Stone Classics () are canonical scriptures engraved on stone slabs or rocks. In Chinese, a distinction is usually made between Confucian and Buddhist ones, the latter often being translated as âÂÂstone sutrasâÂÂ. Similar examples also exist in Daoism.
The Stone Classics were created in Confucianism particularly as large-scale state projects (see Xiping Stone Classics of the Han dynasty, Zhengshi Stone Classics of the Wei dynasty (Cao Wei), Kaicheng Stone Classics of the Tang dynasty). Their function was to establish the canonical version of the Five or more Confucian Classics and Four Books and to demonstrate the standard form of Chinese characters.
According to the Hungarian sinologist Imre Galambos carving the text of classics into stone obviously was <blockquote> âÂÂalso an act of creating a standard text, not only orthography. But the fact that the Wei and Tang stone classics were in different scripts shows that character forms were perhaps even more important than issues of textual criticism. Han, Wei, and even Tang stone inscriptions testify to the lack of orthographic consistency.â </blockquote>
In Buddhism the engraving of scriptures was carried out in a way similar to the copying of sutras or the private compilation of Buddhist Tripitakas. It served individuals, families, or communities as a means of accumulating spiritual merit. Among these, the Fangshan Stone Canon (Fangshan shijing ) is particularly well known, as it was continued over the course of many centuries.
The following section is a short overview to the Confucian classics carved in stone since the Han dynasty, various versions of these Stone Classics have existed: