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Forest of Stone Steles Museum
The Forest of Stone Steles in Xi'an is an
art treasure-house with the oldest and richest collection
of steles in China. It is not only one of the centers of
ancient Chinese stone-engraving classics, but also the focus
of the works of art of celebrated calligraphers of past
dynasties. The numerous standing steles resemble a forest,
hence the name " Forest of Steles"'. With a history
of almost 900 years, it is an art gem renowned at home and
abroad.
The Forest of Steles is an enlargement to
the Confucian Classics stone inscriptions in the Tang Dynasty.
Shitai Xiaojing ( stele engraved with the Canon of Filial
Piety) and Kaicheng Shijing ( steles engraved with the Confucian
Classics) of the Tang Dynasty were originally kept in the
Imperial Academy in Wu Ben District of Chang'an, the capital
of the Tang Dynasty ( in the vicinity of the present Wen
Yi Street, southern Xi'an). Following the devastation in
the late Tang Dynasty, Chang'an was rebuilt with its size
reduced by the order of Han Jian, magistrate of Chang'an.
In 904 AD the engraved Confucian Classics were moved inside
the Wen Xuan Temple ( in the vicinity of the present She
Hui Street of Xi'an).Due to poor environment, in the second
year of Yuan You of the Song Dynasty, ( 1087 AD) on the
suggestion of Lu Dazhong, all the Confucian Classics and
other valued Tang steles were moved to the present site
of the Forest of Steles under the auspices of Li Chi. Thus
the foundation of the Forest of Steles was initially laid.
With the successive collections of Steles in the Song, Jin,
Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, it was gradually renovated
and expanded, making one feel among a forest of steles.
But it was not until the early Qing Dynasty that the name
" Forest of Steles" was finally chosen. Based
on the design of Liang sicheng, China's well-known architect,
the Forest of Steles was extensively renovated in 1937,
and was completed in Feb. 1938, looking in the main the
way it does today.
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In March 1961, the State Council decreed
that the Forest of Steles was among the first group of national
cultural relics to be given special protection. Now it is
an important part of the Shaanxi Provincial Museum. In 1982,
the 7th Exhibition Hall of the Forest of Steles was established.
Collections of Steles have been increased from 667 in the
Qing Dynasty to over 2,000 steles, of which over 1,000 are
open to the public. Seven exhibition halls, a pavilion covered
with steles and six corridors for keeping epitaphs form
a complete architectural complex of a unique style, making
the Forest of Steles, a treasure trove of the art of calligraphy
look all the more magnificent.
What attracts people most is that the Forest
of Steles has gathered the famous works of many outstanding
calligraphers handed down from ancient times. Chinese calligraphy
has a long history, and in general has evolved from the
complex to the simple.It has 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 and development these various forms have constituted
the abundant treasure and unique traditions of the art of
Chinese calligraphy. For example, the Cao Quan Stele, written
in Han clerical script in the 2nd year of Zhongping ( 185
AD) in the Eastern Han Dynasty, is famous for its elegant,
ingenious and clear inscription, as well as its completeness.The
Tang Dynasty witnessed the prosperous period of our art
of calligraphy. Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan,Zhu Suiliang, Yan
Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan developed their own distinctive
styles of regular script, while Ouyang Tong, Xu Hao, Shi
Weize, Huai Su, Zhang Xu and Li Yangbing were celebrated
calligraphers of different script forms. The most distinguished
Tang stele is "the Preface to the Holy Buddhist Scriptures"
in the handwriting of Wang Xizhi, a famous Jin calligrapher.
The valuable poems and works of calligraphy of such famous
post-Tang calligraphers as Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fei,
Zhao Mengfu, Dong Qichang and Zhu Yongming are also collected
in the Forest of Steles.
Many inscriptions in the Forest of Steles
are of precious historical value, such as the world-famous
Nestorian Stele and Monk Bu Kong Stele. Gathered here are
also some carved sketches with exquisite and splendid decorative
designs, making the Forest of Steles, the art treasure-house,
all the more brilliant and well-known far and near.
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