few natural Ba Yin mountain stones

I just come back from my travell and get few new Ba Yin mountain stones from a freind who came back from the mountain of Ba Yin stone origin last week.





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It look like sinkhole(Doline,Tian Keng) in Chongqi, China


It is Wulong Tian Keng in Chongqi, China




It look like sinkhole(Doline,Tian Keng) in Guangxi, China. Leye Tian Keng



a famous Leye Tian Keng in Guangxi.





It is natural mountain gate near Beijing, China.



I don't know how to use the big stone, so I want to plant a small bonsai in the hole, but I am not good at planting bonsai. If you were me, How can you use the big Tian Keng stone ?

Thanks and regards.

riversoul

Hi Riversoul

It is stunning stones you have....
The last stone I like the best...I would keep it in the shade in the garden, and use it as a  waterstone for the small birds....you can also find out the cost of shipping it to Denmark

Kind regards Yvonne

Thank Yvonne Graubaek. But I really don't know how to use the big stone exactly, I haven't any garden in my house. I would like to give to IBC member as a present if anyone like it, but the stone is big nearly 30 kgs

riversoul

Think the stone is exquisite. And your offer to gift it,very generous.

I was thinking about what our government would do if it shipped to the states. I get a hobby magazine from Japan (Koi) and you can see the envelop has been cut and checked for contents. I've been a member of ZNA for decades, still each month it gets checked.

Those are amazing stones. Love all of them.

Hi Riversoul

The stones are stunning.
in the title you call them Ba Yin...but under the "sinkholestone" do you call them Tian Keng ?, can you explain ?

How are these stone being found?...stones on the soil?

Hope you find time to answer my many questions.

kind regards Yvonne

Hi, Yvonne Graubaek, good question.
Please check my topic "Share some pictures of origin of Ba Yin mountain stone" before, you can see some pictures of the place in the mountain, the few Ba Yin mountain stones are just come from there.
They are real natural Ba Yin mountain stone but not sinkholestone, because the stone look like sinkhole(Tian Keng), so I only call it Tian Keng stone. " just like a nickname, in fact, it is Ba Yin mountain stone. Tian Keng " is Chinese, it is one kind of karst topography, Chinese call it "Tian Keng"(天坑). You can see few pictures of Landscapes above, that is "Tian Keng"(天坑).

Hope you can understand.

regards.

riversoul

Hi Riversoul

I understand...will take one more look at the topic.

Kind regards Yvonne

Hi Riversoul... Among the earliest classical Chinese scholar rocks were yanshan "ink stones" used in natural contour on a scholars' desk for rubbing ink. Typically, they have a waterpool of modest depth that looks like a mountain lake surrounded by peaks. Highest peaks often stand behind the water pool.

Kemin Hu has written several articles about yanshan stones for English readers, & she noted their presence in the Ming Dynasty text Suyuan Shippu (Suyuan Stone Catalogue). Among the most famous (owned by Emperors &/or scholars) from the Ming text were the Cangxue Hall Mountain Inkstone, the Baojin Studio Mountain Inkstone & the Haiyue Temple Mountain Inkstone; and some were quite large. For reference, see of Scholars' Rocks in Ancient China: the Suyuan Stone Catalogue, by Kemin Hu, 2002, pages 16-27.

Kemin has gifted a yanshan stone to the U.S. National Bonsai & Penjing Museum that relates in size to yours (I'll look for a photo).

Hi, Chris Cochrane:
I admire you also konw Chinese inkstone information.
I only learn to know a little about inkstone in China, the four famousest inkstones in China are below:
1. She inkstone(歙砚): produced in She country in An Wei province.
2. Duan inkstone(端砚）:produced in Zhao Qing in Guangdong province.
3. Tao inkstone(洮砚): produced in Lin Tao, Gan Su province.
4. Deng Ni inkstone(澄泥砚): produced in Jiang Zhou, Shanxi province, it is one kind of mud inkstone because its raw material is special mud but not real stone, so it is also call "ceramic inkstone"
In ancient China, people write a word with ink brush but not pen, so inkstone is popular at that time, but now inkstone is only as an artwork in China due to people no long use ink brush to write, even some Chinese children don't know inkstone. But so far many place in China still produce and process beautiful inkstone, some excellent inkstones made by famous master are at very high price in the art markets.
My city also produce one kind of famous inkstone called "Liu inkstone" , I hear that it has a history for more than one thousand years. but we can seldom find it in the market, I don't know why, and I only know little about it.

