THE FOREST OF STONE TABLETS MUSEUM

The Forest of Stone Tablets Museum，a courtyard-styled structure, is situated on the site of the Confucian Temple on Sanxue Street，Xi’an. It served as the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the Tang Dynasty，and later became the Confucian Temple in the Song Dynasty. In 1950, it was extended into the museum that greets us today. One may wonder why its two gates are facing eats and west respectively instead of facing south as most of the traditional ones. As a matter of fact, all Confucian temples are opened east and west. The East Gate is referred to as the Gate of Courtesy, while the West Gate, the Gate of Righteousness.

The Decorated Memorial Arch

    The Structure ahead of us is called “pailou” (decorated memorial arch). It is derived from its prototype “paifang”. Paifang was set up to honor men of attainments in ancient times, and could be seen almost everywhere in China.

The Stone Stakes

    Behind the “pailou” is a pond with a bridge. On both sides of the central path inside the first gate, there are altogether 28 stone stakes that date to the Ming and Qing dynasties. They stand facing each other. These stone stakes were used to tie and submit animals in ancient times, and they were mainly found in the areas north of the Weihe River in Shaanxi. They were decorated with animal and human figures, which reflect the local cultural traits. In addition to tying and submitting animals, they also served evil-repressing and decorative purposes. Before 1949, the rich and noble in the areas north of the Weihe River used to have such stone stakes installed on both sides of their front gates.

The Jingyun Bell

   Jingyun Bell is housed in the eastern pavilion inside the second gate. It was cast during the 2nd reign of Jingyun (711 A.D.); hence its name. Originally, it was hung inside the bell tower of Jinglong Taoist Temple (in the West Street today). It’s said that its clear and beautiful sound could be heard all over the city when the bell was struck. It weighs six tons, and about 5,000 kilograms of molten bronze were poured into 25 casting moulds to make the bell. It bears an inscription of 292 Chinese characters in 18 lines. In fact, the text was written by Emperor Rui Zong (Li Dan) in the Tang Dynasty. It touches on the profundity of Taoism and gives praise to the bell. On the bell there are 32 nipples which were used for tuning and decoration. It was accepted as a world-famous bell at the World Bell Exhibition in 1964. Over the years, a recording of its chimes is played by the Central People’s Broadcasting Station on New Year’s Eve to usher in the New Year. The huge clock on top of the Post & Telecommunications Building on North Street strikes on the hour with clear and sweet sounds, which are also the chimes recorded form Jingyun Bell.

The Stone Horse

    In the west pavilion there is a stone horse, carved in 424 A.D. during the Daxia period. The horse is vivid and true to life. Between its hind legs is a statue of a conquered man. Daxia, one of the 16 sovereign states in the Eastern Jin period, was established by the Hun nobles. Most of the states were separatist regimes set up by the members of the upper-class strata of the ethnic minority tribes. Because of constant wars, each of them only existed for a short time and left behind very few relics’ .The stone horse, therefore, is particularly of great value.

The Forest of Stone Tables Museum covers an area of about 30,000 square meters. Its exhibits can be divided into two categories: stone tablets and stone sculptures. In addition, special exhibitions are often held in the museum.

The Forest of Stone Tablets in Xi’an

    The Forest of Stone Tablets was originally set up in 1087. The treasure house comprises a large collection of centuries-old stone tablets. Over 3,000 stone tablets from the Han Dynasty through the Qing Dynasty are preserved. The museum houses numerous stone tablets, which look like a dense forest; hence its name the “Forest of Stone Tablets.” The Forest of Stone Tablets is not only a treasure house of ancient Chinese calligraphy, but also a rich collection of historical documents and stone carvings of various styles.

    The tablets bear evidence to the cultural achievements recorded in ancient China and the cultural exchanges between China and other countries. No tourist will take the risk of missing the Forest of Stone Tablets, once they visit Xi’an.

    This place initially served to store the stone classics of the Tang Dynasty, including the “Classic on Filial Piety in the handwriting of Emperor Xuan Zong in 745 and the “Kaicheng Stone Classics” engraved in 837. They were originally erected inside the Imperial Academy (in the area of Wenyi Road, south of the urban district) in the Tang Dynasty. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Wen forced Emperor Zhao Zong to move the capital to Luoyang and then brought Chang’an down to ruins. Han Jian, commander-in-chief of the garrison, reduced the size of the city for the sake of defense. As a result, the “Stone Classics” were abandoned in the suburban wilderness. Later on, Han Jian moved the Imperial Academy and the Classic on Filial Piety into the Confucian Temple (on the Shehui Road, Western Street, Xi’an) in the urban district.

