Calico (Wucai) Lingbi Stone

Calico (Wucai) Lingbi stones are taken from Duguhui Mountain in Lingbi County. They display brown as a basic color, alternating with red, white, black, crimson, or other colors (wucai means literally “five colors”), although some stones feature only a single one of these several colors. These stones have fewer holes and can take more unusual shapes compared with ordinary Lingbi stones. Lingbi and its surrounding abound in grotesque stones. Apart from the above mentioned varieties, there are also Lingbi sedimentary stone shale and Hongwanluo stones.

Meng Stones

Place of origin:
He Shan of Guangxi Province

Mineral composition:
Limestone (calcite)

Quarried from He Shan, a mountain in Guangxi Province, Meng stones were shaped by water erosion. Due to the earth’s movement, the riverbed in which they were formed became dry land; the black stones were exposed to the air and underwent oxidization and efflorescence. Meng stones in their natural state are dark gray with myriad wavelike surface wrinkles. When the oxidized layer of the original stone is abraded away, they become scholars’ rocks we see today, with smooth and lustrous surfaces, a variety of shapes, and producing a sound when tapped. Since the stones are quite hard, further reshaping is difficult even after the oxidized layer is removed.

Although local He Shan residents may not be familiar with the works of Picasso or Henry Moore, they are aware that the mineral composition of Meng stones is similar to modern sculptural materials; as well, the dark color, hardness, and musical pitch of the stones impart a sense of modernity. Polished Meng stones in water resemble black pearls, and are so called by area residents; when removed from the water and exposed to the air for some time they will return to the original color of gray.

Three Gorges Stones

Place of origin:
The area from Yichang to Zhijiang in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River

Mineral composition:
Quartz veins, calcite, silicates

These stones are taken from the riverbed, beaches, mountain peaks, and gorges adjacent to the Yangtze River in the area of the famous Three Gorges. Yichang in Hubei province is particularly rich in these stones. Three Gorges stones are cobbles, some of which are crude and rough, while others are smooth. Common features are their extremely prominent natural veins, refined colors, and diverse forms. The main colors and the Three Gorges stones are black and white and yellow gray, occasionally with peculiar patterns resembling human beings, flying birds, running animals, mountains, clouds, and the sun or moon. Some of the stones are rich in motifs of Chan (meditative Buddhism, Zen in Japanese) while others appear to have Chinese characters naturally inscribed on them.