The Daguan Shengzuo Stele in Zhao County

The Daguan Shengzuo Stele in Zhao County

The Daguan Shengzuo Stele in Zhao County is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Located in the county seat of Zhao County, Hebei Province, the stele was carved in the second year of Daguan during the Northern Song Dynasty (1108). Made of bluestone, the stele has an integrated head and body, featuring a tall and exquisitely carved structure. It stands 5.14 meters high, 1.38 meters wide, and 0.38 meters thick. The top is oval-shaped. The stele’s head is adorned with seven dragons coiled around the apex, with three dragons on each side. Their heads face downward and are aligned along the sides of the stele, while their bodies twist upward, intertwine, and interlace. Another dragon’s head emerges from the center of the back of the stele’s head, with its front legs embracing the legs of the dragons on both sides, its hind legs extending from the front of the stele’s head, and its claws encircling a flaming pearl. From the front of the stele, only two dragons can be seen on the head.

In the center of the head, the six characters “Daguan Shengzuo Zhi Bei” (The Stele of Holy Edicts of Daguan) are inscribed in regular script in intaglio. The body of the stele is surrounded by shallow carvings of continuous patterns of coiled dragons and peony vines. The text is inscribed in intaglio, consisting of 20 lines of main content with 1,013 characters, 3 lines of explanation totaling 76 characters, and 4 lines of signature with 169 characters, amounting to a total of 1,258 characters, of which 69 are now missing. The stele sits on a tortoise-shaped base. The upper part of the stele is fractured.

The Daguan Shengzuo Stele was an imperial edict stele erected in 1108 during the Daguan era of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty in palace schools, imperial colleges, Biyong (Imperial Learning Hall), and various counties and prefectures. In March of the first year of Daguan (1107), Emperor Huizong issued an edict establishing the Eight Virtues system for selecting scholars. On September 28 of the same year, Zheng Juzhong, Academician of the Zizheng Hall and Attendant Reader, petitioned to have the imperial eight-virtue edict inscribed on stone and erected first in palace schools, then in imperial colleges, Biyong, and throughout the counties and prefectures. After approval, on August 29 of the second year of Daguan (1108), Zheng Jiuzhong, Minister of Rites and Attendant Lecturer, was ordered to engrave the stele using the imperial brush bestowed upon him.

The text of the stele was written in the slim gold style imitated by Li Shiyong, Doctor of Calligraphy, in the manner of Emperor Huizong. It is unknown how many such imperial edict steles were erected nationwide at the time, but only six survive today. Aside from the one in Zhao County, the others are located at the Hongqi District People’s Court in Xinxiang City, Henan Province; in the Dai Temple Stele Forest in Tai’an; in the Confucian Temple of Xingping County, Shaanxi Province; in the Confucian Temple of Pingxiang County, Hebei Province; and in the Xi’an Stele Forest.

This stele is a highly valuable document in the history of education and the imperial examination system in China. In terms of calligraphy art, the slim gold style created by Emperor Huizong is unique among various calligraphy schools. The slim gold style uses only central strokes, resulting in a slender, strong, and upright script that resembles iron strokes and silver hooks—vigorous, graceful, and elegant. The ends of horizontal strokes hook slightly, vertical strokes end with dots, left-falling strokes resemble daggers, right-falling strokes resemble knife edges, and transitional connected strokes flow like silk in the air. Although the stele text was not written by the emperor himself, its spirit and style closely resemble the imperial brush.

The Daguan Shengzuo Stele in Zhao County is the best-preserved among all surviving versions of this stele in China. Its inscriptions are more detailed than those recorded in similar historical materials, providing reliable physical evidence for the study of school systems and imperial examination practices in the Northern Song Dynasty. The stele also holds certain artistic value in calligraphy.