Zhongguo Gudai Ming Ke Wenwu Zhan

Chinese Epigraphy: Inscribed Relics of Pre-Yuan Era

The University of Hong Kong

Edited by Yau Hok-wah, this catalogue accompanies an exhibition jointly organized by the Hunan Provincial Museum and the Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Eighty items of inscribed relics are presented, ranging from Shang and Zhou times to the Tang and Song dynasties, covering oracle bones, slips, writings on silk, seals, tomb tablets, stelae, coins, mirrors, tiles, bricks, weapons and vessels. The materials include animal shells and bones, bronze, lacquered wood and bamboo, silk, gold, silver, jade, and ceramics. Various ancient script types like oracle bone, seal, clerical, regular and running script are represented. The inscriptions on the artefacts enhance our understanding of ancient societies in terms of history, religion, culture as well as political and social systems. In addition to the exhibits critical value in the studies of Chinese culture and history, many of them are valuable specimens of handsome calligraphy. All exhibits are reproduced in full colour with detail description and rubbings if relevant. Mr. Xiong Jianhua, from the Hunan Provincial Museum, contributed an article on the inception and development of ancient inscriptions in the Yangtze River Valley.

Price: US$40.00