Chapter 7 Chapter 7: The Book That Fears Water and Fire——The Book of Stones

We often read books, and the books we read are generally printed on paper, and we rarely read books on stone.However, there were many such stone books in ancient times, and they were very important.Not only Confucianism, but also Buddhism and Taoism.Due to the difficulty of engraving books on stone, the contents of the engravings are often classics, and the engraved classics are generally called stone scriptures in epigraphy. In ancient my country, most of the classics were written, with Confucianism as the earliest.There are seven kinds of Confucian classics, namely "Xiping Stone Classic", "Zhengshi Stone Classic", "Kaicheng Stone Classic", "Shu Stone Classic", "Northern Song Dynasty Stone Classic", "Southern Song Stone Classic", "Qing Stone Classic" Sutra and so on.The single type is most typical in "Shitai Xiaojing".Among the religious stone scriptures, the "Fangshan Stone Scripture" collected in Fangshan District, southwest of Beijing, is the largest and has been inscribed for the longest time.

According to relevant documents, the earliest stone scriptures in my country were engraved in the Western Han Dynasty Pingdi Liu Jin (AD 1-5). It is said that Wang Mang ordered Zhen Feng to engrave the book on stone. "Biography", etc., but have not seen the real thing yet.The earliest object found now is the "Xiping Stone Classic". "Xiping Stone Classic", also known as "Han Stone Classic", was engraved in the fourth year of Emperor Xiping of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 175), hence the name.At that time, scholars such as Cai Yong believed that the Confucian classics of the Han Dynasty had been separated from the classics compiled by Confucius for a long time, and there were many mistakes, which made it inconvenient to use.Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty adopted their suggestions, so he summoned Confucian scholars to revise the text of the five scriptures, carved the revised content on stones, and erected them in the Taixue outside Kaiyang Gate in the south of Luoyang City, as a standard model for Confucian scholars to learn. The content of "Xiping Stone Classics" includes the Five Classics, Six Classics, and Seven Classics. However, according to the records of "Sui Shu·Jing Ji Zhi" and the description of the unearthed objects later, the seven classics are actually engraved, namely "Book of Changes", "Shang Shu", "Lu Poetry", "Rituals", "Chunqiu Zuoshi Biography", "Gongyang Biography",.There are about 64 steles with about 200,000 characters. After they were engraved and erected in Taixue, there are many people who watch and learn from them. There are more than a thousand cars for people who go to watch every day, filling the streets.Unfortunately, it has been destroyed and only a few residual stones remain.

"Zhengshi Shijing", also known as "Wei Shijing", was engraved in the Zhengshi period of Cao Wei, King Qi of the Three Kingdoms (240-249 A.D.), hence the name.The engraved characters are ancient Chinese, seal script, and official script, so most people call it "Three-body Stone Classic". "Zhengshi Stone Classic" only engraved part of the text in "Shangshu" and "Chunqiu Zuoshi Zhuan".The scriptures have also been destroyed, leaving only remnants of stones. "Kaicheng Stone Classic", also known as "Tang Stone Classic", was first engraved in the seventh year of Emperor Wenzong of Tang Dynasty (833 AD) and finished in the second year of Kaicheng (837 AD), hence the name.The contents include "Book of Changes", "Shangshu", "Mao Poems", "Zhou Li", "Rituals", "Book of Rites", "Chunqiu Zuoshi Biography", "Gongyang Biography", "Guliang Biography", " There are 12 kinds of Confucian classics such as "Book of Filial Piety", "Erya", etc., with 227 stone carvings, a total of 163 volumes, and more than 650,000 characters.Jingcheng, standing in the two corridors of the lecture hall of the Guozijian Taixue in Wubenfang, Chang'an.Later, due to the earthquake in the Ming Dynasty, it was slightly damaged, and it is now in the Xi'an Forest of Steles Museum.

The "Shu Stone Classic" was engraved in the first year of Guangzheng's first year (938 A.D.) by Meng Chang of Later Shu, also known as "Guangzheng Stone Classic" and "Houshu Stone Classic".Including "Book of Filial Piety", "Erya", "Book of Changes", "Mao Shi", "Shangshu", "Yili", "Book of Rites", "Zhouli", "Chunqiu Zuoshi Zhuan", "Gongyang There are 15 kinds such as Biography of Guliang, Biography of Guliang, Mencius, Ancient Wen Shangshu, and Kaoyi of Stone Classics.In the past, only the scriptures were engraved, but this time the scriptures and annotations were engraved at the same time, with a total of more than 1.2 million characters, thus preserving a large number of valuable historical materials.Jingcheng, established in the Shijingtang of Chengdu Fuxue.Now lost.

