Shichen Front and Rear Stele

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-08-01
Features: The Han Dynasty was the golden age of Chinese calligraphy history. The Han Dynasty inherited the system of the Qin Dynasty, with official documents of the court primarily written in seal script, while the common script used by the populace and lower-ranking officials was clerical script. Due to its simplicity and ease of writing compared to seal script, as well as its speed and convenience, clerical script was adopted by the ruling class in imperial decrees, inscriptions on stone and metal, and official documents. This promoted the development of writing, making clerical script the dominant script of the Han Dynasty. The clerical script that has survived from the Han Dynasty is mainly divided into two categories: one is ink rubbings, written on silk books, bamboo and wooden slips, spanning the entire Western and Eastern Han periods. Notable examples include the silk book Laozi (Volume 2) unearthed from the Mawangdui tombs in Changsha, Hunan, the Sun Bin’s Art of War unearthed from the Yinque Mountain in Linyi, Shandong, wooden slips unearthed from Fenghuang Mountain in Jiangling, Hubei, and tens of thousands of characters of clerical script on bamboo and wooden slips from Juyan, Wuwei, and Dunhuang in Gansu. The other category is stone inscriptions, with the exception of a few Western Han inscriptions such as the Record of Yang Bu’s Mountain Purchase, the Inscription of the Ninth Wind in the Second Year, and the Inscription of Bao Xiaohu, most of them are clerical script inscriptions from the Eastern Han Dynasty. Over 300 types have been passed down to this day, including the Yijing Stele, the Shichen Stele, the Lijing Stele, the Zhangqian Stele, the Hua Shan Stele, the Caoquan Stele, and the Shimen Song. Before 1900, since no ink rubbings of clerical script had been unearthed, the Eastern Han stone inscriptions were the best representatives of the achievements of clerical script. Qing Dynasty scholar Wang Shu once remarked, "Clerical script reached its peak in the Han Dynasty, with each stele presenting a unique style, none being identical."
The Shichen Front and Rear Steles are double-sided inscriptions. The front stele is titled The Stele of Lu Prefect Shi Chen for the Confucian Temple, while the back stele is titled The Stele of Lu Prefect Shi Chen for the Banquet in the Confucian Temple. They were erected in the second year of the Jianning era (169 AD) of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The front stele has 17 lines, each with 36 characters, while the back stele has 14 lines, each with 36 characters. They are now preserved in the Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong, and are collectively known as the "Three Great Steles of the Temple" along with the Yijing Stele and the Lijing Stele. The steles are characterized by rigorous brushwork, square and balanced structure, round and smooth characters, tight central balance, varying pressure on strokes, strong and vigorous pen force, distinct "wave" and "corner" strokes, and an elegant and refined style.
Qing Dynasty scholar Wan Jing once praised the steles, saying, "They are well-organized and tight-knit, with a clear and strict structure, like the disciplined troops of Cheng Bu Shi, orderly and unyielding." Sun Chengze of the Qing Dynasty remarked, "The characters are elegant and transcendent, serving as a model for generations, and among the best of Han Dynasty stone inscriptions." Fang Shuo of the Qing Dynasty wrote in his colophon, "The calligraphy is solemn, profound, and ancient, with both structure and temperament in full display. Truly a masterpiece worthy of the temple halls, ranking among the eight great schools of calligraphy." Yang Shoujing commented, "The ancients said that not all Han clerical script is excellent, but a sense of ancient depth is unmatched. This is such a case." Later generations of clerical script practitioners have all used these steles as a model.
There are many versions of these steles in circulation. According to Wang Zhuanghong’s Supplementary Notes on Stele , "The horizontal wave stroke in the character 'qu' is intact, and the first stroke of 'qiu' is also intact, indicating a Ming Dynasty edition." The current edition is printed based on the Ming Dynasty version to delight readers.