It originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the largest stone book came from the Tang Dynasty. The earliest existing stone carvings in China are 10 inscriptions on stone drums in the Spring and Autumn Period found in Chencang (now Baoji, Shaanxi) in the early Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, printing was not very developed. In order to avoid mistakes in copying Confucian classics, Tang Wenzong ordered twelve Confucian classics, such as The Book of Songs and The Analects of Confucius, to be carved into stone scriptures, which were set up in Guo Zi School of Wubenfang in Chang 'an City for students to copy and read.
During the reign of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty, a copy of Mencius was engraved with nine stone tablets, which were put together with the Stone Classics of Kaicheng, so it was also called the Thirteen Classics Stone Carving.
Extended data:
When the stone carvings in China began remains to be verified. Although there are stone carvings handed down from generation to generation in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, they are all forged by later generations. Only the inscription of broken ears in Xiao Chen's "Xi Gui" and the inscription of stone chimes in Fu Hao's tomb in Shang Dynasty are credible. There are two main stone carvings in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period: one is the famous Shi Guwen; Second, the Heguang stone carving found in Pingshan, Hebei Province, has only two lines 19.
In the past, stone carving description books were all classified in chronological order, and the relationship between words could not be seen.
According to the content and genre of stone carvings, they can be roughly divided into six categories: inscriptions, scriptures, statues, poems, inscriptions and miscellaneous carvings.
Baidu encyclopedia-stone book
Baidu encyclopedia-stone carving