Cao Baozi Stele

Author: Guangling Shushe Editorial
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-01-01
Features: The "Cao Baosi Stele," written in regular script, is one of the few surviving "Jin Steles." Its full title is "Jin Zhenwei Jiangjun Jianning Taoshou Cao Baosi Stele." It is renowned alongside the Southern Dynasties' "Cao Longyan Stele" as the "Two Cao Steles." Carved in the fourth year of the Daoheng era of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (405), it was unearthed in Yangqitian, 35 kilometers south of the city of Qujing in Yunnan Province, in the 43rd year of the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty (1778). It is now preserved in the Stele Pavilion of Qujing No. Middle School. The stele has thirteen lines of regular script, with thirty characters per line. The inscriptions are in the parallel prose style of the Six Dynasties. The script of this stele falls between clerical script and regular script, embodying both the robustness and elegance of clerical script and the squareness and solemnity of regular script. It is a typical example of the transition from clerical script to regular script, displaying a blend of archaic simplicity and profound weight. Kang Youwei's "Guang Yi Zhou Shuang Ji" praises it as follows: 'Robust, ancient, and luxuriant, with countless variations, it stands between clerical script and regular script, alongside the "Lingmiao" and "Ju Yanyun" steles of the Wei Dynasty. It can be used to trace the origins of script transformations.' Due to the prohibition on erecting certain types of steles, few were carved during that time, making this stele highly valued by scholars. According to the "School Stele Notes," the old (tuo) version, where the last empty space was filled with the character 'Deng,' is considered the authentic one.