Rock -- Illustration from the Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Calligraphy and Painting (Shizhuzhai shuhua pu) before 1703

Editor: This is an illustration called 'Rock' by Hu Zhengyan, from the Ten Bamboo Studio Manual. It has such a strange, surreal quality about it. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: Observe how the rock is not merely depicted, but *composed*, its porous form echoing a landscape in miniature. These scholar's rocks were potent symbols, weren't they? Editor: Symbols of what exactly? Curator: Of the universe itself, of endurance, of the quest for enlightenment. The rock becomes a vessel filled with cultural memory. It's interesting, isn't it, how such a seemingly simple image can carry such weight. Editor: I never thought about it that way. The image now feels much more profound. Curator: Indeed, seeing these enduring forms helps us recognize continuities within the visual language that shapes our cultural understanding.