Rubbing of a Stone from the Tang-Fang Collection

東漢武梁祠畫像石拓片

1900–1916

China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911) or Republican period

(1912-49)

Medium

Rubbing, ink on paper, horizontal scroll

Measurements

Overall: 66.7 x 181.6 cm (26 1/4 x 71 1/2 in.); Rubbing only: 134 x 53.2 cm (52 3/4 x 20 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Yamanaka & Company 1919.75

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

In the period before photography, life-size rubbings of sculptures and cultural relics from ancient sites were useful study material.

Description

This rubbing corresponds in composition with stone reliefs from the east wall in stone chamber 3 of the Wu Liang shrine. The upper register illustrates stories of virtuous women.

Read from right to left, the last scene in the upper left corner shows a bed under a roof that is labeled “Virtuous Woman of the Capital.” The story relates that a woman was blackmailed into helping to kill her husband. She pretended to cooperate but took her husband’s place in bed. When the killers realized in the morning that they had decapitated the woman, they abandoned their murderous plan.