Flowers and Trees in Splendor, Jade and Stone in Wonder (Part 2)
Section 2: Natural Wonder Stones, National Treasures — A Pure Natural Beijing Olympics Emblem Wonder Stone: the "Beijing 2008" Stone. Zhou Shining, vice president of the South Great Wall Painting and Calligraphy Academy of the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture and a wonder stone collector, acquired a complete set of Olympic wonder stones shaped like the characters "Beijing 2008," the result of six years of painstaking searching.
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section II
Natural Marvelous Stones, National Treasures and Mountain Delicacies
A Purely Natural Beijing Olympic Games Emblem Marvelous Stone—the "Beijing 2008" Marvelous Stone Masterpiece
Zhou Shining, vice president of the South Great Wall Calligraphy and Painting Academy of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture and a marvelous stone collecting enthusiast, collected a complete set of Olympic marvelous stone masterpieces shaped like the words "Beijing 2008." This was the result of six years of arduous searching. The complete set consists of one Wuling stone 12 centimeters wide and 15 centimeters high and six small pebbles, respectively forming the Beijing Olympic "Chinese Seal" pattern and the "Beijing 2008" pattern. The pattern inside the Wuling stone looks very much like an athlete running with a torch held high to pass on the Olympic sacred flame, vivid and lifelike. The six pebbles are, in order, the Chinese characters "Beijing" and the characters "2008"; combined, they form a complete marvelous-stone version of the Beijing Olympic Games emblem, even better than a carving. It is currently the most complete purely natural Beijing Olympic Games emblem marvelous stone discovered.
Chairman Mao Image Marvelous Stone—Natural Youshui Marvelous Stone
On December 25, 2008, Li Yunbin, a 61-year-old Miao artist and member of the Association of Old Science and Technology Workers of Longshan County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province, introduced to visitors in his studio in Longshan County a pair of natural Youshui marvelous stones in his collection that reproduce the bearing and spirit of the great man Mao Zedong, in welcome of the 115th anniversary of Chairman Mao's birth. This pair of natural marvelous stones was discovered and collected by Li Yunbin from the Youshui River flowing through the border area of Hunan, Hubei, and Chongqing. Of this pair of natural Youshui marvelous stones, one stone closely resembles Mao Zedong's head, and the other is very similar to a full-body image of Mao Zedong wearing a windbreaker.
The Peculiar Zijiang Agate Stone—Colorful Wax Stone
Because the Zijiang River passes through the Xuefeng Mountains for 127 kilometers in the Anhua section, this section of the Zijiang has many rapids and rushing water, and even the hardest stones are rolled smooth and round by the river water there. Anhua Zijiang colorful wax stone, produced in the area from Anhua county seat to Jiangnan Town, is hard in stone quality (hardness above seven on the Mohs scale), fine and smooth, and highly jade-like. Its colors are brilliant, often with red, yellow, white, black, and purple intermingled; red is dazzling, white is translucent, yellow is auspicious, purple is elegant, and black becomes jet-black. Colorful and dazzling, it is therefore called by some "Zijiang agate." Its shapes are diverse, including human figures and animal shapes, and its patterns and images are rich, including characters, animals, plants, landscapes, and more.
The World's Rare "Auspicious Stone"—Tillite
Tillite in Anhua, Hunan, was formed by drastic climate change. Testing has confirmed that it is a rare tillite in the world. At present, apart from a small area of tillite in the Republic of South Africa, the large-area tillite preserved within Anhua's territory is truly a world geological wonder, and its rock layer depth, scale, and quality are all "the world's best." Tillite is divided by its different strata into four major categories: "lateral moraine," "medial moraine," "ground moraine," and "terminal moraine," and by color into several types such as black, brown, gray, brown, and red. Tillite is called "longevity stone," "wealth-gathering stone," and "auspicious stone" by the local people of Anhua, and has quietly become a wonderful ornamental stone pursued by stone enthusiasts.
The First Wonder of Wuling—Guzhang Red Stone Forest
The Red Stone Forest is located in "Furong Town," Guzhang County. It is currently the world's only red carbonate rock forest scenic area formed in the Cambrian period, and was approved as a national geological park in 2005. In the eastern part of the stone forest stands a stone pillar 12.26 meters high, towering and upright, whose appearance closely resembles a statue of a leader. Magically, from another angle, it also closely resembles Confucius standing by a river, expressing the lament that "thus do all things pass away." The two tall stone pillars on the other side look just like a heroic woman martyr calmly going to her death and a picture of Qu Yuan chanting as he walked, inspiring deep respect. Therefore, people gave the red stone forest here a resounding and pleasant alternative name—Giant Garden. There are also underground karst caves, cliff-top sinkholes, thousand-year-old ancient trees, and more. The entire scenic area combines red, beautiful, steep, strange, superb, and ancient qualities in one, and can be called "the first wonder of Wuling."
Hunan's Most Unique Marvelous Stone Banquet—Zhuzhou's "Stone Banquet"
In June 2009, Mr. Xiao of Zhuzhou, Hunan, presented guests with a wonderful "stone banquet" using stones from his collection, including such "famous dishes" as "steamed pork with preserved mustard greens," "kung pao chicken," and "steamed crab," leaving the guests dumbfounded and amazed. Master Xiao has been collecting marvelous stones for more than ten years, and the number has reached several thousand. The marvelous stones mainly come from Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu, Hunan, Sichuan, and other places.
