Shiguwen

Author: Compiled by the Press
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-12-01
Features: In the early Tang Dynasty, ten stone carvings resembling drums were discovered in Qizhou, Shaanxi. Each stone was inscribed with a four-character poem of six to seven lines praising the emperor's hunting, with a height of about 0.66 meters and a diameter of 1.2 meters. Due to their shape resembling steles, early Tang scholars referred to them as "Hunting Stele Inscriptions," while epigraphists, noting their resemblance to drums, called them "Stone Drum Inscriptions." As pre-Qin relics, they excited scholars and literati, who praised them extensively, such as Chu Suiliang, Ouyang Xun, Yu Shiren, Han Yu, and Wei Yingwu. Han Yu's line, "The phoenix soars, the crane takes flight, as the immortals descend," vividly captures the ancient charm of the Stone Drum Inscriptions. During the Tahe era of the Tang Dynasty, the Stone Drums were discovered and placed in the Confucius Temple in Fengxiang. During the turmoil of the Five Dynasties, the original drums were lost. In the early Song Dynasty, someone found the drums in the countryside, only to discover they had been repurposed as rice mortars by local farmers, leaving them in ruins. Fortunately, all ten drums were eventually reunited. During the Daguan era of the Song Dynasty, the imperial court ordered the relocation of the Stone Drums to the Imperial Academy in Bianjing, then known as Biyong, and later moved them to the Baohe Hall. Due to repeated transfers and prohibitions on, when the Jin invaders captured Bianjing, officials found gold powder inside the stones and removed it. Later, realizing their value as national treasures, they quickly sent them to the residence of Wang Xuanfu in Yanjing. During the Yuan Dynasty's Huangqing era, they were moved to the Imperial Academy. Throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Stone Drums remained in the Imperial Academy. In 1933 (the 22nd year of the Republic of China), they were moved south for the fourth relocation of cultural relics and transported to Chongqing. After Japan's surrender, they were moved to Nanjing for storage. In 1959, during the 10th anniversary of the National Day, they were finally transported to Beijing and placed in the Arrows Pavilion of the Wenyuan Pavilion in the Forbidden City. According to historical records, the Stone Drums originally contained over 700 characters. By the Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xun reported seeing 465 characters on them. During the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, Ni Yunzhen, the author of "Jinshi Tu," recounted the remaining characters and found only 322. Modern rubbings contain only about 250 characters. It is evident that from the Song to the Qing Dynasty, over two-thirds of the characters on the Stone Drums were damaged.