A BLACK 'LINGBI' ROCK SONG DYNASTY

Lingbi stones are found at Mt. Panshi, Lingbi county, Anwei province.  The black stones are the most prized.  In Dongtian qinglu (Pure Record of a Daoist Cave), Zhao Xigu of the Song dynasty wrote, "Lingbi stones are located not on the mountains or valleys but deep within the earth.  They can be found only by excavating.  Their colour is like black lacquer, and they may be laced with thin, white veins like jade."¹

In Yuyanggong shi pu (Yuyanggong's Stone Catalog), Yuyanggong (a sobriquet) of the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) wrote, "At the beginning of the Dade reign period, the Office of the Relief Storehouses sold off miscellaneous items, among which was a Lingbi stone in the shape of a small mountain peak.  This stone was only six cun long and half as tall.  It is exquisitely wrought and beautifully smooth, having waves, channels, folds, and a walnut pattern. Near the peak is round white stone that is translucent like jade. On the side Emperor Huizong wrote an inscription of eight characters: 'The mountain is high, and the moon is small. When the water recedes, the rocks appear.' With hardly any traces of carving, this stone is truly a curio." 
 
Traditionally scholars collected two types or scholar's rocks for their stuides: vertical peaks and horizontal mountain ranges.  The present piece, Xuanzhi Xiu, has both these features.  Hence, one can appreciate from different perspectives this stone so exquisitely wrought on all sides that it outdoes nature.  It twists in all directions, its ruts and paths connect through the holes and hook up around the corners, and its peaks, ridges and tunnels are a convoluted maze, hence giving rise to its name, Magical Black Fungus.  In texture and colour, the stone is like black lacquer, and is lustrous like grease.   

When struck, it produces a clear sound pleasing to the ear and resembling the sound of chime stones (qing). The stone's surface has ripples, channels, and folds. The walnut-shell pattern is especially pronounced. This piece thus perfectly fits the description in the Song-dynasty literature. This shows that the stone is truly worthy of appreciation and allows us to classify the stone as one of the finest examples of Song-dynasty Lingbi stones.

Morever, the present piece is important for its long provenance.  There are three places where there are inscriptions on the rock. 

The inscriptions can be translated: 
Then there was an unusual stone, collected from Lingbi.
Though not gold, it is solid; compared to jade, its surface is uneven.
The sound is harmonious like musical notes; the colour is better than that of red lacquer.
The mountain rises high above the eves; the clouds flow across the sky.
The fifth year in the sixty-year cycle, Yuanyou reign, (corresponding to 1088), sincerely commended by Mi Fu

The treasure will add to any study.
Yu Ji is exceedingly happy to have acquired this rare treasure.

This table mountain reverently viewed by Wen Zhengming, his sons, Peng and Jia, attending.

Connoisseurs of scholar's rocks throughout the ages have boiled down their criteria for evaluating stones into twelve terms: thin, wrinkled, porous, permeable, clear, ugly, obtuse, clumsy, teal, powerful, beautiful, deep. Stones that have half of these features are considered rare and superior. A stone that has all twelve features, such as the present Xuanzhi Xiu, is considered a marvelous specimen, a piece without equal. Yet when a stone has been handed down over several centuries, has gone through wars and natural disasters, and has changed owners many times, the body of the stone naturally bears damage and scars, as well as indications of repair and polishing that is difficult to discern. In Yunlin shi pu (Yunlin Catalog of Stones), Du Wan of the Song dynasty wrote that Lingbi stones sometimes "require the ax and the chisel to repair and polish in order to perfect their beauty." Xuanzhi Xiu is no exception to this rule. However, repairs are carried out only to make the stone more beautiful; to a large extent, the natural beauty is preserved. In polishing too, it is not permissible to leave fine marks. The idea is to improve the stone's aesthetic appearance by making the stone appear natural even if made by man. This approach had its origin in the reverence that people of the Song dynasty had for nature.

Mi Fu (1051-1107), zi Yuanzhang, was a native of Taiyuan.  Mi was appointed erudite of the Calligraphy and Painting school under Emperor Huizong.  He was a talented painter, poet and calligrapher, and was considered one of the four great calligraphers of the Song dynasty, together with Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Cai Xiang.  He created his own painting school (or style) and was an expert art critic. His landscape paintings took their inspiration from the works of Dong Yuan (d. ca. 962), the great landscape painter of the Southern Tang dynasty. Natural, exposed, and odd, they depict pines, stones, and withered wood. They were refreshing for their time.

Mi was also an avid collector of scholar's rocks.  His first encounted with scholar's rocks was during his first official appointment at Lingbi, Anhui, when he came upon a large, ugly stone. Mi was delighted with this find and moved it to his government office.  Dressed in official cap and gown, he reverently addressed the stone as "elder brother."  Since then he was known as "Madman Mi."

Yu Ji (1272-1348), zi Bosheng, came from a distinguished family of scholar-officials and served himself in various official capacities during the Wenzong reign of the Yuan dynasty.  He was an academician in the Hall of Literature, and was also responsible for tuturing the Emperor Wenzong.  He is renowned for his calligraphy, and was considered the best of his time for writing clerical script.  Yu Ji's inscription on the present rock reveals that the piece was passed into his possession for a period of time. 

Wen Zhengming (1470-1559), zi Zhengming and Zhengzhong, a native of Suzhou, was considered one of the four great painters of the Ming dynasty, together with Shen Zhou, Tang Bohu and Qiu Ying.  Wen was renowned for his calligraphy and landcape painting, and was also a gifted poet.  His landscape paintings emulated those of Shen Zhou, especially in brushwork, but they are replete with colours, and are superior in this regard.  Wen succeeded Shen Zhou as the leader of the Wu school of painting.  His writing are collected in Futian ji.           

Wen Peng (1498-1573), zi Shoucheng, and Wen Jia (1501-1583), zi Xiucheng, were the first and second sons of Wen Zhengming respectively.  They both followed family tradition and were accomplished in poetry, prose, calligraphy and landscape painting, although neither reached the same level as their father.

Compare a similar black 'lingbi' rock with an inscription dated to 1783, from the collection of Susan and Ian Wilson, illustrated in The Spirit of Gongshi: Chinese Scholar's Rocks, Chicago, 1999, cover. 

1. Yingyin Wenyuange Sikuquanshu (Photographic Reproduction of the Complete Texts of the Four Divisions Held in the Wenyuan Pavilion of the Forbidden City), Taipei, 1983, vol. 871