Collection of Chinese Culture: Stone Rubbings

These 4 scrolls containing stone rubbings belong to a collection located at the University of Pennsylvania's Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. The collection contains a total of 9 scrolls consisting of 4 stone rubbings, 4 vertically printed Chinese characters, and 1 lattice filled with Chinese characters. This collection can be accessed here

Stone Rubbings (Buddhist Figures)

Overview

Of the 4 stone rubbings, 2 of them are Buddhist figures. The Buddhist Figures are vertically imprinted within the scrolls and span across the entire length of the scrolls. One of the Buddhist figures, the one facing the right, pictures a Buddhist with a halo above its head. The Buddhist can be seen wearing a long robe while holding a small pouch in his left hand. The second Buddhist stone rubbing faces the left direction with its hands clasped together in a "praying" motion.

Historical Context

Each of the 4 stone rubbings had a small description/note attached respectively. The scroll containing the Buddhist figure without the halo was from T’ien-Leeng-Shen. Besides that short note, the descriptions belonging to the 2 Buddhist figures contained no relevant information about their creator or date of origin. Given the nature of the collection as well as information about other scrolls, it can be assumed that these scrolls were either gifted to the University of Pennsylvania or bought by the University of Pennsylvania from a collector/outside source. The Buddhist figure scrolls were probably hung inside religious buildings such as places of worship or used by monks/religious authorities to teach and spread Buddhism back in China.

Stone Rubbings (Rectangular Scenes)

include references + pictures + footnotes/citations