    In 909 A. D., when Liu Xun defended Chang’an, he moved the Kaicheng Stone Classics from the suburbs into the Confucian temple, which became the first place to store the stone tablets of the Tang Dynasty. Because of its low-lying location and poor environment, which were not fit for stone classics, all the stone classics and important stone tablets of the Tang Dynasty were relocated to the present place in 1087 A. D.. Owing to poor lighting and constant rubbing, the stone tablets became very black in color, people used to call this place “a dark cave” or “a cave of stone tablets.”

A great earthquake took place across Central Shaanxi in 1555 A. D.. The Forest of Stone Tablets suffered serious destruction. Out of the 114 Kaicheng classics, 40 fell down and lay broken. In 1588, Ye Shirong, a scholar of Shannxi, supplied the missing characters and carved them onto 97 small stone tablets. They were then placed here to supplement the tone classics. Therefore, “Kaicheng Stone Classics” could be kept in their complete form as “a book of stone carvings”. In addition, the “Book of Mencius” was engraved onto stone tablets in 1664.

  It was not until the early Qing Dynasty that the “Forest of Stone Tablets” was officially named. It now houses over 3,000 stone tablets from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. The stone tablets are now on display in seven display rooms, six epitaph corridors and one tablet pavilion.

  The Forest of Stone Tablets was declared a top-priority national historical monument by the State Council in March, 1961.

  In Front of the first display room is the Tablet Pavilion specially built for the “Classic on Filial Piety.”

  “The Classic on Filial Piety” is the largest stone tablet in the Forest of Stone Tablets. It was engraved after the handwritten copy of Emperor Xuan Zong (Li Longji) in 745 A. D... The classic was compiled by Zeng Sen, a disciple of Confucius, after he attended his teacher ’s lecture on filial piety. Emperor Xuan Zong wrote a preface to the classic in the hopes that the country would be governed on the principle of filial piety. The preface is followed by the body of the classic. The small characters are Emperor Xuan Zong’s annotations to the classic. The tablet is set on a three-layer base, with vivid carvings of trailing plants and lions. The upper part is decorated with clouds and auspicious animals in bas-relief. The tablet is made up of four pieces of stone, and a base under it, therefore it is literally called the “Stone-base Classics on Filial Piety”.

The First Display Room

  The first display room house the “ Kaicheng Stone Classics ,” including 12 Chinese classics , namely “The Book of Changes ,” “ The Book of History ,” “ The book of Songs ,” “ The Rites of the Zhou Dynasty ,” “The Book of Ceremonies ,” “The Book of Rites ,” “ Zuo Qiuming ’s Commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals, “ Gong Yang ’s Commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals ,” “ Gu Ling’s Commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals ,” “ The Analects of Confucius ,” “ The Classic on Filial Piety “ and “ Chinese Semantics .” The classics, with a total number of 650,252 characters, were engraved double-sided on 114 stone tablets. The display room also houses another classic entitled “Mencius,” with 30,000 characters, which was engraved on 17 stone tablets in the Qing Dynasty. This Classic and 12 others are called the “Thirteen Classics,” These 12 classics were ruquired readings for feudal society intellectuals. Printing was quite backward in ancient times. The classics were engraved on stones as the standard copy so that they could be well kept and men of letters coud avoid errors in copying them. The stone tablets were then erected in the Chang’an Imperial Academy for the proof-reading of handwritten copies. From the Eastern Han Dynasty onwards, the classics were engraved seven times, however, only the “Kaicheng Stone Classics” remain intact today.

The Second Display Room

  This display room mainly houses the stone tablets of calligraphy written by famous calligraphers of the Tang Dynasty. Up to today, these tablets have served as models for learners of calligraphy to follow. Several examples are the “ Tablet to Huangpu Dan ” by Ouyang Xun , the “ Tablet to Master Dao Yin ” by Ouyang Tong , the son of Ouyang Xun , the “ Tablet to Doubao Pagoda ” and the “ Tablet to the Yan’s Ancestral Temple ” by Yan Zhenqing , the “Tablet to the Mysterious Pagoda ” by Liu Gongquan , “ A Forward to the Sacred Teaching of Xuan Zang ” ( also jnow as the Priceless Tablet ) by Huai Ren , the monk of Hongfu Temple in Chang’an who collected the characters written by Wang Xizhi for this tablet , and the world famous “ the Nestorian Tablet .”

