4 results
Winds of the Four Directions
This oracle bone from around 1200 B.C. contains 24 characters in four groups in a vigorous and strong style, typical of the Bin group of diviners in the reign of Wu Ding (circa 1200-1189 B.C.). It records the gods of the four directions and of the four winds. The winds of the four directions reflect the spring and autumn equinoxes, the summer and winter solstices, and the changes of the four seasons. The four winds are the east wind, called Xie; the south wind, called Wei; the west ...
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The Xiping Stone Classics
These engravings of the seven Confucian classics were set up outside the National University Gate, located on the south side of Loyang, the capital city, in the Eastern Han dynasty. They were created between 175 and 183, after Cai Yong and a group of scholars successfully petitioned the emperor to have the Confucian classics carved in stone in order to prevent their being altered to support particular points of view. They are also called the “Han Stone Classics” and the “Single-Script Stone Classics." The seven classics -- The Book of Changes ...
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Stele of the Army of Inspired Strategy
This rubbing of a stone stele records the inspection of the Army of Inspired Strategy by the Tang emperor Wuzong (Li Yan). The text was composed by Cui Xuan and written by Liu Gongquan, both of the Tang dynasty. The stele was erected in the third year of the Huichang era (843 A.D.), but within a century was damaged by soldiers and soon disappeared. Because the stele was erected within the Imperial Palace, rubbings were not easily taken, even when it was still intact. These Song dynasty rubbings, also ...
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Stele of the Spread of the Assyrian Teachings of the Great Qin to the Central States
This stele was erected in the second year of the Jianzhong era of the Tang period (781 A.D.), by the Persian missionary Yazdhozid, in the Great Qin Temple. The text was composed by the Persian missionary Jingjing; the calligraphy is by Lü Xiuyan. The text of the stele describes the propagation of the “Luminous Teachings" (of the Assyrian Church of the East, sometimes erroneously referred to as Nestorians) in the Tang dynasty, including the translation into Chinese of the Assyrian religious text Sutra of the Teachings of the World-Honored ...
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