In July 2022,a stele was unearthed from Cuiping District,Yibin.The stele has a turtle-shaped pedestal facing southwest,which basically remains intact.Despite of the neat breakage on the upper part,the stele body remains in the slot on the pedestal.Both the pedestal and the stele body are made of whole pieces of gray sand stone.The base of the pedestal is near rectangular in plane,2 meters in length,1.9 meter in width and 0.4 meter in height.The turtle is similar in plane size with the base,0.9 meter high.The remnant of the stele body is 1.7 meter wide,1.6 meter tall and 0.45 meter thick.From its shape and analysis of the inscriptions,it is identified as the Stele of Wei Nankang's Meritorious Service which was erected in Rongzhou City,Tang Dynasty.The front of the stele is inscribed with the merits of Wei Nankang(Wei Gao),while the back side is inscribed with Wei Nankang's memorial of gratitude and Emperor Dezong's reply.Both sides of the stele are inscribed with summary and supplement.The inscriptions recorded the changes of Wei Gao's important official positions.He entered Xichuan as the"General of Left Jinwu and Governor of Jiannan Xichuan",and when he wrote the memorial of gratitude to the emperor his tile had became Prince of Nankang and Governor of Surrounding Minorities.The inscriptions also recorded Wei Gao's major political and military strategies as well as distinguished achievements,that he won over the people with benevolence and integrity,and obtained the allegiance of King Yimouxun of Nanzhao.The inscriptions also said"Yunnan used to be the Yongchang Prefecture in Han Dynasty,and became separated since the Wei-Jin period."According to the content as well as the style and size of characters of the inscription,in combination with corresponding historical records,it can be inferred that the original stele was 5.6 meters tall and was erected at a ferry by the Minjiang River in the Rongzhou City in Tang Dynasty.
Stele of Tang DynastyRongzhouStele of Wei Nankang's Meritorious ServiceWei Gao
万方数据
维普
