Odd rocks revealed
(View from ornamental gardens, Suzhou: in the foreground, an oddly shaped rock, in the background, more cranes and construction)
I was sent a link by Ying’s dad to give me a better idea of the odd shaped rock business. By Chinese standards, a large rock has interest and beauty if it has at least three traits:
It is skinny and tall – a tall rock is elegant and striking, it often seems to form a centre-point to a garden. In Suzhou, they are arranged along the central reservation of one of the main roads, I suppose where one would also find trees or flowers as decoration.
Contains many holes – if the rock has many holes eroded by tides or water, then it is more attractive. Often incense is burned in one of the crevasses, and the resulting smoke threads out of the other holes.
Wrinkly! This is a direct translation so I think it basically means uneven, undulating and dynamic.
From what I’ve seen here, a pale grey or white rock is favoured too, I don’t know if that’s the regional natural stone or if there’s another reason. There you go – a (very rough) guide to big Chinese rocks! Furthermore, if I find the funny shaped rock shop again, I will certainly take a photo to let you see many rocks together!
