The passage of time comes to mind when viewing this stone. A single stone such as this one took thousands of years to form and then existed for hundreds of thousands of years. Our lives seem so fragile and transitory compared to the stone.

Dahua stones are found in the Red River in Dahua County, Guangxi Province in southern China. They typically exhibit distinct layers and often have patterns on the top or sides of the stones. These stones are hard and are naturally smooth due to the abundance of silica dioxide in the stone and the action of sand and gravel washing over them on the river bottom. The color is due to varying levels of iron oxides that were deposited over time. Fine specimens of Dahua stones are highly valued due to their color, texture and composition. They often are blocky in form. This stone is 22 cm wide, 14 cm high, and 13.5 cm deep and in the collection of Tom Elias and Hiromi Nakaoji.