  The “Nestorian Tablet” provides valuable date for the study of the cultural exchangdes between the Tang Dynasty and other countries. “Da Qin” is an ancient hinese term for the Roman Empire. Nestorianism is a sect of Christianity. When introduced into China, it got its Chese name “Jing Jiao.” Nestorianism spread its influence to chang’an in 635 A .D. . The stone tablet was engraved and erected in 781 A . D. . It offers an introduction to the doctrines, rites and influence of Nestorianism, and the activities of its Chinese believers during the Tang Dynasty. It also bears the names of many missionaries and records some incidents in the Syrian language.

The stone tablet was originally erected in Da Qin Temple. It was unearthed in 1623 A. D., and then moved to Jinsheng Temple. In the western subueb of Xi’an Later on, some rubbings of this tablet were found overseas, and they were translated into Latin. The tablet thus aroused wide attention in many countries. Some foreigners believed that it should be moved to Europe since there were many Christians there. So in 1907, the United Kingdom sent a Danish man name Halmore to Xi’an in an attempt to buy the tablet ai a cost of 3,000 taels of silver. At the news, the governor of Shaanxi ordered that the tablet be moved into Forest of Stone Tablets. So, the Danish man had to make an imitation tablet and shipped it back to London.

The Third Display Room

    The third display room houses the stone tablets that rang from the Han Dynasty to the Song Dynasty (206 B. C.―1279A. D.). They bear a waide variety of Chinese script forms , including seal script , officiale script , regular script , running script and cursive script . These stone tablets show the evolution of the Chinese writing system.

    This stone tablet was inscribed in seal script by Meng Ying of the Stone Dynasty. According to Xu Shen ‘s book “ An Analysis of Chinese Characters ” , Meng Ying wrote the radicals or basic structural parts of 540 Chinese characters in seal script and marked them with phonetic symbols in regular script . The “Tbalet to Magistrate Cao Quan” (the Han Dynasty) was inscribed in official script. The characters are made up of elegant, vigorous and well-arranged strokes. It is one of the famous tablets inscribed with characters in the Man style of official script. The official script appeared by the end of the Qin Dynasty. Compared with seal script, the official script is smiple and easy to write. The evolution from the seal script to the official script is generally reckoned to be adramatic change in the forms of Chinese characters. The official script became popular in the Han Dynasty.

This is a stone tablet inscribed with characters in regular script, which began in the period of the Three Kingdoms (220—280 A. I).). It came to maturity and gained popularity during the Sui and Tang dynasties. The rulers of the successive dynasties all made it a rule that official documents and imperial examination papers should be written in regular script.

This is called the 1, 000-character Stone Tablet in cursive script. It comprises 1,000 different characters. The stone tablet is said to have served as a primer for children in ancient times. It was written by the celebrated calligrapher Monk Huai Su in the Tang Dynasty. Huai Su’s hold and unconstrained style of writing was followed by other calligraphers in later periods.

The Fourth Display Room

This display room houses works of poetry in authentic handwriting of the well-known calligraphers from the Song through the Qing dynasties, tablets of historical significance in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and some line engravings from the Song through the Qing dynasties.

Here are two line engravings: "Bodhidharma’s Eastbound Journey" and "Bodhidharma in Meditation". Bodhidharma was a prince of Southern Tianzhu (present-day India). He arrived in China in 520 A.D... Because he had different views on Buddhism from those of Emperor Liang Wu of the Southern Dynasty, Bodnidharma left for the Wei Kingdom, another state in the east and settled down in Shaolin Temple, where he practiced Buddhism for nine years, facing the wall day in day out. This tablet describes the story of Bodhidharma. He crossed the river on a piece of reed, with a pair of shoes on his shoulders. The other is a portrait of Bodhidharma sitting on a cushfion in meditation. These are two carved sketches of life-like figures. Their rough sketches reveal a vivid touch.

This drawing is composed of characters ingeniously pieced together. It is called Jizi Kuixing Diandou Tu (a

portrait of Kuixing composed of characters). In the feudal society, the imperial examination system was used to select officials by testing their knowledge about the Five Confucian Classics. Those who won the first place in the

Examination would be honored as Kuixing (the star at the tip of the Big Dipper). It is not a surprise, therefore, that

Pavilions called Kuixing Lou or Kuixing Ge could be found in most colleges, where a portrait of Kuixing was often enshrined. In the drawing, the figure of kuixing is composed of eight characters, meaning “restraining oneself and returning to the rites", which was uphold as the norm of mental cultivation for Confucianists. Kuxing himself stands on one foot over a character, meaning "turtle", with the other raised up and supporting a character meaning the "Big Dipper". The man's posture implies that he ranks first on the list of successful candidates. This picture is vividly and ingeniously constructed.

