Stone Steles are huge stone slabs which depict important calligraphic writing, often dating back to ancient times. They are held in high regard in China and many people love to study the great artistry of these mammoth pieces.
Basic Information of the Forest of Stone Steles
Forest of Stone Steles (Xian Beilin) is located in the Confucian Temple on Sanxue Jie Street in Xian city, Shaanxi Province, China. Xi'an Forest of Stone Steles was originally set up in 1087 and it was first built to preserve the Thirteen Classics of Filial Piety which were engraved during the Tang Dynasty. A significant collection of stone steles was gathered by the Qing Dynasty and the building became known as the Forest of Stone Steles. Today, this is a professional art museum which collects studies and displays various steles and stone sculptures.
Importance of the Forest of Stone Steles
Forest of Stone Steles is an art treasure –house containing the largest and richest collection of stone tablets in China. These pieces of art are works from the Han Dynasty through to the Qing Dynasty, including over 1000 memorial tablets forming the Forest of Stone Tablets. It is not only a treasure house of ancient Chinese calligraphy, but also a rich collection of China's historical documents and records and stone carving patterns. These tablets record a part of the great achievements of Chinese culture and can reveal to us the truth of the cultural exchanges between China and other countries.
Treasure in the Forest of Stone Steles
The contents of the Forest Steles can be divided into four groups: works of literature and philosophy, historical records, calligraphy and pictorial stones.
Forest of Stone Steles has the largest collection in the world with the earliest of these more than 2,000 large engraved stone tablets dates from the Han dynasty. The Popular Stele of Daiqin Nestorianism, which can be recognizable by the small cross at the tip and engraved in 781 A.D., marks the opening of a Nestorian church. The Monk Bu Kong Stele in Tang dynasty (A.D. 781) is noteworthy for its Buddhist value.
Collections here are also of high value for exploring Chinese calligraphy history. Here stand many tablets engraved with works of many outstanding calligraphers through ages. Chinese calligraphy boasts a long history in five basic script forms, namely: seal script, clerical script, regular script, running script and cursive script. Through more than 5,000 years of creative work various forms have constituted the abundant treasure and unique traditions of Chinese calligraphy. The typical includes the Cao Quan Stele, written in Han clerical script famous for its elegant, ingenious inscription; The Tang dynasty witnessed the prosperous period with noted distinctive styles of regular script. The most distinguished Tang stele is "the Preface to the Holy Buddhist Scriptures" in the handwriting of Wang Xizhi, a famous Jin calligrapher. Some poems of calligraphy are also collected here.
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