Rubbings of the Xi'an Stele
Content Description
Rubbings of the Xi'an Stele (also known as the "Nestorian Stele"), a memorial stone erected in 718 AD in northwest China, to commemorate the presence of the Nestorian Christian Church in the area at the time. The whole stele is nearly three metres tall, with text in both Chinese and Syriac. The heading translates as "Memorial of the Propagation in China of the Luminous Religion from Daqin [Rome]".
Rubbings of the heading and of the body of the text.
Dates
- Creation: 19th century[?]
Language of Materials
Chinese and Syriac
Condition Description
The East Asian paper is folded and extremely fragile, and torn in some places. Handle with care.
Conditions Governing Access
Open, but access might be restricted due to the fragile state of the rubbings. Please contact the repository in advance.
Biographical / Historical
The Xi'an Stele (also known as the "Nestorian Stele") is a memorial stone erected in 718 AD in northwest China, to commemorate the presence of the Nestorian Christian Church in the area at the time. The stele was buried in 845 AD during a period of religious persecution, and rediscovered in the 1620s. It was rapidly brought to the attention of the Jesuit Christian missionaries then working in China, and has been a subject of fascination and scholarship ever since.
Extent
1 folder
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Provenance uncertain.
Rubbing of the heading found separately in 2014/15 in Chinese printed books donated to the Library in the 1950s or 1960s (reference RB.FF.257/7). It was then briefly kept with the Art Collections (reference EU 5618), before being transferred to Archives in 2022.
The rest of the rubbings were found with another collection in 2022, with no provenance information, although they do appear to match the heading. Complete set accessioned and catalogued in 2023.
Condition Description
The East Asian paper is folded and extremely fragile, and torn in some places. Handle with care.
Processing Information
Catalogued in October 2023 by Aline Brodin
- Title
- Rubbings of the Xi'an Stele
- Author
- Aline Brodin
- Date
- October 2023
- Description rules
- Isad(G)2
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository
Centre for Research Collections
University of Edinburgh Main Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44(0)131 650 8379
heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk