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The ancient East Asian art of stone appreciation originated in China and spread to Korea and Japan. Each country has contributed to today’s practices and emerging efforts globally. Over time, there have been overlapping influences from the three primary countries on each other’s methods of collecting and displaying selected rocks. One feature of Korean suseok that distinguishes its practices from those in China and Japan is a greater emphasis on “untouched” or unaltered stones. 

This concept has its roots in the belief that rocks, mountains, rivers, and even trees possessed spirits. These animistic beliefs were tempered by the introduction of Taoism and by the desire to follow the natural way, thereby revealing nature’s order. Buddhism emphasized the ideal of impermanence and a reverence for nature. The subsequent introduction of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism promoted the idea of retreating to nature for moral and self-cultivation. This philosophical shift favored unaltered nature rather than the belief that people can improve on it through alteration. The belief that “found” natural beauty is preferred to objects that have been manipulated has permeated various Korean arts, garden design, and stone appreciation (suseok).  

An example of the “untouched” concept in garden design was to minimize alterations to the existing natural landscape when creating a garden, and to design the garden and its components to fit into and emphasize the land contours, trees, water, and rock features. The driving belief was to relate to and respect the natural order rather than to resort to severe intervention and alter the natural landscape to create a contrived garden. An example of this is Yang San-bo (양산보, 1503–1557), the creator of Soswaewon (소쇄원) in Damyang, Jeollanam-do, one of the most celebrated private gardens of the Joseon dynasty. In this garden, Yang incorporated the existing terrain, boulders, and stream with minimal man-made elements to create a space where a scholar could reflect and feel in harmony with the natural world.  

This “untouched concept” is one of several Korean aesthetic terms used to refer to suseok practices. The word 소박 (sobak), meaning plain, tranquil, and unadorned, especially in darker stones, can be applied to suseok. Also, the Korean word 자연미 (自然美, ja-yeon-mi) "which translates "natural beauty" or "unaltered beauty" can be used. This word can refer to stones found in nature that already suggest natural elements or figures without being enhanced by people.

Examples of natural, untouched stones are shown in Figures 1 and 2. Untouched refers to stones whose shape, color, and texture have not been altered by human intervention. This does not apply to cleaning stones collected in nature. These stones have been groomed by washing and cleaning to remove surface dirt and debris, often by using a stiff brush, to expose their true nature. Removing a part of the stone’s base to better fit a carved wood base is considered to be altering or processing a stone. That takes away from the concept of “found beauty.”

Figure 1. Examples of natural, unaltered Suseok shaped and polished by fast-flowing river waters. These stones are in the collection of Park Youl in Seoul. 

Korean suseok was first influenced by Chinese stone appreciation practices, in which modifications such as cutting, drilling holes, coloring, grinding, and polishing were accepted. In Japanese suiseki, it was acceptable to make a single basal cut to a rock to facilitate display. During the peak of popularity of suiseki, stone carvers worked by removing portions of the stone, or even totally manufactured stones for sale as suiseki (Elias, 2016).

Development in suseok practices came to a halt during the period of Japanese colonization (1910-1945), followed by WWII and the Korean War (1950-1953). After the recovery from these difficult times, interest in stone appreciation was renewed during the 1960s and 1970s.

The  hobby of stone appreciation (suiseki) grew rapidly in Japan about a decade before a similar interest developed in Korea. Dozens of books about Japanese stones (suiseki) were published from the late 1950s through the 1970s. During this time, the books and articles published by Murata Kenji and his son Murata Keiji, contributed more to popularizing stone appreciation than others. 

In 1966, Murata Keiji published a popular three-volume series on suiseki titled How to View and Appreciate Suiseki, How to Cultivate and Polish Suiseki, and How to Place and Display Suiseki (Murata, 1966). These volumes appeared a few years before a series of eight joint exhibitions between Korea and Japan. The exhibits consisted of stones from Japan and Korea, and alternated between the two countries from 1972 to 1984 (Park et al, 2002). These eight bilateral exhibitions provided ample opportunities for both countries to learn about each other’s preferred stones and display methods. The widespread availability of Japanese suiseki books was an important resource for Korean stone collectors. This influence is evident in many Korean-language introductory books on suseok. The first modern Korean books on suseok were not published until 1971 (Jang, 1971). 

During this early period of modern Suseok, some rock collectors were influenced by Japanese practices. This included modifying the stone’s base, removing small parts of a rock, and grinding and polishing with mechanical equipment. However, this was limited and did not gain widespread national practice. The application of mineral oil to deepen colors and highlight texture is practiced by some suseok collectors, who believe this is an acceptable practice for preparing a stone for viewing.

In recent decades, many serious Korean stone collectors and connoisseurs embrace the unaltered concept for Suseok and reject rocks that have been intentionally altered. They believe that only unaltered stones should be considered as true Suseok. This belief continues today and is one of the ways that helps distinguish suseok from Chinese and Japanese stones. This does not imply that Chinese and Japanese stones are mostly altered. Both countries collect and display completely natural stones, along with an added acceptance of stones that have been permanently enhanced. 

As a result, suseok sometimes lacks the dramatic abstract shapes found in some Chinese Taihu and Lingbi stones. Nor do Korean rocks have the nearly perfectly formed mountain-shaped or hut-shaped stones, or idealized forms resulting from alteration, as seen in some Japanese stones. Korean suseok challenges viewers to look at evocative, albeit sometimes subtle shapes and to imagine larger components of nature in miniature form.   

Figure 2. Additional examples of natural unaltered stones from the Nanham River. The upper two rocks have been shaped and polished by flowing, sand-laden water, while the lower two illustrate how fast-flowing water can erode softer portions of a rock over time. 

In summary, serious suseok enthusiasts take pride in building a collection of native stones that have not been altered. The belief that the beauty of naturally occurring rocks is superior to that of manipulated rocks is not a recent trend; rather, it is a historical concept rooted in Taoism, further supported by Buddhist beliefs and the teachings of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism. Fortunately, there are many Korean suseok collectors, like Park Youl, who carry this tradition forward today. 

References:

Elias, Thomas S. 2016. Enhancing the Stone: Part One: the Japanese Reality of Modifying Suiseki. Bonsai and Stone Appreciation Magazine 55(3): 26-31. 

__________________-. 2016. Enhancing the Stone: Part 2. Sakurai Toshio, Japan’s Leading Professional Stone Carver. Bonsai and Stone Appreciation Magazine 55(4): 31-37.

Jang Jun-geun. 1971. Korean Stones—A Stone Catalogue of 41 Susoek Collectors. Gyemyeongsa. 

Murata, Keiji Ed. 1966. How To Enjoy Suiseki Series. 1. Appreciation: How to View and Appreciate Suiseki. 2. Creation: How to Cultivate and Polish Suiseki. 3. Production: How to Place and Display Suiseki. Juseki sha, Tokyo.

Park Ho-geun et al. Eds. 2002. Collected Historical Materials on Modern Korean Suseok. Republic of Korea Historical Materials Preservation Research Society. Palgman Daejanggyeong.