"Shitai Xiao Jing" or "Kaicheng Shi Jing"
Xi'an Forest of Steles
Xi'an Forest of Steles is located in the courtyard of Xi'an Forest of Steles Museum at No. 15 Sanxue Street, Xi'an City . It is the earliest place to preserve cultural relics in the history of our country, and is famous both at home and abroad for its essence of steles.
The history of the construction of the Forest of Steles in Xi'an can be traced back to the Northern Song Dynasty and even the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. It started with the preservation of the "Shitai Xiao Jing" and "Kaicheng Shi Jing" carved in the Tang Dynasty. Both of these stone scriptures were originally erected in the Imperial Academy of the Tang Dynasty Chang'an City Affairs Office. In the first year of Tianyou's reign (904), Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty, when Han Jian, the governor of the Youguo Army, was shrinking the city of Chang'an, he moved a number of important steles such as "Shitai Xiao Jing" to the west corner of Shangshu Province in the Imperial City of the Tang Dynasty (today's Sheshe Road area in Xi'an City) to prevent Lost. Later, during the Zhu and Liang Dynasties of the Five Dynasties, Liu Wei was guarding Chang'an and moved the "Kaicheng Stone Classic" to the same place. In the fifth year of Yuanyou (1090), Emperor Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty, the water transport envoy Lu Dazhong and others proposed to move all the stone scriptures and other important steles to the north of Fuxue Street (today's forest of steles), and built buildings, corridors, pavilions and other buildings to protect the steles, and arranged them for display. This sequence ensured that the Forest of Steles was properly protected and laid the preliminary foundation for the Forest of Steles, hence the name "Stele Cave". Since then, successive dynasties have repaired the forest of steles and collected the steles. One of the larger ones was the repair, addition and arrangement of the Forest of Steles by Bi Yuan, the governor of Shaanxi Province in the 21st year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1781). The name "Forest of Steles" was gradually determined after the middle of the Qing Dynasty. During the Republic of China, the "Stele Forest Management Committee" was established in 1938 and changed to the "Shaanxi Provincial History Museum" in 1944. After 1949, the state carried out many renovations and additions to the Forest of Steles, adding many steles and epitaphs with historical and artistic value. On the basis of the original Forest of Steles in Xi'an, the Shaanxi Provincial Museum was established using the former site of the Confucius Temple. In 1991, after the Shaanxi History Museum was built, it was renamed Xi'an Forest of Steles Museum.
Today's Forest of Steles in Xi'an has 6 large exhibition rooms, 7 verandas and 1 stele pavilion. Among them, more than 2,300 stone steles and epitaphs from Han, Wei, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties have been collected and exhibited, which have extremely high historical and artistic value.
, the stele base is engraved with lotus and lion dance, which is the tallest stone inscription with exquisite carving work and the tallest stele in the forest of stele. The "Kaicheng Stone Sutra" was engraved in the second year of Emperor Wenzong's reign in the Tang Dynasty (837). Taixue carved stone as a standard version for people to correct. It is the most complete stone carving of classics in my country that has been preserved in the forest of steles. It contains 12 classics such as "Book of Changes", "Book of Changes", "Book of Songs", "Book of Rites", etc., with a total of 114 stones, and a total of 228 carved on both sides. There are more than 650,000 words in it, just like a stone library. After the Qing Dynasty added "Mencius", it was collectively called the Thirteen Classics.
