Rhodes Architectural Stone

The Yangtze River, one of the cradles of human civilization, has been inhabited for 3,500 years, and is an historic crossroads of river trade. It is so challenging to navigate that the Japanese were unable to conquer it during World War II. The villages surrounding the river, ancient enclaves of humanity, were built over centuries on the walls and foundations of their predecessors.

The Three Gorges Dam Project is seen by the Chinese as a necessary advancement to help bring their country into the 21^st century. The abandonment of existing homes and construction of newer settlements is an investment in the future of their country and in the progress that they hold as a common value. The completed dam will provide as much as 9% of the total electricity requirements for the entire country of China, which in a society that is largely unheated and unlit is a compelling prospect.

New settlements are being rebuilt uphill, above the projected new water line. The compensation from the central government to the villages for reconstruction costs is nominal, and there is no domestic market for the ancient building materials that are being abandoned. We are purchasing the historic materials and employing the locals in our mission to salvage the stone in advance of the dam construction. This provides additional reconstruction funds to the displaced villagers, and moreover, our concerted and timely effort prevents the beautiful buildings steeped in Chinese history and tradition from being lost forever.

These stones tell the stories of scores of generations. They are worn with the daily use of countless families, who might have gathered round for folk tales of armies and rivers and mountain passes. They have been steeped over centuries in floodwaters, blood from the seasonal slaughter of livestock, tea stains, corncob pipe tobacco, and the sweat of honest labor in care of the fruits of the soil. We handle this special cargo with great care, disassembling the architecture by hand, and laboriously hand-carrying it down to waiting barges. The barges shoot the rapids to the seaport, and the Rhodes Architectural Stone facility where we employ skilled craftsmen to re-shape the stones for their new application.

What follows is just part of the visual diary we've kept.

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