Not currently on display at the V&A

Rubbing of Shimen Song 石門頌 拓片

Rubbing
Early 20th century (made), 148 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The rubbing is taken from the cliff face inside a stone tunnel (also known as Shimen or the Stone Gate) on the ancient Bao-Xie Route, a precipitous plank footway linking the capital of Chang'an (now Xi'an) to the province of Sichuan. In 148 CE, the regional governor Wang Sheng composed the text to commemorate the opening of the tunnel. The text was then transcribed by his clerk Wang Rong and carved into the cliff face by an unknown stone carver. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Chinese scholars and art dealers began to appreciate and propagate the untrammelled style of its calligraphy through making and circulating ink rubbings, resulting in its status in modern China as an ancient masterpiece of clerical script.




Object details

Category
Object type
TitleRubbing of Shimen Song 石門頌 拓片 (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Ink on paper
Brief description
Rubbing, Shimen Song (Stone Gate Eulogy), taken from the cliff face of an ancient tunnel in Shaanxi province, unknown maker, Early 20th century
Physical description
Black and white ink rubbing taken from a piece of calligraphy engraved into a cliff face in AD 148 during the Han dynasty
Dimensions
  • Height: 196.6cm (measured)
  • Width: 179.6 cm (measured)
Marks and inscriptions
惟坤靈定位,川澤股躬。澤有所註,川有所通。斜(碑作余字)谷之川,其澤南隆。八方所達益域為充。高祖受命,興於漢中。道由子午,出散入(碑誤作“人”宇)秦。建定帝位,以漢氏(原種作“詆”)焉(焉字別寫)。後以子午,途(原碑塗加艹上下結構)路澀(原碑為歮)難。更隨圍谷,復通堂光。凡此四道。閡(原碑作垓)隔(別寫)尤艱。至於永平,其有四年,詔書開斜(原碑作余),鑿通石門、中遭元二,西夷虐(別字)殘,橋梁斷絕,子午復循。上則懸(原碑為縣字)峻,屈曲流(別字)顛;下則入(碑作人字)冥(別字),傾(別字)瀉(原碑為寫字)輸淵。平阿淖(別字,壹釋泉字)泥,常蔭鮮晏。木石相拒(原碑作距),利磨確盤(別字),臨危槍碭,履尾心寒。空輿輕騎(原碑奇為竒),滯(原碑氵為辶)礙(別寫)弗前。惡蟲弊(原碑加草字頭)獸(原碑作狩字),蛇蛭毐蟎(別字)。末秋截霜。嫁苗禾(別寫)殘。終年不登,匱餒之患。卑者楚惡(別寫),尊看弗安。愁苦之難,焉可具言。於是明智(碑作知),故司隸校尉犍為武陽楊君厥字孟文,深執忠伉,數上奏請。有司儀駁(別字)君遂執爭,百僚(別字)鹹從,帝用是聽。廢子由斯,得其度經。功飭爾要,敞而晏平。清涼調和,烝烝艾寧。至建和二年,仲冬上旬,漢中太守、犍為武陽王升字稚紀。涉歷山道,推序本原,嘉君明智(原碑作知),美其仁賢,勒石頌德,以明厥勛。其辭曰:君德明明,炳(別寫)煥彌光。刺(別寫)過拾遺,厲清八荒,奉魁承杓,綏億禦(碑作衙)強(碑作作彊)。春宣聖恩,秋貶若霜。無偏蕩蕩,貞雅(原碑牙似楷書耳為篆書隸變,非耳)以方。寧靜蒸庶,政與乾通,輔主匡君。循禮有常。鹹曉地理,知世紀綱。言必忠義,匪石厥章。懨(別寫)弘大節.讜而益明。揆往卓今,謀合朝情。釋(別字)艱即安,有勛有榮。禹鑿龍門,君其繼蹤。上順鬥(似升字)極,下答坤皇。自南自北,四海攸通。君子安樂,庶士說雍、商人鹹西嘻,農(別寫)夫永同。春秋記異,今而紀功。垂流(別字)億載,世世嘆誦。序曰:明哉仁智(原碑知字),豫識難易。原度天道,安危所歸,勤勤竭誠,榮名休麗。五官椽南鄭趙邵字季南,屬褒中晁(碑為別字)漢強字產伯,書佐西城(碑作成字)王戎(別寫)字文寶,主。王府君閔和谷道危難,分置六部道橋。特遣行丞事西城(碑作成)韓(別寫)朗(碑作別字)。字顯公、都督椽,南鄭魏(別寫)整字伯玉(碑作王)。後遣趙誦宇公梁,按(碑作案)察中曹卓行。造作石積(碑作別字),萬世之基。或解高閣(碑作格),下就平易。行者欣然焉(焉作別寫)。伯玉(碑為王字)即日徒(碑作從)署行丞事,守安陽長。 (to be checked (20122019))
Credit line
Given by Prof. Roderick Whitfield
Object history
Prov: Professor Roderick Whitfield, acquired by the donor from a London-based antique dealer in the 1980s.
Summary
The rubbing is taken from the cliff face inside a stone tunnel (also known as Shimen or the Stone Gate) on the ancient Bao-Xie Route, a precipitous plank footway linking the capital of Chang'an (now Xi'an) to the province of Sichuan. In 148 CE, the regional governor Wang Sheng composed the text to commemorate the opening of the tunnel. The text was then transcribed by his clerk Wang Rong and carved into the cliff face by an unknown stone carver. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Chinese scholars and art dealers began to appreciate and propagate the untrammelled style of its calligraphy through making and circulating ink rubbings, resulting in its status in modern China as an ancient masterpiece of clerical script.


Collection
Accession number
FE.79-2017

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Record createdJuly 3, 2017
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