Dashizheng's Clan Stone Carvings

Dashizheng Clan Stone Carvings

The Dashizheng Clan Stone Carvings are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Dashizheng Clan Stone Carvings are located in Dashicun Village, Shanzhuang Township, Anfu County, Jiangxi Province.

The Dashizheng stone carvings are distributed along a north-south line within the natural village, covering a distance of about 1 kilometer. They can be divided into four concentrated clusters, namely the “Fishing Platform,” “Huge Rock,” “Lake and Mountain,” and “Grind-shaped Mountain” stone carvings. In total, there are 15 surviving stone slabs, 32 inscribed pieces, and 65 inscribed lines. Among them, 5,286 characters are identifiable, accounting for 88.4% of the total inscribed text. Due to weathering and fragmentation of the rock surfaces, approximately 500 characters remain undecipherable.

The carvings were created over a period from the 7th year of the Zhengtong era of Emperor Yingzong of Ming (1447) to the 10th year of the Hongzhi era of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming (1497), spanning a total of 51 years. The texts vary in form, including visitation inscriptions, epitaphs, memorial texts, biographies, poetry, elegiac verses, birthday couplets, and more. The authors include renowned Ming officials such as Li Xian, Ke Jian, Peng Shi, Liu Dingzhi, Liu Ji, Li Shao, and Bi Kui, as well as members of the Peng family and their relatives and friends. The content of the carvings reflects the rural family life of five imperial examination scholars across four generations of the Peng clan. This includes mourning and commemorative inscriptions, promotions and official duties, homecoming and ancestral worship, birthday celebrations and visits, retirement and leisure, local legends and supernatural tales, as well as poetic compositions and exchanges. These carvings authentically document the social interactions and cultural mindset of an official family, providing a model for the study of the history of bureaucratic families in ancient China, and hold significant value for humanities research.

The surviving stone carvings are divided into four concentrated clusters from north to south, namely the “Fishing Platform Inscriptions,” the “Huge Rock” inscription cluster, the “Lake and Mountain” inscription cluster, and the “Grind-shaped Mountain” inscription. Each stone slab is divided into several pieces based on the carved surface or specifications, and each piece is further divided into several lines according to different time periods and content forms. The “Fishing Platform Inscriptions” consist of 1 slab, 1 piece, and 1 line; the “Huge Rock” inscription cluster has 8 slabs, totaling 20 pieces and 45 lines; the “Lake and Mountain” inscription cluster contains 5 slabs, 10 pieces, and 18 lines; the “Grind-shaped Mountain” inscription consists of 1 slab, 1 piece, and 1 line. In total, the four distribution points comprise 15 stone slabs (numbered), 32 pieces, and 65 lines.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units