Jiaoshan Forest of Steles

Jiaoshan Beilin, also known as Baomo Pavilion, was founded in the eighth year of the Qingli Period of the Northern Song Dynasty (1048). It consists of cliff carvings and a Beilin exhibition hall. It is one of the four major Beilin in China, second only to the Xi'an Beilin . There are more than 80 important cliff carvings in Jiaoshan Beilin, and more than 400 steles. Among them are the "Inscription on the Buried Crane", which is revered as the "ancestor of large characters" by calligraphers of all dynasties, the "Gang of Diamond Sutra" carved in the Tang Dynasty, the "Title and Inscription of Mi Fu" carved in the Song Dynasty, the "Inscription on the Buried Crane" carved in the snow by Lu You, and the complete set of "Chengjiantang Stone Carvings" carved in the Qing Dynasty. They are all top-quality and precious. Over the years, Jiaoshan Stele Beilin has been famous for its exquisite stele carvings, long cliff carvings and unique Jiangnan garden landscape. Baomo Pavilion: Baomo Pavilion was originally the site of Ziran Temple, Xianglin Temple, Yufeng Temple and Haiyun Temple. The Beilin contains more than 400 steles from various dynasties, including calligraphy works of many historical celebrities. Among them are the "Preface to the Theory of Breaking Heresies" written by Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty; 30 five-character poems "Inscribed on Duobao Pagoda" by Yan Zhenqing of the Tang Dynasty; the "City Forest" banner by Mi Fu, a calligrapher and painter of the Song Dynasty; Huang Tingjian's "On Keeping Furcators"; Su Dongpo's "Inscription on Wen Tong Mozhu" and "Inscription on Mozhu"; two stone carvings in small regular script by Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan Dynasty; and seven pieces of "Returning to the Countryside" written by Prince Cheng of the Qing Dynasty. All of them are works of famous artists and have their own characteristics. The cliff carvings are distributed on the cliffs along the river, stretching for more than 200 meters, and there are inscriptions by famous poets from thousands of years. There are six dynasties, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties in time; there are various calligraphy styles such as regular, cursive, official and seal characters in the fonts, and the content is rich, just like a natural exhibition of ancient calligraphy. As a "mountain of calligraphy" renowned both at home and abroad, it houses "Preface to the Theory of Breaking Heresies" by Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, "Stele of Wei Fashi" from the early Tang Dynasty, "Five-character Poems on Duobao Pagoda" by Yan Zhenqing of the Tang Dynasty (30 poems in total and 44 pieces), "City and Mountains" banner by Mi Fu of the Song Dynasty, "Epitaph for Mr. Qian Wang" by Wen Zhengming of the Ming Dynasty, "Returning to the Countryside" by Prince Cheng of the Qing Dynasty, and so on.