In addition to a large number of stone scriptures as important documentary materials, among the various steles collected in the Forest of Steles, which reflect the history of ancient Sino-Western communication, there is also the famous "Stele of the Popularity of Nestorianism in China in the Great Qin Dynasty", which was engraved by Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty. In the second year of Jianzhong (781), the introduction of the Nestorian sect of Christianity into our country from Central Asia was recorded in Chinese and Syrian languages; the Tang Dynasty's "Sino-Nepalese Combination of Dharani Sutras" was written by the Tang Dynasty of my country and the people of Nepal Evidence of friendly exchanges; "Tang Guangzhi Tripitaka Stele" records an Indian monk's life experience in China and the teacher-teacher relationship when Tantra was introduced to Japan; "Su Liang's Wife Ma's Epitaph" in Tang Dynasty, engraved in Chinese and Pali Uighur, is The product of the friendly coexistence between the ancient Chinese people and the Persian people. Other inscriptions after the Song Dynasty related to recording construction, commemorating meritorious service, taxation, grain harvest and peasant uprisings, such as "The Monument of Mingde", "Song of the Desolate Year", "The Monument of the Establishment of Schools", "The Record of the City Repair", and "The Monument of the Temple Construction". " and "Pingli Teaching Case Stele" etc. provide important reference materials for the study of local history and folk history of Shaanxi Province, and have high historical document value.
In terms of artistic value, many of the inscriptions in the Forest of Steles are famous for their calligraphy art.
Seal scripts include "Yishan Stele" written by Li Si in the Qin Dynasty (reprinted in the Song Dynasty) and "Three Tombs Stele" and "Qixian Tomb Records" written by Li Yangbing in the Tang Dynasty, who was known as the first person to write Xiaozhuan after Li Si; official script, There are the Han Dynasty Heyang Order's "Cao Quan Stele", the "Xiping Stone Classic" remnant stone, and the Jin Dynasty's "Sima Fang Remaining Stele", etc., which are all treasures in the forest of steles; cursive scripts are written by Zhiyong, Zhang Xu, Huaisu and others from the Tang Dynasty. The "Thousand Character Essay" written by him is the most famous; in regular script, there are "Huangfu's Birthday Stele" by Ouyang Xun, "Master Daoyin Stele" by Ouyang Tong, "Confucius Temple Stele" by Yu Shinan (reprinted in the Song Dynasty), and "Xuanmi Pagoda" by Liu Gongquan. "Stele", Yan Zhenqing's "Yan Family Temple Stele", "Yan Qinli Stele" and "Duobao Pagoda Stele" are all famous calligraphy masterpieces. In addition, there are also the "Stele of the Holy Works of Daguan" (thin gold style) written by Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, and the "Chunhua Secret Pavilion Notes of the Song Dynasty" reprinted in the Qing Dynasty, which are also rare treasures in the world.
In addition to calligraphy, a large number of exquisite patterns with artistic value are also preserved in the inscriptions of the Northern Wei, Tang and Song Dynasties. For example, the forehead of the famous Tang stele is mostly a semi-relief carving, and the carved cirrus clouds and two dragons have different expressions and are lifelike. On both sides of the "Stele of Zen Master Dazhi" of the Tang Dynasty, both line carving and ground reduction techniques are used to intersperse the arrangements of creepers, phoenixes and figures, making people feel lush, lively, wonderful and energetic; the base of the "Stele of Master Daozhi" of the Tang Dynasty The exotic figures on both sides, leading horses and dogs, are rare masterpieces; the four sides of the "Yuanhui Epitaph" of the Northern Wei Dynasty are engraved with the images of the four gods, namely the green dragon, the white tiger, the red bird, and the Xuanwu, symbolizing the four directions, and the gaps are full of flow. The clouds present a unique artistic conception of elegance and harmony, which is a masterpiece.
As a splendid treasure in my country's historical and cultural relics treasure house, on March 4, 1961, the State Council announced the Xi'an Forest of Steles as one of the first batch of key cultural relics protection units in the country. On April 12, 1992, the Shaanxi Provincial People's Government announced the protection scope of Xi'an Forest of Steles: the seven exhibition rooms and stele pavilions in the Forest of Steles were designated as key protection areas; the walls of the Forest of Steles Museum were designated as general protection areas; west of the cypress forest and east of Anju Lane , the area south of Dongmou City and north of Sanxue Street is a construction control zone. (Return to top)