Meat-Shaped Stone

The Meat-Shaped Stone (Chinese: 肉形石; pinyin: ròuxíngshí) is a piece of jasper carved into the shape of a piece of Dongpo pork, a popular Chinese way of cooking pork belly.

Although of only moderate importance from the point of view of art history, it is a great popular favourite with visitors and has become famous.

The Meat-Shaped Stone has been called the "most famous masterpiece" of the entire National Palace Museum,[2] and along with the Jadeite Cabbage and the Mao Gong Ding, is today called one of the Three Treasures of the National Palace Museum, a redesignation from several less accessible, infrequently-displayed works.

The layers of the stone accumulated naturally over the years, exhibiting various shades of hues.

[5] The craftsman who carved the stone skilfully stained the surface, resulting in a realistic-looking piece that resembles layers of fat and meat.