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

Curator: This is an illustration called "Rock in Circular Fan Shape" from the Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Calligraphy and Painting by Hu Zhengyan, dating back to the late Ming Dynasty. Editor: Ah, it feels like a world captured in a glance. I'm drawn to its wabi-sabi aesthetic; that imperfection is just gorgeous! Curator: Indeed. The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual, from which this comes, was a guide to traditional painting and printing techniques, widely emulated and hugely influential. Editor: You know, that rock itself is more than just stone. It’s like a little universe, full of holes and shadows. Does it make you think of mountains and vast landscapes? Curator: Absolutely. Such rocks were highly prized by scholars and seen as microcosms of the natural world. They were often placed in gardens as objects of contemplation. Editor: I love the idea that something so simple can be so profound. It's a reminder to find beauty in the everyday, wouldn't you agree? Curator: I do, yes. It’s intriguing to consider this image—meant as instruction—now speaking to us so directly across the centuries. Editor: Exactly! It reminds me that art is always in conversation. It whispers, it shouts, and it nudges us to see the world, and ourselves, differently.