拓本

tàběn
noun

Measure Word

一张拓本 zhāng

Meanings

  1. 1 ink rubbing (of an inscription or carving)
  2. 2 rubbing copy

Examples

HSK 6
Zài zhàoxiàngjī fāmíng yǐqián, shūfǎjiā zhǔyào kào tàběn xuéxí gǔrén de zì.
Before the camera was invented, calligraphers learned the old masters' writing mainly from rubbings.
HSK 7-9
Bówùguǎn lǐ zhǎnchū le yì zhāng Tángdài shíbēi de tàběn.
The museum is showing a rubbing of a Tang dynasty stone tablet.

Tips

culture
Rubbings were how a stele's text travelled before photography. The stone wears a little with every rubbing, so an early, sharp 拓本 of a famous stele is collected and prized like a painting.
mistakes
拓 is read tà in every rubbing word: 拓本, 拓片, 拓印. Elsewhere it is tuò, to open up, as in 开拓.

Stroke Order

拓 tuò
本 běn