The Statue Stele of Nanhe

The Statue Stele of Nanhe

The Statue Stele of Nanhe is a cultural relic protection unit of Hebei Province.

The Northern Qi Dynasty stele is also known as the "Spirit-Permeating Stele." It is a relief statue stele. Legend has it that when standing in front of the stele, one could hear the sounds of court trials taking place in the Nanhe County government hall, hence earning its renowned nickname of being “spirit-permeating.” The stele is now broken into two parts, connected vertically by iron dowels. It faces south and stands to the north, with light still visible passing through the crack in the middle. Both the front and back of the stele feature relief carvings of statues. The carvings are finely crafted, with smooth lines and lifelike images. On the sides of the stele, there is an inscription indicating that it was renovated in the ninth year of the Yuanhe era of the Tang Dynasty (814 AD) by the monk Zhishen.

The stele is housed within a simple brick structure stele pavilion oriented from north to south, which provides basic rain shelter. The pavilion is open-style, meaning that only the east and west sides of the stele have closely built walls, while the north and south sides—facing the front and back of the stele—are left open, with a ridged roof. The lower part of the stele is clearly still partially buried underground. The stele is 1.45 meters wide, 0.39 meters thick, and, according to records, 4.30 meters in height. It is unknown in which dynasty or year the stele broke into upper and lower sections. The current joint still has a noticeable gap, with iron dowel holes in the middle for connection. Both the front and back feature relief carvings. The front side has 12 gabled Buddhist niches, carved with 32 Buddha statues of varying sizes. The carvings are finely crafted, with smooth lines and lifelike, vivid images. The larger niches have all lost their heads, likely due to the misfortune suffered when, in the 1930s, unscrupulous individuals frantically removed and sold Buddha heads to foreigners.

On the lower part of the southern face of the carvings, there is an inscription recording the donors. The first line can faintly be read as: “On the 13th day of the second month of the year of Yimao during the great □ Tian □□□□, the monk (or Taoist Yan) of Huiju Temple (raised funds to carve this),” the second line reads: “The sponsor □□□□, Shangma, the Emperor □, all respectfully commissioned the carving of this stone stele,” the third and fourth lines are difficult to decipher, the fifth line reads: “Sponsor Song □ Bao, Sponsor Song Monk Huai, Sponsor Song You Monk, Sponsor Song ? Nu,” followed by a total of 43 lines listing the names of “sponsor” donors who jointly contributed to the carving. In addition to those with the surname Song, there are also many other surnames such as Dou, Guo, Zhao, Li, Sun, Wang, Jia, Cheng, Yang, Zhou, Gao, Liu, Tian, Wu, Feng, Lü, Pan, Huo, Jiao, Ma, Kong, and Le, totaling approximately 280 people. This shows how many people were involved and influential in the commissioning and creation of this stele.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Hebei Province