slabs of marble that the literati kept in frames on their desk or wall. Marble is rare in China, coming mainly from Yunan, near Burma (and one other region). When sliced thin, this marble would reveal black streaks, which could suggest a landscape of mountains.

Why do Chinese position their stones with the heavy end on top? Little offered two explanations: to suggest a stone’s weightlessness, its energy that makes it soar. Also, this contributes to the unexpected, “strange” nature of the stone and can suggest fire or clouds.
He did not have an answer to the question, what makes the Lingbi stone ring. He almost mentioned that stones can choose their own collectors, and that it is a good karma that brings the right collector together with the right stone.

N.B. Information I seem to remember from docent days in Minneapolis is slightly different on a few points. I was told that the stone was placed with the heavy end up as an illustration of the perfect balance or harmony in nature, a Daoist precept. By making it appear that this odd-shaped object could rest on a small end (although in reality they were cemented in place), you were reminded of the balance between Yin and Yang, much like the familiar yin-yang symbol.
I also remember that the Taihu rocks were placed underwater far longer than 10 years; in fact, sometimes for generations. They were, in effect, a savings account for your grandchildren. To me, this makes more sense, as 10 years seems a short time to cause sufficient erosion, and we know the Chinese have a long time horizon.