Marble painting — the wonder of nature

        Marbles, also called cloudy stones, are explored from the mountains at over 3,000 meters above the sea-level in Daili, Yunnan province, P.R.C. Their band-shaped lode is contained halfway up the mountains. They were formed from Tonian to the 5 orogenic movements of Himalayas. Their female rocks were white. The magical picture strolls were formed thanks to the penetration and demitintly dyeing of the color-causing elements of different mineral substances

　　The grades of marbles are usually classified according to their pattern features although there are several ways to do so. Marbles for decorative enjoyment is chiefly the marbles called colored-flower stones (There are three kinds of patterns. That is Spring flowers, Autumn flowers, and ink and wash flowers), among which ink and wash flowers are the best because of their narrow banding, rareness and especially their extraordinary aesthetic style. Based on black and white, it is simple but elegant, free from vulgarity, well-withered or moistened. With natural ink traces and brush passages, many pattern are really stokes of genius, whose drawing skills using ink and brush are by coincidence the same as those in Chinese ink and wash, such as how to draw, wrinkle, spot, wither or moisten, and where should be rich, light, dry, or wet, and where should be false or true, loose or dense. Even the composition and the perspective ways are the same as man’s . No wonder its bold and vigorous strokes and antique style have been acclaimed as the peak of perfection by many a scholars or literary men through ages.

　　The exploring of marbles is 1,000 years long at least. They already became well-known as early in Tang Dynasty and they were used as tribute in Song Dynasty. Thus playthings among the people became treasures in the loyal court. Information tells us that marbles are the species of stone that’s the first to be explored by cutting veined stones as well as the first to be collected by men. They are now the most widely handed down and the most influential. For enjoyment, it is usually cut into pieces and mounted in rose-wood picture frames or standing screens, which are placed in living rooms furnished with Chinese furniture.

　　Following China quickening its pace of opening to the outside world, mysterious marble paintings, with Chinese characteristics, are beginning to become one of the most valuable treasures in the international art museum.