Stone appreciation is an art that spans many cultures, having a history of almost 2000 years beginning in China. Crafted by the forces of nature, each piece of stone is transformed over the ages into objects of elegance and beauty with strong powers of suggestion.

Beyond the mountain ranges or animal shapes that they resemble, these unique pieces convey serenity and harmony with nature. Though the shapes of the stones do not change, the observer's interpretation of the stone is highly dynamic. This allows the observer to embark on a spiritual and mental journey to a place of inner meditation.

From as early as the Han dynasty (206BC - 220AD), the Chinese have been placing large rocks in their gardens and courtyards to enhance their beauty. The earliest displays, built by the Han emperor Wudi, portrayed the Paradise Mountains in which the immortals lived, known as Penglai Xiandao.

Over the centuries , this form of art evolved to find its place indoors where the stones took a smaller or even miniature form. They are displayed on the desks of scholars as a focus for meditation and intellectual contemplation or as an inspiration for poems and paintings, thereby earning these stones the name of Scholar's Rock in China.


These stones also found its way to the Japanese imperial court between 592 - 628AD. Known as Suiseki or Water Stones, they became popular and gained recognition in Japan, especially during the rise of Zen Buddhism, which emphasizes simplicity, meditation and intuitive insight. These suiseki became a way of achieving this philosophy of spiritual refinement

This art form was also introduced into Korea together with Taoism between 100BC and 1300AD. The Koreans truly appreciated the stones in its most natural form, untouched and unaltered by Man. They called these stones Suseok (stones of longevity). In recent years, the art is also gaining popularity in the Western countries, where the stones are simply known as Viewing Stones.