Stacked Mountains, Stone, Stone

Chinese classical garden is a sophisticated form of fine art. It consists of architecture; landscapes composed of artificial mountains and rocks as well as ponds and streams, and selected variation of flowers and trees. The rock, as an integral element of Chinese classical gardens, is the artwork by both nature and human artistry, and plays the essential role of coordinating all the other elements in garden designing.Over the past thousand years, Chinese have always been profoundly attached to the rock and fascinated by its beauty as an art object. Rocks are either prized by scholars and poets as pleasurable collectables, or staged in gardens as decorative ornaments. These rocks, therefore, were noted by painters and became subjects of their paintings, either as an expression of their sentiments or simply an artistic pastime. It is fair to say that such paintings unveiled the charm of rocks. The thesis is attempted to first explore and analyze the rocks as depicted by historic Chinese painters. And then with reference to her own paintings, the author will provide some fresh insights into the significance of the rock as a symbol of traditional culture in today's artistic world.