The jade cabbage and stone pork in the National Palace Museum are so lifelike that visitors can’t believe their eyes. Gemstone enthusiast Hsu Chun-i has spent more than a decade collecting nearly 400 stones that bear a remarkable resemblance to Chinese and western delicacies. Recently, on the invitation of the Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Hsu is holding a “Strange Stone Banquet Exhibition,” with 150 selected items on show.
“Eat, Drink and Be Merry — Mr Hsu Chun-i’s Strange Stone Banquet Exhibition” is open from now until June 30 on the ninth floor of the library building of Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science. On show are a banquet table full of Manchu-style dishes, one of Han Chinese-style food and one of country-style snacks, plus dozens of Chinese and western delicacies such as preserved eggs, beefsteaks, dried longans, strawberries and so on — everything a hungry guest could ask for.
Hsu says he has been collecting stones for over 20 years. At first he collected mostly Taiwanese gemstones. Then, 13 years ago, he saw the jade cabbage, stone pork and other exhibits at the National Palace Museum. From then on, he changed to collecting stone food.
PHOTO: MENG QING-CI, TAIPEI TIMES
Hsu says he gets most of the items in his collection by visiting wholesale dealers, where he picks them out one by one. Around seven out of every ten of his food-like stones come from the Gobi Desert in Chinese Inner Mongolia. These Gobi gems have a relative hardness of about 7. Many of them are chalcedony or agate, and they come in a wealth of colors. By cleverly matching them up with other stones, Hsu can make them into course after course of petrified cuisine.
According to Hsu, collecting the stony ingredients is no easy task. On one occasion, he spent several days squatting and picking over 40 tons of “iron jade” to gather just a bowlful of dried longans.
Hsu points out that none of his rocky food items has been artificially dyed, cut or otherwise processed. At most, they have had a little baby oil rubbed onto them. Rubbing stones with baby oil gives them extra sheen, and is accepted practice among collectors.
(Translated by Julian Clegg)
故宮的翠玉白菜、肉形石，栩栩如生的模樣令遊客們讚嘆不已；石藝收藏家徐俊義，十多年來累積近四百道中、西佳餚，件件維妙維肖，日前他接受邀嘉南藥理科技大學邀請舉辦「奇石宴展」，展出一百五十件精品。
曲水流觴——徐俊義先生奇石宴展，即日起至六月三十日於嘉南藥理科大圖書館九樓展出，展出一桌滿席菜、一桌漢席菜、一桌鄉土小吃以及數十道中、西佳餚，皮蛋、牛排、龍眼乾、草莓等，應有盡有。
徐俊義表示，收藏石頭二十多年，最初以台灣本土雅石為主，十三年前看到故宮的翠玉白菜、肉形石等，從此改收藏石頭佳餚。
徐俊義指出，自己大多透過石頭大盤商先行找尋，再逐一挑選，石頭佳餚的石頭，約七成為中國內蒙戈壁石，戈壁石硬度高達七成，很多是玉髓、瑪瑙類，顏色繽紛，再經自己的巧思搭配其也石材，就成了一道道石頭料理。
徐俊義表示，收藏食（石）材不容易，曾經為做出一盤龍眼乾，他蹲在四十噸的「鐵玉石」堆翻找好多天，才大功告成
徐俊義指出，石頭料理都沒有經過人為染色、切割等加工，頂多塗抹嬰兒油，嬰兒油可以增加石頭潤澤度，在收藏界是可以被接受。（自由時報記者孟慶慈）
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