Chapter 4 Chapter 4: An Eternal Carol——The Stele

According to the existing literature and research on unearthed cultural relics, the development history of the stele has experienced at least two major stages of evolution.The first is the period when the stele was used as a tool, referred to as the period of practical stele; the second is the period when characters were carved on it to praise people's achievements, character and record historical facts, referred to as the period of engraved stele.Practical monuments appeared as early as the end of primitive society thousands of years ago.Practical monuments have been used for a long time, have a wide range of uses, and have a unique shape.Since the emergence of this kind of stele at the end of primitive society, it has been used for more than 2,000 years through Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, Warring States and Qin, and has been used until the Western Han Dynasty.It can be used in many ways: one is that after people die, it is used as a potter's wheel for lowering coffins and placing utensils when they are buried. In front of the gate, it is used as a post for tying horses, or as a post for ordinary people’s family animals; the third is a post erected in front of a palace or in a noble’s house, as a sign to observe the sun’s deviation and neutrality, and to judge the time of day.At this point, it is like the later "sundial [gui ghost]".This kind of "sundial" is displayed on the white marble platform in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City in Beijing today.The materials of practical monuments vary according to different uses. Those in palace temples and courtyards are mostly made of stone, while those in the corners of tombs or on the side of kuang [kuang, that is, tombs] are mostly wood at the beginning, and later they are mostly made of stone. .Both stone and wooden monuments have a common feature in shape, that is, most of the upper part has a round hole (drilled for the purpose), and later generations call this hole "through".This kind of "wearing" is a unique feature of early practical monuments.

This kind of practical stele has been used by people for a long time.But one day, I don't know whether it was inspiration or accident, someone carved words on this kind of stele, and a stele with inscriptions appeared.As a result, this kind of engraved stele is essentially different from the practical stele in the past.The time when these two steles alternate was roughly in the late Western Han Dynasty.The physical evidence of this change is represented by the "麃 [biao] Xiaoyu Stele". "The Stele of Yu Xiaoyu" was discovered by Miyamoto Aung in the ninth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1870 A.D.) when he was governing the river in Pingyi County, Shandong Province. But I don't know when, the original stone was lost, and it is now in the Shandong Provincial Museum).The stele is rectangular in shape with a round head. According to rubbings, it is about 136 centimeters long and 45 centimeters wide.There is a forehead on the head of the stele, a standing crane is engraved on each side of the forehead, and there is a piercing under the forehead.There are two lines of inscriptions on the body of the stele. "Heping" is the year name of Emperor Cheng of the Western Han Dynasty (Liu Ao〔aoao〕, and the three years are 26 BC, indicating that this stele was completed in the late Western Han Dynasty. This stele has names, place names, official titles, death years or burial years, etc. The content already has the basic content of the tombstone text, and its shape has "wear", which is obviously developed from the "monument" in the coffin under the tomb. It is already an out-and-out engraved tablet. Therefore, we can Said: This stele is a typical representative of the evolution from a practical stele to an inscription stele.

After the inscription steles appeared in the Han Dynasty, they were divided into different categories due to different reasons for their formation.For example, write words on the practical stele of the lower coffin to record the name, hometown, family background, life and achievements of the tomb owner, as well as some inscriptions of praise and mourning, etc., forming a biographical text, so that passers-by can read it. Know the identity of the tomb owner.This monument is called a tombstone.If it is on the practical steles erected beside the ancestral temples, ancestral halls and other buildings and in the courtyards, the characters are depicted, so that passers-by can know the conditions of these ancestral temples, ancestral halls and other buildings after reading, as well as the achievements, morals, and behaviors of the sacrifices. The stele is called the temple stele.

During the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, there were probably only two kinds of steles with inscriptions: tombstones and temple steles.The common feature of these two types of engraved steles is that most of them commemorate the dead or characters in myths and legends.Because of the characteristics of the engraved stele, people at that time believed that the tree stele was to express sorrow or mourn for the predecessors and ancestors.Regarding this level of meaning, we can observe it in reading the inscriptions on Han steles, and we can also experience it in browsing the folk songs of the Jin Dynasty.In the early Tang Dynasty, when Xu Jian, a great scholar, compiled the textbook "Beginners" for the children of the royal aristocracy, he explained the word "bei" directly as "the stele, so the past is sad."In the late Tang Dynasty, Lu Guimeng explained it more bluntly as "the stele is sad."Although the engraved inscriptions can be divided into many types according to their content, such as tombstones, ancestral hall steles, temple steles, monuments, and memorial steles, etc., praising the dead and remembering their ancestors has always been the mainstream of this type of stele.

