- Kaicheng Stone Classics
The Kaicheng Stone Classics (開成石經) are a group of twelve early Chinese classic works carved on the orders of the
Tang dynasty Emperor Wenzong (Li Ang) in 837 as a reference document for scholars. The works include the "theBook of Changes "; "the Book of History"; "the Book of Songs"; "Account of the Rite of the Zhou Dynasty"; "the Book of Ceremony"; "the Book of Rites"; "Zuo Qiuming's Commentary onSpring and Autumn Annals "; "Gongyang's Commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals"; "Guliang's Commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals"; "theAnalects ofConfucius "; "the Canon of Filial Piety" and "theErya ". The classics, with more than 650,000 characters engraved double-sided on 114 stone tablets of stone, are presently preserved in theStele Forest Museum inXi'an , China. The works ofMencius totalling an additional 30,00 characters were added on a further 17 tablets in theQing dynasty , making a total of thirteen classic works. Widely regarded as the world's heaviest books, the collection is important for preserving the text of key documents of Chinese culture.
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