Underneath the gentle caress of soft light, a bronze ding—a traditional food vessel—sits in quiet dignity, its age-old carvings subtly glinting. Placed next to it is an ink-and-paper rubbing of the ding, a striking replica that vividly captures the characters and patterns etched onto the vessel thousands of years ago.
In an endeavor to celebrate and educate the public about the traditional Chinese rubbing technique, the Shanghai Museum is set to unveil a new exhibition titled “Advancing with the Times: The Technique of Rubbing.” Opening on Friday, the exhibition showcases the time-honored rubbing techniques used in creating replicas of well-preserved ancient bronze and stone artifacts.
Bronze and stone artifacts, as Chu Xiaobo, director of Shanghai Museum, emphasized during the exhibition’s press release, have been fundamental documentary media in Chinese history. They began recording significant information long before the Qin Dynasty (221BC–206BC). To safeguard and disseminate the vital knowledge contained in these artifacts, the ancient Chinese conceived the rubbing technique. This simple yet highly efficient method allowed for the duplication of detailed information from the artifacts.
Chu also added that the exhibition is a testament to the “ancient wisdom of Chinese civilization,” demonstrating the utility and artistry of the rubbing technique.
The exhibition aims to reveal the full allure of this unique, traditional Chinese technique. On display are 37 sets of invaluable cultural relics, spanning various periods and comprising both bronze and stone artifacts along with corresponding rubbing works. Visitors also have the opportunity to view key rubbing tools and watch videos illustrating the rubbing process.
The highlight of the exhibition is a rubbing of the 3,000-year-old Rectangular Ding with the Inscription “Si Mu Wu”—the largest and heaviest bronze ware ever discovered in China. Li Kongrong, the exhibition’s curator, shared that the rubbings on display were likely some of the earliest modern rubbings, dating back to the 1940s, just after the ding’s discovery in 1939.
Historically, the rubbing technique was indispensable in ancient China, enabling efficient reproduction of texts and patterns. Over time, the technique evolved and, by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), rubbings had become not just mediums for duplicating information, but also works of art in their own right. One example is the painting “Scraping the Patina off the Lamp” by Qing Dynasty painter Chen Geng, who creatively incorporated the rubbing technique into painting.
The emergence of the rubbing technique is believed to date back to the Han Dynasty (206BC–220AD) or Three Kingdoms (220–280AD), following the invention of paper and ink.
Today, despite the prevalence of photography and scanning, the traditional rubbing technique remains crucial in fields such as archaeology and museology. Wang Yue, deputy director of Shanghai Museum’s bronze department, emphasized that the technique retains its unique advantages in accurately replicating artifacts and conveying the information they hold.
The exhibition, offering bilingual introductions for international visitors, is scheduled to run until October 8, providing a deep dive into China’s traditional rubbing techniques and their cultural significance.
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