Inscriptions on Drum-shaped Stone Blocks (Shiguwen)

Shiguwen, the earliest Chinese script cut on stone, is kept in the Palace Museum (Forbidden City) of Beijing. It is in the form of inscriptions, on 10 drum-shaped stone blocks, of 10 poems of 4-character lines, depicting the ruler of a state on a big hunt. The characters are written in a style called dazhuan (big seal character) and have been taken as the "earliest model of zhuan-style. writing", important to the development and studies of Chinese calligraphy.

The "stone drums" were discovered in the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) at Tianxing (present-day Baoji in Shanxi Province) and caused a stir among men of letters and calligrahpers. Celebrated poets like Du Fu, Han Yu and Su Dongpo sang of the discovery in verse. It was only after the end of World War II that the "stone drums" were moved to Beijing for safekeeping. But age, rough handling and long-distance transport have told on the valuable relics. Many of the characters have disappeared or eroded by weathering, and one of the "drums" has even become completely devoid of any engraving.

Before the invention of paper and printing, the best way in China to keep outstanding writings and calligraphic works was to carve them on stone. Those cut on drum-shaped blocks are called shiguwen (stone-drum inscriptions); and those cut on steles and tablets are called beiwen.

The former, being much earlier and rarer, are greatly treasured.

The dating of the set of stone drums under discussion was a subject of controversy over the ages. Careful research made by archaeologists in recent years has led to the conclusion that they were engraved in the state of Qin during the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) and are therefore well over 2,000 years old.