The Fifth Display Room

The fifth display room houses the stone tablets which record such historical facts as temple repair, canal digging and wall mending during the dynasties of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing. They provide valuable data of reference for the study of feudal society and local history.

There are also some tablets inscribed with big characters written in a single stroke by Ma Dezhao in the Qing Dynasty. They include " 虎 ", " 寿 " and '福 " which literally mean in English, "tiger", "longevity" and "happiness.” The characters assume a vigorous style and offer much enjoyment to their viewers.

The Sixth Display Room

The sixth display room mainly houses stone tablets of poetry and verses that date back to the dynasties of Yuan, Ming and Qing. Typical examples are "A Visit to Mt. Tianguan" by Zhao Mongfu of the Yuan Dynasty, "Farewell to Zhang Sheng in Maoling Inn" by Dong Qichang of the Ming Dynasty, "A letter to Wu He" by Emperor Rang Xi of the Qing Dynasty in Mi Fu's writing style, and "A Visit to Mount Hua" by Lin Zexu. They are all treasures of the country.

The Seventh Display Room

This last display room was built in 1982, and houses "the Secret Court Copybook of Chunhua" in the Song Dynasty.

The secret copybook is made up of ten volumes. The first five volumes contain the works of calligraphy in seal script, cursive script and regular script. They were created by famous emperors, ministers and calligraphers in ancient times. The other five volumes contain the works of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi in cursive script. They are a collection of the works of the Chinese calligraphers before the Song Dynasty; "the Secret Court Copybook" was originally engraved on a board of date wood by Wang Zhu by the order of Emperor Song Tai Zong in the third reign of Chunhua (992A. I).). It was initially kept at court. Its rubbings were made and distributed to high-ranking officials. Because it was first engraved in the imperial court, it was thus named "The Secret Court Copybook." Also because it was created during the regin of Chunhua, it was thus called "the Secret Court Copybook of Chunhua. “The original book was destroyed not long after it was engraved. However, many private and public copies of the wood carving appeared from the Song to Qing dynasties. The present copy, an imitation of "the Secret Court Copybook of Chunhua", was engraved double-sided on 145 pieces of stone in 1646.

The Corridors of Epitaphs

Along the six tortuous corridors, there are epitaphs from the Wei to the Qing Dynasties. I n the Wei and Jin periods, it was strictly forbidden to hold extravagant funerals for the dead and erect memorial tablets before their tombs, but to commemorate the deceased, their families and relatives engraved on the stone tablets words of compliment for the dead and placed the tablets secretly into their tombs. This type of stone engraving later gave rise to the emergence of epitaphs.

The Stone Sculpture

This showroom was built in 1963. It houses more than 70 stone sculptures which were originally collected from different parts of Shaanxi Province. These pieces of art are classified into two groups: mausoleum carvings and religious carvings. They are arranged in chronological order.

Stone sculpture is the gem of the nation's excellent cultural heritage. Shaanxi is one of the places where many of the nation's early stone sculptures and historical relics have been found. The province is particularly renowned at home and abroad for its large number of superb stone sculptures, which occupy a conspicuous position in the nation’s sculptural history.

The pair of stone animals used to be placed in front of a mausoleum to protect it from the attack of evils. The

craftsmen combined the physical features of lions and tigers, and created such an imaginary beast of prey. Both its

forceful legs and its active appearance reveal the superb skills and creativity of the sculptors of the Han Dynasty.

These stone relieves date back to the Eastern Han Dynasty, and they were discovered in Northern Shaanxi. Relieves are pictures chipped on stone surface. They originated from the Western Han Dynasty and became popular in the Eastern Han Dynasty. With the passage of more than 2,000 years, they still show their eternal artistic glamour in a unique style During the Western Han Dynasty, extravagant burial was very popular. The concept of "living again after death" dominated the mind of noble men. They engraved on the tomb walls whatever they used, loved and respected during their lifetime, so that they could still enjoy them   in   the nether circumstances.   Besides some historical legends, the subject matter of the relieves originated from the real life, such as plowing, hunting, music and dance and the style of noble lives. These relieves, vivid and true to life, are the microcosm of the social life of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, they are not only works of art, but historical records as well. They provide valuable data for the study of the Eastern Han Dynasty

About 500 stone relieves that date back to the Eastern Han Dynasty were unearthed in northern Shaanxi, and 133 of them are preserved at the Forest of Stone Tablets Museum.

