Inscription of Yanran

The Inscription on the Ceremonial Mounding of Mount Yanran (Chinese: 封燕然山銘; pinyin: Fēng Yānránshān Míng) is an inscription composed by the historian Ban Gu of the Eastern Han dynasty and carved by the general Dou Xian on a cliff in the Yanran Mountains (modern Delgerkhangai Mountains) in 89 AD, to commemorate Dou's victory against the nomadic Xiongnu Empire.

The text is in the 5th-century official history Book of Later Han, and the inscription was rediscovered by researchers in the Baruun Ilgen hills located south of Inil/Inel (modern Delgerkhangai) mountain, which is in the Gobi desert of Dundgovi Province, central Mongolia.

The inscription starts with a relatively long account of the battle, and concludes with five lines of Chu Ci style poetry.

[3] Cliff inscriptions on Baruun ilgen (West visible) hills in south of Inel (Delgerkhangai) mountains were commonly used to record military success in ancient China.

Mongolian travel journalist/writer Badamsambuu.G found a cliff with inscriptions in 27 June 2001 and showed on national TV, but researchers were unable to decode the text.