0194 - Rare Tablet of Han Dynasty (206 B.C. -220 A.D) with a stone dragon h...Front

Rare Tablet of Han Dynasty (206 B.C. -220 A.D) with a stone dragon head on its top and the back of a tirtiuse as its pedestal was found for the first time in China recently. The tablet unearthed in Pingdu County, Bhandong Province, is 110 cm high, 78 cm wide and 21 cm thick. Its front is inscribed with "Wang Junzhi, Sheren Wang of the Han Dynasty". "Sheren" was the name of an official during the Qin and Han Dynasties, which is equivalent to today's secretary, but assigned to princes, empresses and princesses. At the lower left of the tablet is carved "the sixth year of the reign of Guanghe" (183). This indicated that tablets in China began to have the decorations of dragon and tortoise as early as in the 2nd century. The reverse side of the tablet has 180 characters in 12 lines. All the characters were written in "lishu", an ancient style of calligraphy.