Hunan's Famous Stone with the Best Stone Quality—Colorful Siliceous Jade Stone
Colorful siliceous jade stone is a brand-name famous stone with the best stone quality and diverse colors among the many known stone types in Hunan. It is produced in the Chongling River of Leiyang City. Its stone quality is completely jade-like, with excellent water-worn smoothness and luster, and it is rare in quantity, mainly in small and medium sizes. It is an ornamental marvelous stone for home collection. After inspection by the local geology and mineral resources bureau and the Jinlong Jade Factory stationed in Leiyang from Hong Kong, its stone quality was formed at the end of the Cambrian period 800 million years ago, composed of deposits from volcanic eruptions of siliceous rock, siliceous limestone, siliceous magma, and the like. Because colorful siliceous jade stone has all of shape, quality, color, and pattern, it is deeply loved by stone enthusiasts and collectors, and masterpieces from it often win gold and silver at national and international marvelous stone expos held across the country.
A Highly Ornamental Marvelous Stone—Leiyang Bicai Stone
Leiyang Bicai stone is produced within a range of about 2 kilometers in the middle section of the Leiyang River in Leiyang City, Hunan Province. The stone is fine, warm, and moist in quality, tightly structured, with a Mohs hardness between 5 and 6. It mostly appears in bright red, deep red, date red, peach red, orange red, earth yellow, golden yellow, greenish yellow, old yellow, jet-black gold, and other colors. The colors form blocks or dotted stripes, with clear changes and natural transitional colors, very bright and eye-catching. In the middle of the stone there are quartz patterns, yellow wax patterns, and jet-gold patterns. The surface is smooth, and the stone texture is highly tactile. Leiyang Bicai stone is Ordovician igneous rock and belongs to cryptocrystalline siliceous rock. Very few come out of the water. Because it contains minerals such as iron oxide, hematite-manganese, ferrous and ferric iron, and mercuric sulfide, its colors are mainly red and yellow. After natural water washing and sand grinding, its surface is smooth and bright, highly ornamental.
Mangshan Natural Sculpture—General Stone
On the left side of the Guizizhai Waterfall in Mangshan National Forest Park is a huge stone peak about one hundred meters high. On the left side of the general rises a square huge stone, just like a general's shield, hence the name General's Stone Shield. On the right is a towering ancient pine, like a general carrying a large halberd on his arm, and also like a golden whip for urging a horse. Above and below the stone peak, vigorous ancient pines dot the scene, vividly like the tassels on a general's battle robe, and also like patches of green light flashing on armor. The entire General Stone looks like a great man standing firm between heaven and earth, full of awe-inspiring righteousness, like a guardian deity ensuring that the great waterfall is sacred and inviolable, and also like a pair of bright eyes looking up and gazing at the Waiting-for-Husband Rock standing in the air on the opposite dangerous cliff top.
Natural Handicrafts Created by Nature—Hongjiang Marvelous Stones
Hongjiang is located at the foot of the Xuefeng Mountains in southwestern Hunan. There are many varieties of Hongjiang stones, mainly colorful egg stones, yellow wax stones, black jade gold-pattern stones, and green egg stones. The stone shapes are mainly egg-shaped, with cake-shaped, long, tongue-shaped, and others as well. Output is relatively large. Those with white glazed lines are considered top grade. Wax stones, ink stones (also called "gold-pattern stones"), colorful siliceous jade stones, and water-ripple stones generally have more black lines, forming wheels, arcs, circles, or various patterns. Those with pits and holes are also top grade. Colorful siliceous jade stones are brilliantly colored and can rival jade and agate. Their colors include pale yellow, violet, purple-red, pale red, milky white, sky blue, Tibetan blue, and the best grade includes chicken-blood red. The surface has fingernail patterns, coin patterns, and plum blossom patterns, giving a feeling of pearl luster and noble elegance. Some people use them to carve craft playthings, and polishing can reach one hundred percent. Hongjiang marvelous stones are natural handicrafts created by nature. With many stone types, abundant sources, and considerable distinctive features and collectible value, they are a brilliant wonderful flower in the marvelous stone world.
One of China's Four Famous Stones—Liuyang "Chrysanthemum Stone"
Liuyang, Hunan, is the earliest place where chrysanthemum stone was discovered. In the fifth year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1740 AD), villagers of Yonghe Town in Liuyang occasionally saw chrysanthemum stone at the bottom of the water while building the Furong River embankment, and then quarried the stone to make inkstones. It became a rare item, and its fame rose rapidly, gradually becoming a tribute of the Qing court. Chrysanthemum stone is also called stone chrysanthemum. There are two ways it forms. One is in Permian limestone more than 200 million years ago, as fossil specimens formed by a low-level algal organism in ancient oceans. The other is formed by mineral crystallization, with the flower center and petals composed of celestite or calcite, appearing blue-gray, containing naturally formed white chrysanthemum-shaped crystals inside. The flower center is granular crystal, and the petals are columnar crystals, distributed in three-dimensional radial form centered on the flower center. The chrysanthemum stone produced in Daxi River of Liuyang, Hunan, is the most famous, and together with Fujian Shoushan stone, Zhejiang Qingtian stone, and Sichuan Guangyuan stone, it is one of China's four famous stones.
Hunan's Mineral "National Treasure"—Linwu "Xianghua Stone"
Xianghua stone discovered in the Xianghualing mining area of Linwu County has a unique structure and is a mineral unique in the world, with extremely high scientific research value, and is praised as a mineral "national treasure." It was first discovered in 1958 by Professor Meng Xianmin of the Mineral Materials Research Institute of the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources and named Xianghua stone. It exists only within a surface layer range of about 200 square meters in Xianghualing, occurs in the contact zone between granite and limestone, and is distributed in biotite veins of white striped rock containing beryllium, coexisting with fluorite, potassium beryllium stone, beryllium magnesium crystal, cassiterite, scheelite, and others. Xianghua stone has scarce reserves and unique morphology, with extremely high scientific research value and collectible value. The mineral has a complex origin, and its associated nonferrous and rare metal elements include tungsten, tin, zinc, lithium, and others. It belongs to the isometric crystal system.