A Survey of Qian Tang Zhi Zhai

    There is a picturesque landscape place in 45 kilommetes weat of luoyan.It is a hometown of zhang Fang(styled baiying).The name is Tiemen town.Two streams skirt the town in the north and south flowing east.to the westrises the xiaoshang mountain,and to the esat stands the hangu pass,anda long history and serves,to quote Zhang tianyan,noted Chinese scholar,as"a gateway to luoyang"It is also known as the west gate of luoyang.
    Mr.Zhang Fang,with youshi the ols one as his sobriquet,joined the united league of china in his early years,andwas one of the principalengineers of the New Army uprising in Shasxi province.At the time of when Dr.sun Yat-sen launched the movement for defending the constitution.he was the vice Commander in chief of the pacifying Army.Late he held important posts both in the army and in the goverment.At the end of 1949,he rose in revolt with his men and crossed over to the people's side.afterthe founding of the people's Republic of China,he was a member of the secondcppcc NationalCommittee.He died in beijing in 1966.In 1986,on the occasion ofthe 100th anniversary of the birth of.zhangfang,his sons and daughers remoued,according ti his will,his remains from babaoshang,to zhelu,his nativeplace.
    Zhelu Garden,together with Qian tang Zhi Zhai,is also known as Zhang's garden.It was built from 1918.with a mountain to the north and a river to the south.it covers an area of nealy seven hectares.In the autumn of1923,When Kang Youwei was on his way to Shaanxi province,he was invited by zhang fang and stayed at zhelu for a few days.During his stay,Kang youwei was in the good mood and wrote for the horizontal inscribed boards.He wrote couplets.peoms and postscripts as well.zhe lu,two big chinese characters that are now placed high on the facade of the main xoutryard, were written by Kang youwei at the time.
    zhang fang is very like the stone,word,picture.he with YU zuoren,zhang taiyan,Kang youwei are very good friends.Quite a nember of them werelostdue to war and upheaval.there are now 1419 pieces extant including 1191 pieces of the tang dynasty.It was named by Wang Guangqing.former president of henan university,and the name of the gallery on the horizontal inscribed board was written by Zhang taiyan,with the note at the end:Zhang baiying was xin'an has collected thousand pieces of tang tomb inscriptions,hence the name of the gallery.By Zhang taiyan .This is the origin of the name of the Gallety.Qian Tang Zhi Zhai includes one covered corridor,threecourtyards and 15 arched caves.The inside and outside walls of them all are covered by tomb inscriptions of warious dynastiesand works of calligraphy,painting and stone inscrptions.
    Most of the inscriptions housed in the Gallery were obtained from Mangshan hills north of luoyang.luyyang is an ancient capital of nine dynasties.And since Zhou Dynasty,there have been many dignitaries and richmerchants living in luoyang.They have regarded Mangshan as a place of high geomantic quality,and wherever they die,they would instuct their offsprings on their dying beds to brry their remains in Mangshan hills,hence the saying"it's best to be born in Soozhou and hangzhou and to be buried in Mangshan hills."The place was to crowded with that there was no place for an ox to lie down.In ancient China,when a rich man died,hisbody was often buried with valuable objects.There fore many grave robbers were attracted.Almost all the graves,especially those of the rich,have been robbed.In late qing Dynasty,when the longhai Railway was construcyed,some of the graves were dug up to make room for the raiway.And also due to the vicissitudeof time,many of the tombs were due up and their funerary objects were looted.but the heavy tombstones were scattered in the neighbourhood.Zhang fang was the grestest collector of the tombinscriptions.
    A tomb tablet in a somewhat square one on which are inscribed the genealogy,life,wife and children of the dead,the place and time of his death,as well as some eulogizing word for the dead.As it is planted inthe tomb hence the name.this parctice began in late Eastern han dynasty,and become very popular during the period from northern wei to the tang dynasty.emperor xiaowen of the inscriptions on tomb tablets.thes practice reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty and wsacarried on thereafter so that graves dotted the Nangshan hills to the north of luoyang with countless inscribed tomb tablets.The Tang inscription housed in the gallery cover the whole dynasty starting from the frist two reigns of Wude and Zhenguan,through the middle Tang and to the late Tang period.The person to whom the inscriptions wer dedicated embraced a wide stratum inlunding prinme ministers.relative of the emperors.military commanders,high-ranking officials,social celebrities,duchesses and maids of honour.their lives told the 300-year history of the Tang Dynasty.Therefore the inscriptions may help prove,correct or supplement the history of the period.It's no exaggeration to say that the Gallty is aninscribed stone history of the tang dynasty and serves as an archivesof the TangDynasty.
    Many of themcould write a beautiful hand.Tomb inscriptions were intended to last,and well-known calligraphers were ofter hired to write the inscriptions.With varied styles.the insctiptions themselves have much artisitic value.The inscriptions preserved in the Gallery a goodvariety of styles and serve as objects of calligraaphic art.There were many famous calligraphers in the Tang Dynasty with sifferent styles.From the inscription in the Gallery,we can find the origins of these styles.In this respect the Gallery may be regarded as an evolutionaryhistory of the calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty.Qian Tang Zhi Zhai is an important tourist attraction along the tourist line in Central China.It is China's and also is world's.
    Zhang Fang not collected the tomb inscritions,but also collected inscribed tablets and stones.Besides,he collected paintings and calligraphic piece and had them inscribed on stones.Allof them he placed in the Gallery for all to see and appreciate.The No.15 Arched Cave is devoted to the preservation of paintings and calligraphic work.among those housed there is a couplet written by Mi Fu,a famous calligrapherin the Song Dynasty,two poemsentitled willow Flowers and Willow Twigsand written of large scrolls of calligraphy by Wang Dou the Magie Brush.a renowned calligrapher of early Qing Dynasty,couplets and verticalscrolls of calligraphy written by the Qing calligraphers Wang Hongzhuan.Liu yong,Chen hongshu,Shao ying and Han Dongli;copuletsandwall scrolls by Zhang Taiyan,Li Genyuan.Dai Chunxian,and jin Zhi.In No.11 Cave is the long scroll ATjweots pm Decrees and omstotitopms written nu Dpmgqocjamg pf tje,omg Dumastu om cursive script an inscribed the seal engraved by Wu Changshuo,a rare combination indeed.There works indifferent styles are all work of high artisitic value.The relife sculpture about Emperot Hanwu's dreams in No.15cave in No.15cave there are also screen scrolls depicting the different ways of the bamboo in the wind andrain,and when the sky is overcast or the sun is shining these scrolls and another inscribed painting were drawn by Zhen Banqiao,one of the Eight Eccentric of yangzhou who was facous for his paintings of the bamboo/On the west wall of the No.3 Courtyard is inland an inscribed finger painting about fragrant thoughwort by Wang Chunqing and imperial usher at the court of Emperor Guangxu of the qing Dynasty.
    Qian Tang Zhi Zhai is a key cultural relic protected by the state It has been recently renovated.Set in the old town the famous Galleryhas taken on a new look.It has attracted numerous visitors who come in a constant.you will enjoy it for you heart.It is a dream of garden .friends,welcome to visit it follow me!