Gaochang: Stele Erected by Juqu Anzhou

CHINA, Xinjiang, Turpan; Northern Liang Kingdom

Excavated from the Gaochang site in Turpan, this stele inscription consists of 22 lines, each containing 47 characters, and was drafted by Xia Houcan. The stele was removed by German explorers in 1903 and is currently kept at a museum in Berlin. It describes the devotion of Juqu Anzhou, a prince of the Northern Liang Kingdom (397–439), to Buddhism, as well as the details of the construction and development of his temple.
While on an inspection tour of Europe under imperial orders in 1906, Duan Fang discovered the stele and brought back an original rubbing, which is currently kept at the National Museum of China in Beijing.
Stone inscriptions that date from the Northern Liang Kingdom are rare. Scored with grid lines, this stele contains characters that are written with angular strokes, the form of each of which varies in size, thickness, and stroke inclination creating a breaking wave stroke. Most of the horizontal strokes begin in regular script and end with typical clerical goose tails, although they are not as eloquent and diverse as that of the Han clerical script. On the whole, the piece is natural and exudes vitality.