Abbot's Tablet

Abbot's Tablet

The Abbot’s Tablet is a cultural relic under the protection of Yuyao City.

The Han Dynasty Stele of the Three Elders unearthed in Yuyao holds an important position in the history of epigraphy and is now housed in the Xiling Seal Art Society on Gushan Island in Hangzhou. The oldest and most completely preserved stele still existing in our city is the Abbot’s Tablet at Jiangshan Temple. Originally located within Jiangshan Temple, it was moved to the Yaoxi Buddhist Society after the temple was demolished and is now situated in front of a residence in Jiangshan Village, Moushan Town. Backed by rolling peaks and facing Moushan Lake, the village is covered with towering ancient trees, offering truly unique scenery. The resident family lives about 500 meters from Jiangshan Village, in a standalone house nestled within a mountain hollow surrounded by green hills. To its east is Qingwan, to the north is Caoxie Pagou, to the south is Tian’ao, and about 100 meters to the west lies Jiangnü Pool.

The tablet was engraved in the third year of the Qingyuan era during the Southern Song Dynasty (1197), in the fifth month. It is made of Meiyuan stone, in a reddish-brown color, and most of its inscriptions remain intact. However, after more than eight hundred years, the wear of time has left its marks—some parts have weathered, making the characters difficult to discern, and there is now a crack running through the middle. The stone tablet is 1.38 meters tall, 0.99 meters wide, and 0.105 meters thick. Both sides are inscribed with text. The front side is titled “Eulogy on the True Portrait of Master Huangbo Pei,” comprising over 500 characters arranged in eighteen lines of twelve to twenty-eight characters each. Written in upright regular script, it mainly records a dialogue between Master Xian of Guangjiao Chan Temple in Xuancheng and Monk Tong on Chan discipline and precepts, inscribed by Li Guang, written by Zou Dejiu, and carved by Miaoge. The reverse side features “Five Poems by Master Tang Yuan,” also in regular script, consisting of sixteen lines. Each poem takes as its theme one of the five peaks—Golden Rooster Peak, Emei Peak, Accumulated Jade Peak, Soaring Clouds Peak, and White Horse Peak—and includes five seven-character quatrains and one additional seven-character quatrain titled “Farewell Poem to Jiangshan by Monk Tong.” At the bottom of the tablet, the two large characters “方丈” (“Abbot’s”) are horizontally inscribed, carved by Jiang Chun. These six seven-character quatrains feature elegant writing and beautifully depict the scenic beauty of the five peaks of Jiangshan.

The regular script of the Abbot’s Tablet is dignified and well-proportioned, with vigorous brushstrokes that exhibit the structural strength of Yan Zhenqing and the elegance of Liu Gongquan. It displays a masterful balance of restraint and freedom, free from any sense of constraint, making it a true masterpiece of calligraphy.

In March 1997, the stele was designated as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit by the People’s Government of Yuyao City.

Moushan Town: Located on the Ningbo-Shaoxing Plain, Moushan Town is the western gateway to Ningbo. Covering a total area of 38.5 square kilometers, the town administers seven administrative villages and one neighborhood committee, with a total population of 20,324. It is home to Moushan Lake, the second-largest natural lake in Ningbo. The area is rich in historic sites and boasts pleasant scenery. Transportation in the region is convenient, with Provincial Highway 61, the Xiaoshan-Ningbo Railway, and the Zhedong Canal running across the town. The Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway has an interchange nearby, and the Hangzhou Bay Cross-sea Bridge Connection Road links Moushan to the Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway. This is both a recreational haven and a hotspot for investment. In recent years, under the leadership of the town’s Party Committee and government... More detailed information about Moushan Town++