Scholar's Rocks & Suiseki

Maybe you’ve had the experience of finding an interesting stone on one of your adventures, one that “spoke” to you for some reason. Maybe you brought it home and placed on a table, or a windowsill, where you could admire it from time to time. If so, you have rediscovered the ancient tradition of collecting “viewing stones” — known in China as gongshi, and in Japan as suiseki.

Scholars’ Rocks

People have collected interesting stones since the beginning of time, of course. But it was during The T'ang Dynasty in China (618–907 ce) that stone appreciation really took off. It was a relatively stable and prosperous time, during which a rich court life developed, full of music, poetry and art. T'ang scholars found much inspiration in nature, including the stones called gongshi, also known as "scholar's rocks" or "viewing stones." The most desirable of these were the limestone lingbi and taihu stones, pitted with deep holes by natural erosion. Though marvelous, abstract forms in their own right, some also recall the romantically-rugged, cave-dotted karst* landscapes of South China (especially the Guilin region), so often depicted in Classical Chinese painting.

A classic, taihu-style limestone gongshi (“scholar’s rock”), with hand-carved base.

While large gongshi might be placed in a formal garden, smaller ones were used to create miniature landscape compositions with other stones and small plants (an art form known as penjing, or penzai). The best stones were given fitted wooden bases, often elaborately-carved. Collectors rated gongshi according to strict criteria, such as openness, texture, perforations, asymmetry, and even resonance (when struck like a gong). In addition to the classic limestone gongshi, “stones” of different kinds often made an appearance in a scholar's study, including twisted root burls, shipworm-eaten driftwood, coral, et c. Some were actually manufactured to look like natural stones, using ceramic, bronze or even paste-glass.

A scholar’s rock that isn’t a rock! This example is actually a natural cluster of tube worm shells.

Placed in a scholar’s study or family courtyard, the gongshi was an object of quiet contemplation. Artists often painted portraits of the more remarkable stones, and poets wrote verses about them. Many became quite famous, and were passed down through the generations. The appreciation of gongshi has waxed and waned in China over the centuries, subject to historical disruptions (such as the Proletarian Cultural Revolution of the 1960s). However, there has been a resurgence of interest in scholar's rocks in recent years, both in China and around the world.

Suiseki

The art of suiseki is essentially a Japanese reinterpretation of these Chinese gongshi, introduced to Japan by emissaries from the Chinese Imperial court during the Asuka period (538-710 CE). Initially, it was the penjing (miniature landscapes) that were most popular in Japan, dovetailing nicely with ancient Shinto values celebrating the spiritual aspects of nature and the landscape. By the Kamakura period (1183-1333 CE), a new appreciation of singular stones was developing, influenced by Zen (the Japanese interpretation of Chinese Chan Buddhism). Zen thought centered simplicity of expression, and an acknowledgement of the transience of things, giving rise to the aesthetic ideas of wabi (subdued, austere beauty), and sabi (rustic patina), among others.

The complex limestone forms favored in Chinese gongshi are rare in Japanese suiseki, partly due to these aesthetic concepts, and partly to the different geology of the islands. Suiseki tend to be simpler and more equidimensional than scholar's rocks, collected from eroding mountain slopes (yama ishi) riverbeds (kawa ishi), or the seashore (umi ishi). The definition of what constitutes a proper suiseki has varied dramatically over the centuries. We find the following five categories (developed by contemporary scholar Morimae Seiji) to be useful. Suiseki can be divided into Sansuiseki (landscape stones), Sugataishi (figure stones), Monyoseki (patterned stones), Biseki (beautiful stones), and Chusho-yoseki (abstract stones).

A Monyoseki (patterned stone), featuring an ensō. This simple Japanese character symbolizes enlightenment, the universe, the void – among other things!

Sansuiseki are the stones that most of us think of when we think of suiseki. Their forms suggest mountains, plateaus, waterfalls, islands, rugged coastlines, et c. Sansuiseki are the most popular form of Suiseki, both in Japan and worldwide.

Sugataishi is also very popular. Their forms may suggest the shape of a human, animal, boat, house, et c. (sometimes very subtly). Amusingly, the many American rockhounds who collect food-shaped rocks are collecting sugataishi!.

Monyoseki don’t necessarily have figural forms, but rather display surface patterns suggestive of natural phenomena, such as flowers, grasses or trees; rain, lightning, or snow; the stars, the moon, et c.

Biseki represent a surprising departure from the quiet calm of the wabi-sabi aesthetic, reminding us that bright colors are also beloved in Japan. Biseki may display multiple, contrasting colors, and are often polished to better reveal their bling. Sometimes a natural mineral specimen, such as a crystal cluster, will be mounted as a biseki.

Our favorite form of suiseki are the abstract stones, Chusho-yoseki. It might seem like cheating to designate as a suiseki a stone that doesn’t look like anything in particular! Yet these stones can be some of the most powerful viewing stones of all. Since they don’t reference a specific form, they affect us on a deeper level, asking us to pause and consider their meaning. Chusho-yoseki return to the original idea of the scholar's rock: a mysterious object for quiet contemplation.

A large, abstract suiseki (Chusho-yoseki), collected in Northern California. It sits on a special table called a shoku.

Finally, we should mention bonseki, which is basically a simplified version of the original Chinese penjing landscape. In this art form, multiple landscape stones (sansuiseki) are used to create a miniature landscape, arranged in a tray of sand or water. Bonsai plantings also often incorporate interesting stones of course, but the main focus is almost always on the tree or plant.

Like readymades (see our post on this subject), suiseki are found objects, elevated to the level of art by fiat. It helps to a nice pedestal, which in this case is the dai. A dai carved to fit the irregular base on an individual suiseki is a daiza (Chinese scholars rocks are traditionally displayed in this fashion as well). Other stones may be set in tray or bowl of ceramic (suiban) or bronze (doban), where they “float” in either water or sand. Any of these may be placed on a shoku, a small wooden table made especially for such displays. In the traditional Japanese home, suiseki and other special objects of artistic might be displayed in the tokonoma (or toko) a recessed alcove made expressly for this purpose.

A tokonoma, a recessed alcove made for displaying significant objects. Note the natural wood element, which is typical. This example is actually in Denmark!

*“Karst” refers to landscapes in which limestone or marble bedrock has been eroded by rain- and ground water (which is slightly acidic), creating fantastical landscapes of tall pillars, deep crevasses, and caves. Gongshi are the eroded remnants of limestone bedrock, left isolated in the soil. Their geometry reiterates the larger landscape around them; the deep perforations recalling the caves in a limestone cliff, for example. Such forms can be seen as an example of fractal symmetry in nature, scaling from large to small, while retaining the same basic geometry. Suiseki benefit from the same effect. A basalt plateau in the desert can be reiterated in miniature by a slab of basalt in a tray of sand (all you have to do is squint a little).