Gulu Lang Stele - Guidance from Renowned Masters

Author: Bu Xiying
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-01-01
Features: "The Essence of Stele and Inscription Masterpieces from the National Library of China" won the First China calligraphy Lan Ting Award · Publishing Award and the 13th China Picture Award. It is a major innovation and contribution in the history of stele and inscription publishing. Its publication has provided calligraphy enthusiasts with an invaluable treasure trove. Not only can rarely seen treasures be moved to bookshelves and placed on desks for easy appreciation, but its significance is immeasurable. "The Essence of Stele and Inscription" selects fine rubbings from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and early Qing dynasties, spanning from the Qin and Han periods to the Tang and Song dynasties, all created by master calligraphers and meticulously carved. The rubbings are perfect, with some original carvings long lost to time, yet preserved in these rubbings, allowing us to glimpse the development of calligraphy art throughout history. It serves as both a research tool for scholars studying the rubbings and a model for calligraphy enthusiasts to practice and learn from, opening up broad prospects for the creation of calligraphy art. This book is one of its volumes.
"The Gu Lang Stele" is also known as the "Stele of Gu Lang, the Marquis of Jiuzhen." There is no inscribed date of carving. Gu Lang passed away on the 22nd day of the 4th month in the Fenghuang Year (272) of the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period. It is written in clerical script, with 18 lines and 24 characters per line. The title at the top reads "Stele of Gu Lang, the Former Marquis of Jiuzhen from the Wu Kingdom," inscribed in 11 characters in clerical script. The stone was originally located in Leiyang County, Hunan, but has long been lost. The first and last lines of the stele are inscribed with names of Gu's descendants, with the first line containing inscriptions of men who rebuilt it, and the last line containing six columns of inscriptions by descendants as officials of the Xingye Great Justice Township. The stele was carved or damaged before the inscriptions at the beginning and end, with the character "" in the first line clearly showing signs of carving. No rubbings before the inscriptions were added.
The oldest surviving rubbings are from the early Qing or Yongzheng period, with clear inscriptions at both ends, but the characters "" in the ninth line of the first line are worn away. Later, the inscriptions at both ends were carved away, and an inscription of the Qianlong period was added to the side of the stele, which was also carved away during the Daoguang and Xianfeng periods, leaving only a few characters at the end. In the early Republic of China, the stele was carved again, with the characters becoming thick and distorted. The National Library's mounted copy of this stele is one of the best surviving early Qing rubbings.