Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-04
A TABLET FOR THE EMPEROR.
An Exchange Of Civilities and Antiqui-
ties Between America and China.

rotund. iolly-looking celestial. wearing a
jewelled skull cap. baggy silken garments and
soft-falling sandals, may be seen about the
National museum most any day just now. With
him there are generally two or three other
stout gentlemen in flowing silks and long queues
The man with the jewelled cap is Mr.. Chang
Yen Hoon, the Chinese minister, and he is at
tended by members of the legation. Mr. Hoon
has taken wonderful fancy to an old Egyptian
stone tablet. a copy Of which is exhibited
among the antiquities in the museum. Ii is
what is known as the Campus tablet One
day the minister was shown through the
museum by Prof. Otis T. Mason. He looked
grave and wise, but showed no enthusiasm
until his eve fell upon this big tablet, with its
curious-lookIng hieroglyphics. he squatted
suddenly down in front of it, adjusted his big
round spectacles and began studying the craven
hgures with much interest. The hieroglyph-
les look something like Chinese writing. Mr..
Hoon asked all kinds of questions about the
stone and its antiquity. and exhibited the
greatest delight when Prof. Mason told him
that the museum would have copy
made for him. While artisans have been en-
gagged making the cast the minister has paid
many visits TO the museum and shown much in
terest in every detail of the work. Now the
work is finished and fac-simile of the famous
tablet stands in one of the laboratories of the
museum ready to be shipped TO China Mr..
Pung, the minister's scribe. has etched on the
margin In Chinese characters an inscription to
the effect that the tablet is presented to the
emperor OF China by the secretary of the Smith
sonian Institution. The tablet will be carefully
boxed and sent to Mr.. Hoon's august sovereign.
The Campus stone is of greater antiquity than
the Rosetta stone. which was found by Napo-
Icons engineers at the beginning of the cen
fury, and furnished the key to the hieroglyphic
inscriptions of Egypt. Prof. Lepsius, of Ber-
I'm, found the Campus tablet at San, the an
Client Tanis or Zoan. The tablet is feet long
and has 81 lines of hieroglyphics. 76 lines of
Greek, and "A lines of inscription in denote
Characters. 1t was made by Ptolemy Euergetes
23s b. C., and is nearly hundred years older
than the Rosetta inscription. 1t is
deemed of greater value because
1t is better preserved and has
more inscribed upon il. The copy in the
National museum was taken from the original
IN the Bulak collection i'll Egypt by Prof.
Archer, of Edinburgh. The courtesy shown
the Chinese minister in this matter has not
gone without substantial reward On one of
his last visits he was attended by a man bear
ing rare old bronze vase. China has. so to
speak. seen the 2.0O0-year-old Egyptian inscrip-
ton and gone it 500 years better. The vase
presented to the museum is. according TO its
Chinese history. $500 years old. 1t was used
in an ancient temple for ceremonial purposes
1t swings in the center of an deliberately
wrought bronze frame. A dragon made of gold
just above the mouth of the vase is the chief
ornament of the frame or stand The vase it,
self Is bottle-shaped with slender neck and a
round body covered over with delicately en-
graved tracery. 1t is considered to be of almost
priceless value.