This piece of stone carving shows how oxen were used for plowing in the fields in Northern Shaanxi, and provides us with a general understanding of the country’s level of agricultural production in ancient times. Such a work of art about ancient plowing, though simple in style, is rarely seen and thus very valuable. This is an intact gate to a mausoleum. Its leaf is decorated with the pattern of the Scarlet Bird, the Blue Dragon and the White Tiger, and its lower part, with the pattern of the Tortoise. The Scarlet Bird, the Blue Dragon, the White Tiger and the Tortoise were believed to be gods of the four directions in ancient times, representing the South, the Bast, the West and the North respectively. The appearance of such patterns on the door suggested good luck and safety in ancient times.

This is an outer coffin for Li Shou (630 A. D.), a cousin of Emperor Gao Zu (Li Yuan) of the Tang Dynasty. It is made up of 28 black stones. The epitaph is not in the traditional square shape, but in the shape of a tortoise. In the Tang Dynasty, longevity and high rank were symbolized by a tortoise. However, it was very rare to find a tortoise-shaped epitaph. There have been only two epitaphs of the sort found so far. Unfortunately, the one discovered before this particular one was lost for reasons unknown. This   tortoise-shaped   tombstone   is   really valuable for archaeological research

This stone rhino, 10 tens in weight, was carved in 635 A. I), and initially placed in front of Emperor Gao Zu's tomb. It whs modeled out of a huge stone after the living rhino that a foreign envoy sent to the Royal Court in the Tang Dynasty. It is actually a memento of friendship between China and foreign countries.

When Zhaoling Mausoleum was built by the order of Emperor Li Shimin, six stone horses were also sculpted in memory of the six horses, which had served him in constant wars. They were actually created by the famous painter Yan Liben. Two of the bas-relief horses, known as "Saluzi" and "Quanmaogwa", were shipped overseas by an American under the cover of the feudal war lords in 1914. They are now displayed at the University of Philadelphia Museum, Pennsylvania. The other four stone horses were broken into pieces when he attempted to ship them away in boxes in 1918. The local people found out his evil intention and drove him away; the four stone horses were then left behind. The bas-relief horses are vigorous and graceful. They are regarded as rare treasures of art from the Tang Dynasty.

This pair of stone lions used to be placed in front of Zhaoling Maosoleum. They were so vividly modeled to reveal the animal’s imposing and mighty power. In the Tang Dynasty, training lions was very popular. Tamed lions could perform dances to the accompaniment of music in the imperial palace. The man standing by is a lion trainer.

What we shall see next are stone carvings based on religion and on Buddhism in particular.

Buddhism was introduced into China from India around the first century A. D... From 265 to 589 A. D., the dynastic periods of the Northern Wei, the Jin, the North and South, different sects of Buddhism appeared in China. There were many Scholars who specialized in Buddhism and gave lectures on the religion. Buddhism was at its zenith in the Sui and Tang dynasties. Different sects of Buddhism were developed in China. Idol carving also came to China with Buddhism, and Stimulated the development of Chinese sculpture.

This statue dates back to the historical period of the South and the North. It is a typical example of Indian Gandhara, India between the 1st and 6th century A. D... This kind of sculpture shows the beauty of postures, the terseness of lines and the authenticity of clothing. This statue of Maitreya incorporates the traditional Chinese craftsmanship with the features of foreign art.

This carving of Boddhisattva belongs to the Sui Dynasty. With a jewel crown and jade lace trimmings, he is in the sitting position. The delicate carving is well proportioned, typical of the Sui sculpture, but still with certain characteristic touches of the Southern and Northern period. The statue shows a realistic style. The Sui Dynasty developed a unique artistic style, which was not restricted to any foreign forms of art.

The Tang Dynasty witnessed a high level of development of Chinese art. The carving of Buddhist statues attained maturity. Many advances were made in the art of Buddhist statues in terms of style, figuration and workmanship, are unprecedented.

This Bodhisattva looks graceful and solemn. The meticulously carved muscles, jade trimmings, scarf and lotus petals are all real to the touch and well-proportioned. And its cutting shows a skillful, lucid and lively style. This masterpiece of the Tang sculpture is great in every sense.

This is a statue of a vigorous warrior. It must have been sculpted with ease and grace. His strong physique and armor suit are somewhat exaggerated, but with reasonable accuracy.     

This is the Sacrificial Offering Lamp. It is made of nine layers altogether. It is fine and compact in structure. The craftsman drew on his powerful imagination, and adopted a contrastive approach to work out such a well-knit structure. The marvelous craftsmanship is certainly an embodiment of its creator's superb wisdom.

This is a statue of Li Er, the founder of the theory of Taoism, a religion of the Han nationality. The religion originated from the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The statue was probably created by Yuan Jia' er, a famous sculptor from the Western Regions. This work of art is one of the masterpieces among the Tang-Dynasty sculptures.