Page 45 - Tạp chí bonsai BCI Q12011

4. Formal Suseok 5. Miseok 6 . Collecting along Nam Han River
In Korea there are two classifications of dif-
ferent types of artistic stones:
Suseok: forever living stone. (fig. 4) and
Gwe seok: strange shaped stone.
For the Koreans, Gwe Seok has only shape but no spirit
within. It is difficult to explain what is the difference, only
specialists of Korean stones can interpret them.
Mi seok stones also exist. These are specifically colored
stones, but not considered Suseok. (fig. 5)
The most important and traditional regions for the col-
lection of valued stones in South Korea are in north and
south Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Chungcheong and Gyeong-
sang, and the volcanic island of Jeju. The stones from
this island are very different from those found on the
mainland.
The most precious Korean stones come from the regions 7. above: Chocolate stone from Nam
that the Nam Han River passes through. Years ago the Han River – winner of the first BCI Suiseki
government built dams and the places where the best Excellence award . BCI Convention 2008.
Suseok were collected were lost. For this reason it is dif- C. Padrini Collection
ficult to find good Korean material. Photos published in
1984 show where many people are gathered on the banks 8. The tendency now is to the round form
collected from the sea coast.
of the river searching for stones. Flooding from the dams
makes finding stones very difficult if not impossible, even
with substantial methods. (fig. 6) Korea then started to im-
port stones from other countries: China, the Philippines,
Indonesia and Russia.
Among the most valued stones collected by the Nam Han
River are called Chocolate stones because of distinctive
brown streaks. (fig. 7) In earlier times river-shaped stones
were preferred, but now because of the difficulty of find-
ing them in the river, the tendency is towards a rounded
form collected along the sea coast.(fig. 8)
The main Korean classifications reflect the Japanese ones
Mountain shaped stones (fig. 9) and its sub-categories.
One peak Duplicate Mountain
Two peaks Sword mountain
Many peaks Many sword mountain 9. 10.
Long distance shaped Peaks of the sky
stone shaped stone
Rock shaped stones (fig. 10) and its sub-categories.
Waterfall Refuge from the rain
Lake stone Face to face and the
Cave grotto door
11. 12.

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