The Xiping Stone Classics

There is a message from National Treasures. Please check it. These stone fragments with worn characters have suffered the vicissitudes of time with stoic grace. They are spread in multiple different museum collections across China, but they still speak to one common purpose. Xi Ping stone classics date from the 2nd century AD in the The steles are engraved on both sides and are the earliest official editions of China classic texts recorded in this way. There were 46 steles in all, with seven of the Confucian classics inscribed on them with over 200,000 characters. The Egyptian pharaohs inscribed their decrees on stele just like the Rosetta Stone. The ancient Babylonians inscribed their laws in stone in the Code of Hammurabi. Imperial China chose to set in stone the Confucian classics. Since the beginning of the Han Dynasty, ordinary people have been able to climb the social ladder through study. The Confucian classics have been the models for study. There was a substantial state-run education system and a large number of private schools. In the time before the invention of printing, the diffusion of classic works relied on transcription. Over time, mistakes were incorporated into texts through human error. In the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, academician Tai Yong led a group of scholars in petitioning the emperor in having an authoritative version of the classics engraved on stone steles to be erected at the Imperial Academy near the capital. The petition caused a sensation. It meant that students and scholars could make rubbings of the steles as definite copies of the text to take back with them to their hometowns across the empire. The classics were engraved in the official script of the time, making them masterpieces of both art and calligraphy. However, fortune is fickle for masterpieces as for men. Two years after the steles were completed, peasant rebellions began to wrack the empire. Eventually, Luo Yang was sacked in 191 AD, and the steles seriously damaged. They were repaired during the Three Kingdoms period, yet later on they drifted from place to place. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, they were transferred from Luo Yang to eastern Wei capital, Ye Dou. However, en route, they fell into the Yellow River, and when they arrived in Ye Dou, half were missing. During the Sui Dynasty in the late 6th century, they were transferred from Ye Dou to the Sui capital at Chong'an, but once there, they were merely used as plinths. In the Early Tang Dynasty, when scholar-statesmen Wei Zheng hoped to restore the stone classics, there were scarcely any left. Since then, in the mid-7th century, they've only been seen as scattered fragments and rubbings. The contents of this fragment are from the I Ching Book of Changes. Through the centuries, the Chinese language has evolved. Meaning and pronunciation change, but the characters remain the foundation of its civilization. China's forbearers cascade into the future. Future generations recognize the past. Xi Ping's stone classics pioneered the idea of authorized, government-approved editions of classic texts. Since then, every dynasty has had its own official stele inscribed to announce the definitive editions of classic works. Words set in stone is more than just a figure of speech in Chinese culture. The steles have proved powerful tools for later generations of scholars and researchers. The stones are cold, yet the characters still carry profound meanings. Today, more than 8,000 characters from the Xi Ping stone classics have been recovered and reassembled. Character by character, a culture is reborn, and a window on the past flung wide