Fonds SC58 - Copy of the Inscription from a Stone Tablet, Baidi Cheng, China

1 tracing and accompanying envelope

It is unknown who created this tracing or drawing on tracing paper.

in 1972 the tracing was found in an envelope addressed to the Librarian of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society from E.J. Brill-Leiden, postmarked 10 May 1971. The envelope was pinned to a copy of 'The Currency of the Far East' by Fr. Schöth, published in 1929. This book came into the collection in March 1930. It is not known how the copy of the inscription came to be inside the book,

A copy of the inscription from the stone tablet depicting a pair of phoenixes amongst peonies, overshadowed by a wutong tree, The original tablet was carved in the late nineteenth century and still survives at Baidi Cheng, an islet in the Yangzi River near Fengjie town in Sichuan, immediately west of narrow Qutang Gorge. The inscription tells how Baidi Cheng, White Emperor City, was founded by the first-century general Gongsun Shu and named after the dragon-like swirls of white mist which gathered about a well there. It also recalls how Bao Chao [跑超], retreated to Baidi Cheng and practised calligraphy. Bao Chao is also identified as the creator of the picture.

The copy of the inscription is on tracing paper and is a copy of the complete inscription but none of the surrounding image.

The original envelope in which it was found has been kept with the inscription. Addressed to the Librarian of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society it has been annotated by hand with details of the book in which the inscription was found and dating this discovery to 12 September 1972.

Open. Please contact the archivist using the email address given here: https://royalasiaticarchives.org/. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

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For further information please see the article: A warrior’s phoenixes by David Leffman, published 23 December 2022, https://www.davidleffman.com/a-warriors-phoenixes/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2XJCrSYg3dKDmv3t8t3sLrjAnhoSIlNB6RnOngQHWOfu2LUP91Q-TO0qs_aem_ASGDW-btdGuH_BkcsgouvhUe9LYgfW0fDzQypuuzmEcht19tbgGl8LMUMqpNz_k-uwk78Q_C3dkA8pmgilEyK6nl.
Grateful thanks to David Leffman for pointing me to this article and to Sven Osterkamp who pointed me to Harvard library's entry: https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/chinese-rubbings-collection/catalog/6-W280196_URN-3:FHCL:949884 when I asked for help in identifying the inscription on social media

This catalogue was created by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2024.

For further information please see the article: A warrior’s phoenixes by David Leffman, published 23 December 2022, https://www.davidleffman.com/a-warriors-phoenixes/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2XJCrSYg3dKDmv3t8t3sLrjAnhoSIlNB6RnOngQHWOfu2LUP91Q-TO0qs_aem_ASGDW-btdGuH_BkcsgouvhUe9LYgfW0fDzQypuuzmEcht19tbgGl8LMUMqpNz_k-uwk78Q_C3dkA8pmgilEyK6nl.
Grateful thanks to David Leffman for pointing me to this article and to Sven Osterkamp who pointed me to Harvard' library: https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/chinese-rubbings-collection/catalog/6-W280196_URN-3:FHCL:949884 when asked for help in identifying the inscription on social media