According to personal library inquiries, the differences between the Republic of China rubbings and the Qing Dynasty rubbings of Cao Quan's stele are as follows:
1. The inscription style of the Republic of China rubbings is generally older, and there are more partial losses. The words are blurry, which may be due to the age of the original monument.
2. In the Qing Dynasty rubbings, although the old appearance is still vaguely visible, the characters are deeper and the damage is less, especially the damage to some strokes and parts is lighter than in the Republic of China version.
3. After hundreds of years of rubbing, the words on the stele have changed a lot. However, the exquisite rubbings during the Republic of China were all made by Xing Zhisheng, who can best understand the meaning of the calligraphy on the stele. The spirit and writing feel, so the inscriptions on the rubbings of the Republic of China are displayed more perfectly.
4. Relatively speaking, the Qing Dynasty rubbings focus more on the presentation of ink shades, and are not as detailed as the Republic of China rubbings.