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PenHu veined stones used to be milled
to annulus figures, with changeable figures and
beautiful colors. For its scarcity veined stones
have been loved by scholars and gentlemen for long,
so called as ¡¥precious stone¡¦. It is hard to trace
when veined stones were found in PengHu, and guessed
as the turning period between Ming and Ching
Dynasty. During Japanese governance, veined stones
of good quality were found in WangAn and JiangJyun
Ao, and factories were established in WangAn to
train craft workers, as the start of veined stone
industry. The Stone is in the gap between basalt
rock holes which shape when magma eructed and
pressure sharply declined. In cooling magma shrink
to create some same-distance shrinking centers and
present hexangular columnar fractures which extend
inwards and make joints, the environment better for
veined stones. Veined stone mines dissolve in water
stay in basalt rock holes and become semi-ball gel
bottoms, as veined stones. The Stones are scattered
all over PengHu Islands, with different characters
for distinct rocks and environments. The major
production areas include¡]1¡^BaiSha¡]TongLiang
and HouLiao¡^¡]2¡^SiYu¡]WaiAn,
ChihSi, and HeJie¡^¡]3¡^PengHu
Island¡]two
places in FongGuei¡^¡]4¡^JiangJyun
Ao¡]almost
the whole island¡^¡]5¡^WangAn¡]west
and east shore areas¡^and
¡]6¡^others.
In early years, stones could be taken along tidal
areas, and residents used to pick up stone in
intertidal zones in farm leisure hours. In Year 40s
of ROC mining becomes professional, and excavation
in hard rocks and deeper places made good-quality
stones found, the climax of stone industry. Till
middle of Year 50s, while costs rose due to being
harder for digging and less stones of good quality;
and coral, soft jade in Taiwan, foreign amber, and
other semi-precious objects became strong
competitive, veined stones in PengHu were declining
and replaced. Veined stones have to be proceeded as
precious stones, including drilling, cutting,
primary mill, refining, holing, and burnishing, as
well as round mill for round beads and caring for
art works. |
