Dehua Stele of Nanzhao Kingdom in Dali City

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The Nanzhao Dehua Stele (南诏德化碑) is located within the ruins of Nanzhao Taihe City (南诏太和城), to the west of Taihe Village (太和村) in Dali City (大理市), Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture (大理白族自治州), Yunnan Province (云南省).

The stele stands 3.9 meters tall, 2.4 meters wide, and 0.6 meters thick, weighing over 30 tons. The original inscription consisted of around 3,800 characters, though only about 500 characters remain legible today. Thanks to historical records such as the General Gazetteer of Yunnan (云南通志) from the Ming dynasty and the research of various scholars, the full text has been preserved through documentation. The stele holds great historical and cultural value as a primary source for the study of Nanzhao history.

On March 4, 1961, the Nanzhao Dehua Stele was declared part of the first batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China (中华人民共和国国务院).

• Name: Nanzhao Dehua Stele (南诏德化碑)
• Location: Dali City (大理市), Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture (大理白族自治州), Yunnan Province (云南省)
• Era: Nanzhao Period (649–902 AD)
• Protection Status: First Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units
• Approving Authority: State Council of the People’s Republic of China

Historical Background

In the first year of the Dali era of the Tang Dynasty (766 AD), Geluo Feng (阁罗凤), king of Nanzhao, erected the stele outside the palace gate of Taihe City.

During the Yuan Dynasty (1264–1294), the stele was still visible according to records by Guo Songnian (郭松年).

In 1576 (the fourth year of the Ming Wanli reign), Li Yuanyang (李元阳) and Zou Yinglong (邹应龙) included the full text of the stele in the Literary Records section of the General Gazetteer of Yunnan (云南通志). However, the Biography of Du Guangting (杜光庭传) in the same text noted that “the inscription has almost entirely worn away,” suggesting that Li and Zou’s version was based on earlier transcriptions.

In 1788 (Qianlong 53rd year of the Qing Dynasty), Wang Chang (王昶), then Provincial Governor of Yunnan, rediscovered the stele, excavated it, and published a transcription and analysis in Collected Inscriptions on Bronze and Stone (金石萃编).

In 1828 (Daoguang 8th year), Ruan Fu (阮福), son of Governor-General Ruan Yuan (阮元), documented the stele’s surviving text in Ancient Inscriptions from Southern Yunnan (滇南古金石录).

Qing-era scholars such as Gui Fu (桂馥) of Yongping County and the compilers of the Qing Dynasty Yunnan Gazetteer (道光《云南通志》) conducted further studies, as did modern scholars including Yuan Jiagu (袁嘉谷), Li Genyuan (李根源), and Fang Guoyu (方国瑜).

Physical Description

• Height: 3.97 meters
• Width: 2.27 meters
• Thickness: 0.58 meters

The front of the stele originally contained 40 lines totaling around 3,800 characters, though only 256 remain. The back of the stele features 41 lines of inscriptions listing Nanzhao officials—such as Qingping officers, generals, and department heads—of which approximately 800 characters survive.

The inscriptions primarily recount the once-close relationship between Nanzhao and the Tang Dynasty, the deterioration of their alliance, three armed conflicts, and ultimately, Nanzhao’s alignment with Tubo (吐蕃) (the Tibetan Empire).

• Front Inscription: Originally ~3,800 characters, now only 220 survive
• Back Inscription: Originally ~3,000 characters across 41 lines, now ~556 characters remain

The surviving contents were first fully transcribed in the Ming Dynasty by Li Yuanyang (李元阳) in the Wanli-era Yunnan Gazetteer (万历《云南通志》).

Cultural Value

The Nanzhao Dehua Stele is of exceptional value for the study of:

• The formation and development of the Nanzhao Kingdom (南诏)
• Its social and political institutions
• Interethnic relations in Yunnan
• The diplomatic and military interactions between Nanzhao, the Tang Dynasty (唐朝), and Tubo (吐蕃)
• The structure and hierarchy of the Nanzhao ruling class and its official system

It has been praised as the “largest ancient stele in Yunnan.” Its calligraphy is elegant and artistically significant.

Conservation Measures

On March 4, 1961, the Nanzhao Dehua Stele was designated by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China (中华人民共和国国务院) as part of the first group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units, along with the Taihe City Ruins (太和城遗址).

Location

The stele is located within the ruins of Nanzhao Taihe City (南诏太和城遗址), to the west of Taihe Village (太和村), in Dali City (大理市), Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture (大理白族自治州), Yunnan Province (云南省).