Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 19th Century (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 rubbing, 1 sheet
Context area
Name of creator
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This consists of one large sheet formed by pasting together eight smaller sheets, measuring approximately 82cm (w) × 368cm (h) in total. The rubbing contains Chinese writing on the right and Tibetan writing on the left. The Chinese characters are only faintly legible, and the Tibetan are mostly illegible, but the piece is presumably a reproduction of the Sino–Tibetan Empire Treaty Inscription on the stone pillar erected in Lhasa in AD 823. The rubbing includes the main inscription of the treaty from one of the four sides of the pillar.
A note written on the accompanying wrapping paper reads: 'Rubbing of the Tibetan Chinese Inscription at Lhasa. Presented by W. W. Rockhill 26 Nov. 1893. See JRAS XII n.s. 516–518, 534.'
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open. Please contact the Archivist.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- Chinese
- Tibetan
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
The JRAS reference for the second rubbing is to the article The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources by Stephen W. Bushell, published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society in October 1880. The article includes two plates of the inscription along with Bushell’s restoration of the Chinese characters. It is unlikely that the plate in the article was reproduced from this rubbing donated by Rockhill, as the plate features a much more clearer writing than the rubbing.