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Three Fragments of the Xiping Steles

China

Eastern Han dynasty (25–220)

Not on view

The Xiping Steles are so named for the Han emperor Liu Hong’s second reign, called Xiping, which means bright and peaceful. Undertaken during this time was the nine-year task of editing and codifying the Confucian canon. The finished manuscripts were carved on forty-six stone tablets, which were erected at the imperial university in Luoyang and functioned somewhat like textbooks. The steles were damaged during the wars that followed the fall of the Han. These three fragments are from the Yi Jing (Book of Changes) and Yue Jing (Book of Music), the latter thought to have been lost since the Qin dynasty.

Three Fragments of the Xiping Steles, Stone, China

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Three Fragments of the Xiping Steles, Stone, China
Three Fragments of the Xiping Steles, Stone, China
Three Fragments of the Xiping Steles, Stone, China
Three Fragments of the Xiping Steles, Stone, China
Three Fragments of the Xiping Steles, Stone, China

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