Epitaph of Fan Min

Eastern Han dynasty (25�220 c.e.), Jian'an reign period (196�219), dated 205

Inscribed in seal and clerical scripts by Liu Sheng and his son

From Lushan County, Yazhou, Sichuan province

Hanging scroll, ink rubbed on paper; 257.0 x 123.1 cm; dimensions of stele: 220.0 x 85.0 cm

Date of rubbing not given, probably late Ming (1368�1644) or early Qing dynasty (1644�1911)

Inventory number: Biaozhou 3

Fan Min (120�203), a native of Fanjiaci in Lushan County, Sichuan, served as the zhangshi (chief aid) of Yongchang commandery in present-day Yunnan.� As seen from this rubbing, the epitaph has a guishou (rounded head) with a pair of chilong (crouching dragons).� The full title of the epitaph, in two columns of seal script totaling 12 characters, is placed just to the right of center of the head.� A large circular hole pierces the stone just beneath the head.� The text is laid out in 22 columns, with two left blank.

This rubbing was most likely made during the mid-17th century, as is attested by a colophon of the late Ming collector Han Fengxi (1578�1653).� Its last private owner, the late Qing�early Republican statesman Liang Qichao (1873�1929), considered it the finest example of a single-sheet rubbing.