Chinese term for shaped rocks (natural or artistic)
Gongshi (Chinese: 供石), also known as scholar's rocks or viewing stones, are naturally occurring or shaped rocks which are traditionally appreciated by Chinese scholars.[1] The term is related to the Korean suseok (수석) and the Japanese suiseki (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.[2] The term also identifies stones which are placed in traditional Chinese gardens.
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).[1]
Gongshi influenced the development of Korean suseok and Japanese suiseki.[3]
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.[12]
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.
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, ISBN0-86559-173-3