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Entry № 174

Dali Calcite

Dolomitic Marble (Dali, Yunnan)

The banded marble that named a school of Chinese painting.

Chakra

Crown · Third Eye

Element

Earth

Zodiac

Cancer · Pisces

Dali Calcite

I. The Metaphysical Reading

How the stone has been held.

Dali calcite is worked with as a stone of contemplative sight, kept on the desk during writing, painting and any practice that asks a person to look at the landscape until it speaks. Practitioners hold it as a reminder that a still image can carry weather.

Chakra
Crown · Third Eye
Element
Earth
Zodiac
Cancer · Pisces
Keynote
The banded marble that named a school of Chinese painting.

II. The Scientific Reading

What the lattice actually does.

Dali stone is a fine-grained dolomitic marble from the Cangshan range near Dali in Yunnan, in which alternating dolomite (CaMg(CO₃)₂) and calcite (CaCO₃) layers, together with trace iron and manganese oxides, produce natural landscape-like patterns. Slabs have been prized in China for over a thousand years as inset 'painting stones' whose figuring resembles ink-wash mountain scenery.

Formula
CaMg(CO₃)₂ (with CaCO₃ layers)
System
Trigonal
Hardness
3.5 – 4 (Mohs)
Provenance
China — Dali, Yunnan Province

References & Sources

Independent mineralogical references used to verify the scientific details above.

Mineral Profile

Fact Sheet

Chemical Formula
CaMg(CO₃)₂ (with CaCO₃ layers)
Crystal System
Trigonal
Mohs Hardness
3.5 – 4 (Mohs)
Density
2.84 – 2.86 g/cm³
Refractive Index
1.500 – 1.679
Provenance
China — Dali, Yunnan Province
Color Origin
White to cream groundmass with grey and ochre ink-wash banding

Related Crystals

Stones that share this lattice

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