The Stone Classic of the Northern Song Dynasty was first engraved in the first year of Qingli (1041 A.D.) of Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty and completed in the first year of Jiayou (1061 A.D.), so it is also called "Jiayou Stone Classic".The scriptures are carved in seal script and real script, so it is also called "two body stone scriptures".Including "Book of Changes", "Shangshu", "Mao Shi", "Zhou Li", "Book of Rites", "Chunqiu Zuo Shi Zhuan", "Book of Filial Piety", "Mencius" and other nine classics.After completion, set up Bianjing (Kaifeng) Taixue.Today lost.

"The Book of Stones of the Southern Song Dynasty", engraved in the twelfth year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1143), is also known as "The Book of Stones written by Gaozong Yushu".There are five classics such as "Book of Changes", "Mao Shi", "Shangshu", "Mencius" and so on.It was carved and stood in Lin'an (now Hangzhou) Taixue Shoushan Pavilion and the corridor of the third auditorium of Dacheng Hall. It has about 200 stones and 86 steles. The "Stone Classics of the Qing Dynasty" was first engraved in the fifty-sixth year of Qianlong's reign (AD 1791) and completed in the fifty-ninth year (AD 1794), also known as the "Qianlong Stone Classics".Inscribed with "Zhouyi", "Shangshu", "Mao Shi", "Zhouli", "Yili", "Book of Rites", "Chunqiu Zuoshi Biography", "Gongyang Biography", "Guliang Biography", 13 scriptures such as "Book of Filial Piety", "Erya" and "Mencius", plus the edict in the fifty-sixth year of Qianlong and the Heshen table in the sixty years (AD 1795), a total of 190 stones were carved and stood in the There are two verandas of Beijing Taixue (Guozijian).Now it is well preserved and has been moved to a place called "soft" between Guozijian and Confucius Temple for people to visit.

There are several types of Buddhist scriptures inscribed on cliffs, Buddhist scriptures inscribed on steles, and scriptures inscribed on sutras.It was first engraved in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and prevailed in Tang, Liao and Jin Dynasties.The scriptures inscribed on cliffs can be represented by "Anyue Reclining Buddha Court Carved Sutras"; Buddhist scriptures inscribed on steles can be represented by "Fangshan Stone Scriptures".Anyue Reclining Buddha Temple is located in the central part of Sichuan. The mountains and rocks in the territory are beautiful. There are cliffs left in the past.The Reclining Buddha Temple was first built in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty (713-741 A.D.). There were more than 1,600 statues in the Song Dynasty. There were 15 scripture-carved holes in the Tang Dynasty. 40 in total.The engraved scripture caves are on the cliffs on both sides of the Wofo Valley, either overlapping up and down, or connecting left and right.Among them, the cave wall has been engraved with 15 holes of Buddhist scriptures. Most of the scriptures are engraved on the left, middle and right sides of the cave. There are also three places engraved on the stone wall door frame of the cave.Both regular script and running script are available.In addition to the preface and list of sutras engraved on the left wall of Cave No. 46, the content is mainly "Mahaparinirvana Sutra", followed by "Miaofa Lotus Sutra", "Buddha Name Sutra", "Great Convenient Buddha Repays Grace Sutra", " Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra and so on.Because the scriptures engraved here are relatively complete and large in number, scriptures and statues coexist, and there are some inscriptions available for research, the value of historical materials is high, and it is of great value to the study of Sichuan Buddhist history.

Taoist scriptures are mainly inscribed on stones of a single scripture, which began with the "Longxingguan Tao Te Ching Stele" inscribed in the second year of Jinglong in the Tang Dynasty (708 A.D.).There are Huangdi's "Yinfu Jing", Laozi, "Changqing Jing", "Dispelling Disasters and Protecting Life", "Sheng Tian Gai Dao Jing", "Northern Zhenwu Jing", "Xianxuan Jing", "Dongxuan Jing" There are more than 10 kinds.