Shimen Ming

Author: Editorial Board of Selected Calligraphic Works from Historical Stele Collections
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1984-09-01
Features: The Stele of Shimen is a cliffside inscription. Engraved in 509 AD (the second year of the Yongping era of the Northern Wei Dynasty). Written in calligraphy by Wang Yuan. It consists of twenty-eight lines, with twenty characters per line. The inscriptions record the beginning and end of the reopening of the Baoyu Road by Yang Zhi, the governor of the Han and Liang provinces. The calligraphy of this stele is extraordinary, elegant, and free-spirited, making it a masterpiece among Northern Wei stele inscriptions. When Qing Dynasty scholar Kang Youwei commented on the calligraphic art of the "Stele of Shimen," he said: "The flight is joyful and extraordinary, the spacing is sparse and unrestrained, it seems to dance like a celestial being, originating from the 'Stele of Shimen' and the 'Stele of Kong Zhou,' all from the ancient states of Xia and Yin. It also shares the realm of Zhonglang, and cannot be confined by Yuan Chang." This volume preserves the character "this" intact, as it is from a Ming Dynasty rubbing by Yan Fengjia of Teng County, with exquisite craftsmanship. It is now published in photolithography for the reference and practice of.