A study on the Stele of Confucius' Sacred Sites

The paintings of Confucius, the greatest philosopher and educator in ancient China, began as early as the Han Dynasty, but most of them depicted a single event or a portrait of Confucius. Unlike these paintings, The Holy Story of Confucius(『孔子聖迹圖』) is a picture book or scroll depicting the life story of the great man Confucius. The intention of Zhang Kai’s(張楷) original work is to encourage people to learn how to never give up or be discouraged by Confucius' actions and behaviors even in turbulent and dangerous political situations. Unfortunately, the original work has been lost and it is impossible to determine what content it contains. What has been passed down are artworks that have been transformed into sacred paintings or precious works of art. Recently, relevant units have discovered the underdrawing of the original work, but due to its incomplete content, it does not provide much help for the restoration of the original work. Although it's not as well known, The Stele of Confucius' Sacred Sites(『孔子聖迹之圖碑』) in the Suzhou Museum of stone inscription, which can be said to be the last and most reliable replica of Zhang Kai's original work. Therefore, this article identifies the problems with the draft manuscript, examines the relationship between Zhang Kai's original work, Ni Fuying's(倪甫英) replica, and Fang Zhengfan's(方正范) supplementary carving, analyze the contents of the original's final reproduction, The Stele of Confucius' Sacred Sites, in order to restore the contents of the lost original and incomplete manuscript.