Early on, important sites within landscape were marked with shaped stones, similarly to distance markers on
post roads. Burial sites were also given permanent marking by large scale
tumuli or mounds, often surrounded by anthropomorphic shaped stones much akin to that of
Inuit or
First Nations' memory markers. The
animistic belief of nature being alive, and large-scaled elements of nature having souls, has led to the continued use of massive sculpted stone in natural forms throughout Korean traditional entranceways, as the firstgrowth cedarwood traditionally used for gates is now rare. 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. Smaller ceramic versions of scholar's rocks have been seen cast in
celadon and used as brush-holders, as well as
water droppers for scholar's
calligraphy – particularly in the shape of small mountains. ==Genres of Korean stone art==