With regards.

riversoul

Hi Riversoul

How is the stones ben cleaned after you found them?

Kind regards Yvonne

That is an entrancing stone Riversoul. Even with limited knowledge in Bonsai, a tree such as Fujian Tea could be planted in it. The biggest issue, it looks like, would be a high-speed drill to create a drainage hole in the bottom. Perhaps no garden space would be needed. Near a window or under a grow light, it should provide years of inspiration with only a moderation of tree training. Maybe it is also possible to see only moss growing in the bowl of it. The simplicity of that is beauty by itself! Thank you so much for sharing.

David

Hi Riversoul...  I urge you not to cut a hole in the bottom of this stone if it is otherwise natural.  If it has already been cut, then a hole (for planting) would be a reasonable alternative.

I couldn't find a photo of Kemin's gift stone to the U.S. National Bonsai & Penjing Museum except in an article when it as first presented.  At that time, it was described as a landscape view stone depicting a a lake at the base of a mountain.  Many yanshan (natural contour "inkstones" treasured by scholars) have similar appeal as a landscape scene.  Kemin's stone can be sen on page 6 of the National Bonsai Foundation Bulletin, Summer 2000 (Vol 11, #1)-- linked HERE.

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:Hi Riversoul

It is stunning stones you have....
The last stone I like the best...I would keep it in the shade in the garden, and use it as a  waterstone for the small birds....you can also find out the cost of shipping it to Denmark

Kind regards Yvonne

Riversoul did pm me, and gave a offer I could NOT refuse....The stone is now in my garden



MANY THANKS Riversoul, the whole transaction has ben a easy pleasure, and I will be back in the future, hoping for your help, with finding a good stone for me, when...

Kind regards Yvonne

Nice to see a stone from an one IBC stone friend in the the collection of another IBC stone friend. Congratulations to you both.

Thanks to everyone for keeping the trading & selling among friends off IBC Forum discussion, however, as it is a breach of IBC's "Acceptable Use Policy." Please do not ask (or respond) on the discussion thread about the transaction, though anyone is might contact Yvonne or Riversoul using the private Personal Messaging on IBC.

Thanks.

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:Riversoul did pm me, and gave a offer I could NOT refuse....The stone is now in my garden

CONGRATS!!! I like that stone (though i know nothing about stones ), definitely different and can even be an awesome pot if you choose to.

Hi Chris and PoinK88

Many thanks Guys...
Had I bought the stone, would I not have mentioned it here, as I know the policy...the stone was a gift .

All though the basin is big, does the stone not hold a lot of water due to the slanting floorshape, and to use it as a pot, is not realy me.....I think the future for the stone is to have the basin filled with sand, as much as possible, and then a low layer of moss growing in the surface, like a valley between huge Mountains...the stone will have its futureplace in semishade on a pretty spot in the garden, as a gardenstone.

Kind regards Yvonne

Im sure it will look beautiful, very subtle! What a generous gift! Im happy for you!

I like your inclination for displaying the stone in the garden using sand & moss, Yvonne.  If it accepts a bit of moss or lichen, those elements would convey natural aging & weathering rather than debris.  For strict suiseki (Japanese-style) enthusiasm, that would not be an option. Arguably, Chinese (as well as modern international) stone appreciation allows more tolerance for surface enhancement; such as Richard Rosenblum's scholar's rock with mossy flat top that was used traditionally as a base for burning incense (illustrated in the text Worlds Within Worlds).

Of course, this stone is also lovely in its pristine cleanliness.  I wish I found more stones as whole & clean as this one appears to be.  Often it takes years of nourishing a stone with stains before they disappear.

Hi Chris

To try to create a landscape using a mosslayer in the  "pool", is just me playing....not suiseki...I want to try to find the right spot in the garden, not too sunny and not too hot, to make it work, at least for a while....but with my experience will it be more than dificult to keep it nice...I will try anyway, it may just give a nice Photo, before I give it up  
If it works, will the sideeffect lichen not be what I want, in this little clean fairytale landskape....

I adore lichen on gardenstones, and this is how it may end...without the valley below.

In your reply you said .....Often it takes years of nourishing a stone with stains before they disappear....
My English is not good enough to understand  it, and Google is no help...can you explain in other words?

Kind regards Yvonne