This essay, as implied by its name, aims at taking the aesthetic and philosophical features embodied in the mountain-shaped stone and mountain-stone (-water) penjing as a point of departure and exploring its various inter-related orientations and levels in art through typical specimens, so as to provide a kind of "three-dimensional space" in theory. Specifically, this mil help, at a horizontal level, to extend appreciation of an oriental art to an appraisal of occidental art, and in a vertical manner, to penetrate domains of art, aesthetic and intellectual history in identifying the more profound causes for the evolution of the art of mountain-shaped stone and mountain-stone (-water) penjing whereas, crosswise, an analysis of representative examplesof such penjing art will be furnished to lend interest to theoretical discussion, which may otherwise tend to be dry and dull Thus, it is to be hoped, the reader will be attracted and entertained once his/her reason and sentiments are drawn into the "three-dimensional space'' of this theoretical analysis.
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