Page "Korean stone art" Paragraph 2

As Confucian scholarship ascended into the golden age of the Joseon dynasty, scholar rocks became an essential fixture of the writing tables of the yangban class of scholars, and a brilliant example of Confucian art.

The repeated Japanese invasions of Korea, culminating with the 50 year occupation period from 1895 to 1945, saw great theft of Korean scholar stones as well as theft of larger pieces taken to Japan from Korean gardens or Seon garden and put into the Zen garden without reference to origins.

Recreating a historical approach to Korean scholar stones is difficult, but it is being done.