Rubbing from Xiaotang Shan Stone Shrine Inscription, unknown maker from China

Exhibition Label:
“From the Way of Writing to the Weight of Writing," Jun-2007, Ai-lian Liu
For thousands of years, people throughout China have engraved inscriptions at sites of historical significance as well as in places of natural beauty. This practice is comparable to a cultural tradition of leaving written remembrances on or near works of art. Furthermore, ink rubbings of the engravings have been made and collected since the 11th century. For example, these inscriptions were added to the Xiaotangshan Shrine, a first-century structure, in the sixth century. They were executed in the clerical script that intentionally echoes back to the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE), when the shrine was first erected. The inscriptions exemplify the impulse to “claim” the ancient remains with words, and the enthusiasm in collecting and preserving written words.