Rubbing of a Stone from the Tang-Fang Collection

Figures, birds, and a chariot depicted in three registers correspond to a stone relief from the east wall of the front stone chamber in the Wu Liang shrine: the top register shows a procession with a horse carriage; the second has scenes of filial piety; the third presents a banquet scene. However, missing inscribed labels to identify the scenes and a carriage replaced by two figures in the lower left corner reveal that this rubbing differs from the Wu Liang shrine version. The museum’s rubbing was either altered, taken from a different local Han dynasty shrine, or from a later stone slab that was recarved to produce rubbings for the market.