Meat-Shaped Stone

Meat-Shaped Stone
ArtistUnknown
MediumJasper
DimensionsH 5.73 cm, W 6.6 cm, D 5.3 cm
LocationNational Palace Museum, Taipei

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. After the retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan, it is part of the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. 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, 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. It has also been chosen by the public as the most important item in the museum's entire collection.