Why do People Like Viewing Stones with Holes？

I have once bought a small Lingbi stone, and it’s price was not cheap. At that time, the seller said: "The price will be naturally more expensive when there are holes in the stone ."

The stone with holes is not cheap seems to have become a consensus. Some stone collectors from Northwest also joked: "Stone has a hole, the price will too high buy!The price reflects that stone with holes is favored by stone collectors.

Then why do people like stones with holes? I asked some stone collectors, and the answers can be concluded into several points as follows:

First, it"s rare. The texture of the stone is very hard, and it is not easy to form holes on it. If the holes are round and performative, the posture of the stone will become rigid and soft, and it will be even more precious to be delicate and flexible. Things are rare, and stones with holes are naturally more valuable.

Secondly, it is influenced by the traditional view of stone appreciation. Traditional stone appreciation emphasizes "thin, wrinkled, leaky and transparent", in which leaky and transparent are related to holes. "The world is full of knowledge, and the human relationship is the article.". The stone"s thoroughness and expressiveness inspires the viewer to see through and understand the world, and pursue an open-minded and cheerful spiritual realm.

Third, it embodies the charm of time. No matter what the reason is, it will take years to make a hole. Thousands of years can form a hole, but our life is just a few decades. In the face of nature, people are very small. The holes in the stone inspire people"s worship of nature and life.

Fourth, "virtual and real" aesthetic concept. Traditional culture stresses the duality, the opposition of yin and Yang, mutual generation and mutual restraint, and endless changes. The stone is solid, the hole is empty; the stone with holes just like the virtual and the real. A hole will make the stone become virtual, and make the momentum of the stone develop and receive, move and be static, and make the stone round and coherent, with its shape and meaning.

Fifth, the pursuit of the ethereal meaning. Holes can clear up the dull of the stone, so that the stone appears graceful and ethereal. Having holes, you can draw the wind and invite the moon. Having holes, you can have aura.