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Got this nice temple charcoal rub with inscription; can anyone translate the writing?

looks like it's supposed to be the third image (of an unknown number of rubbings in the set) depicting a seated buddha and attendants, whose carving dates to the Northern Wei (386-534)

Only got the one; purchased at estate sale. Has conservation glass framing and matting. Does it give a name of the temple or date of the rubbing? I see charcoal rubs on eBay for a couple bucks, any clue why the high dollar framing?

Hi Rat,

Agree with you. But Patrick, this is not a charcoal rubbing or a wax rubbing like those from Thailand or the ones you may see of English tomb images.

Chinese rubbings are reproductions of carved stone stele and tomb wall carvings. First the stone is lightly sprayed with a very weak glue solution, and then Chinese hand-made xuan paper is applied to the surface, and gently pressed with a coir brush to impress the grooves into the paper so that only the image is left raised.

Chinese ink is then prepared, and a pad of silk (usually stuffed with cotton) is moistened with the ink, and very gently dabbed onto the surface, gradually darkening the image.

This is a time-consuming process and is now severely restricted in China in order to preserve the stele, some of which are extremely ancient. That is why these rubbings are now both rare and costly.

In the first picture above you can see the faint traces of the laid lines in the paper which are the result of the bamboo screen on which the paper is made.

Mike Oz

Thank you Mike; when I first saw the picture I was impressed by the high cost conservation glass framing. I have seen Thailand rubs in two dollar frames and not impressed at all. Someone spent hundreds on framing this one up. Kind of figured it was special. Being illegal to make any more in China does make this rare. Thanks again for the info.

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