In the Christmas break of 2007, James and I took a ten day trip to the ancient city of Xi'an, China. Although the weather was bitterly cold, we saw a lot, ate a lot, walked a lot and had a lot of fun! One of the places we visited was Beilin (碑林), a museum displaying important works and calligraphies carved in stone tablets. James and I spent hours there reading the steles. Well, he read while I marvelled at them.
The Chinese charaters read Beilin, calligraphy by Lin Ze Xu (林则徐).
Jingyun Bell. The bell was cast in the year 711 in Tang dynasty and weighs six tons. The bell is noted for its crystal clear, beautiful sound.
Me, inspecting the calligraphy of Chu Suiliang (褚遂良), one of the great calligraphers of the Tang Dynasty. Part of the tablet bears Emperor Li Shimin's Preface to the Buddhist scriptures translated by the famous monk Xuan Zang (玄奘).
Inscription from the Yan Family Shrine (颜家庙碑). The famous calligrapher Yan Zhengqing (颜真卿) wrote about his family and ancestor's history in this famous stone tablet. He was 72 when he wrote this: the strokes are so pleasing to the eyes.
The monk Huai Su (懷素) was famous for his cursive calligraphic writing.
On the left: calligraphy by Emperor Qinlong (乾隆黄帝). On the right: callgraphy by Emperor Kangxi (康熙)
You can buy ink rubbings of your favourite calligraphy from the street vendors outside. Here's a worker making an ink rubbing.
Shu Yuan Men 书院门古文化街 (The Arts Street). This street, located outside of Beilin, is a haven for Chinese calligraphy enthusiasts. We bought calligraphy ink rubbings, folk art paintings, and hand-written Chinese calligraphy scrolls and paintings.
Shops line both sides of the stone street selling various arts and crafts. These shops sell all the implements you need for Chinese calligraphy: brushes, ink, ink stone, rice paper etc.
Street vendors selling arts and crafts.
Arts Street seen above from Xi'an City Wall. Street vendors dot along the street.
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