Collection of Elite Chinese Rubbings on Show

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 02, 2001

Collection of Elite Chinese Rubbings on Show

A collection of rubbings from stone inscriptions, which includes the best examples of the 2,200-year-old Chinese art of calligraphy, was put on show in Beijing Saturday.

A collection of rubbings from stone inscriptions, which includes the best examples of the 2,200-year-old Chinese art of calligraphy, was put on show in Beijing Saturday.

The collection includes rubbings made from more than 300 stone inscriptions, prefaces and postscripts, book title labels and headnotes and inscribed by more than 260 ancient and present-day Chinese calligraphers.

Since 221 B.C. it has been a Chinese tradition to carve characters on stone, steles, said Ren Jiyu, curator of China's National Library.

He said the stone inscriptions are precious source material forthe study of history, ancient culture and ancient Chinese calligraphy.

It took editors two years to complete the eight-volume book series. All the rubbings included in the book series are selected from the collection in the National Library.

The publication also marks the beginning of a readers' month program launched by the National Library, with an aim to encouragereaders to read more books and increase their knowledge.