Li Yong's "Ode to Lingyan Temple and Preface Stele" is 190 cm long and 90 cm wide.
This is the stele "Ode to Lingyan Temple with Preface" by Li Yong of the Tang Dynasty. The current monument is 190 cm high and 90 cm wide. The font is running script, with a total of 21 lines and a full line of 4l characters.
This stele has many records in history books. It was first seen in Zhao Mingcheng's "Gold and Stone Records" of the Song Dynasty. There are 17 stelae written by Li Yong in this list. The first half of the inscription is a preface, describing in prose the rise and fall of Lingyan Temple from the founding of the temple by the authorized Zen master in the Jin Dynasty to the erection of the stele in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty. The back middle part is an ode, in the form of five five-character poems, which not only describe the scenery of Lingyan, but also praise the deeds of eminent monks. It embodies the characteristics of Li Yong's running calligraphy, which is vigorous and stretched, steep and hearty.