After the inscription steles appeared in the Han Dynasty, because they coexisted with other types of stone inscriptions, such as inscriptions on stones, cliffs, and stone tablets, and because they were all inscriptions carved on stones with knives, the appellation was not very strict.Some call all stone inscriptions steles, and some call such characters tablets.However, there are also some people who believe that there was a clear distinction between them at that time. It may be inaccurate to say "the square is the stele, the round one is the tablet", "the big one is the stele, and the small one is the tablet".In fact, until the Tang Dynasty, there were still square steles called Jie.For example: "Pan Shizun Jie" was engraved in the second year of Wu Zetian's holy calendar in the Tang Dynasty (AD 699). The Jieshi was originally located in Laojun Cave, Songshan, Dengfeng County, Henan Province. It is a large and square stele, but the name in the first line still claims to be "Mr. Tang Moxian Zhongyue Tixuan, Taizhong Doctor Pan Shizun Jiewen".This is an obvious example of the distinction between stele and tablet.Therefore, the use of two different names for the same thing is just arbitrarily chosen due to the different understanding and habits of the authors.

After the appearance of engraved steles, due to the relative stability of the inscribed content, its shape gradually became fixed.The engraved stele is roughly composed of three parts. (1) The head of the stele.This is the uppermost part or top of the monument.The early monument heads were relatively simple, mostly Gui heads, round heads or halo heads, and Chi (chi eating) heads gradually appeared in the later period, and their sizes became larger and larger. Guishou is sharp at the top and blunt at the bottom, or it is an equilateral triangle with the pointed part removed.Among the steles of the Han Dynasty, "The Stele of Langzhong Zheng Gu", "The Stele of Sili Xiaowei Lu Jun", "The Stele of the White Stone God", "The Stele of Xianyu Huang", "The Stele of Zhang Qian", "The Stele of Wu Rong" are all famous Guishou. monument.In the later period, it became less and less, especially among the wealthy people with status, there were fewer Guishou.

The round head is the first to form a semicircle.The "Heng Fang Stele" in Tai'an Dai Temple is the famous round head stele in the Han Dynasty. The halo head, its outline is also a semicircle, but the upper part of the semicircle is surrounded by halos, like a rainbow that appears in the sky after rain, so it is called a halo head.Generally, there are three halos, and most of the halos start from the junction of the head and body of the stele, and still retain the ancient meaning of tethering the fiber. "Yu Ling Zhao Jun Stele", "Confucius Stele", "Zhao Ni [Dao] Stele", etc. are all famous dizzy head steles.After the Han Dynasty, most of the dizzy steles disappeared.

Chi heads, also known as Chi heads, are Chi-shaped flower ornaments carved on stele heads, palace pillars, palace steps, Yi vessels, seals, etc.Chi is an animal in ancient legends, belonging to the legendary Jiaolong.The dragon is the most worshiped animal by the descendants of Yan and Huang. If it is decorated on the head of the stele as a chi head, the value of the stele becomes even more noble.This kind of chishou stele probably appeared in the Southern and Northern Dynasties after the Han and Jin Dynasties.The "Cuan [cuan Channel] Longyan Stele" engraved in the second year of Liu Song Daming (AD 458) in the Southern Dynasty is one of the famous chishou steles.During the Tang Dynasty, the chishou stele gradually became a symbol of rank, and only officials above the fifth rank were allowed to engrave it.

In the middle of the head of the stele is the forehead, where the name of the stele is engraved.The title of the stele-front book began in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the fonts were the most in seal script, and there were also many official scripts, so it was called "seal script" or "cliff".In the Han Dynasty, there were "Zheng Gu Monument", "Confucian Temple Monument", "Xiyue Huashan Temple Monument", "Xia Cheng Monument", "Kong Biao Monument", etc. During the Three Kingdoms and Wei Dynasties, there were "Shangzun No. Monument", "Shou Zen Monument" Biao Monument", "Confucius Monument", "Paradigm Monument" and so on.In the Han Dynasty, there were "Heng Fang Bei", "Wu Rong Bei" and so on.During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the inscriptions on the inscriptions began to evolve from official script to regular script, and then there were also regular scripts on the inscriptions on the inscriptions, but they could not be called "kaifeng" like seal script and official script when they were recorded, they could only be called "front script". It's a convention.However, sometimes the tablet forehead in regular script can also be called the official forehead.Because some calligraphers consider regular script to be the contemporary official script, there is also a distinction between "Han Li" and "Jin Li" in Li Shu.Today's Li is regular script.The foreheads of the steles are in regular script, including "Xiao Yu [Dan Dan] Stele", "Ge Fujun Stele", "Zhang Menglong Stele", "Longzang Temple Stele" and so on.

There are various images engraved on the left and right sides or around the forehead of some steles.For example, in the "Baishi Shenjun Stele", a beast is carved on both sides of the monument, and a person is carved under the beast. "Xian Yuhuang Stele" engraved with green dragon and white tiger on the line next to the positive face of the head of the stele, and engraved with red bird on the negative face. The "Zhang Qian Stele" is engraved with flat dragons on all sides, with two magpies facing each other at the sharp upper part, and the shape is very vivid. "Cuan Longyan Stele" is engraved with a panlong on the head of the stele, and the sun and the moon are engraved on the left and right sides of the stele. There are crouching birds in the sun and toads in the moon.Some special portraits appeared on the head of the stele in the Tang Dynasty, such as "Huiren Ji Wangshu Shengjiao Preface Stele", with seven statues of Buddha engraved on the head of the stele; Like, engrave its name, and decorate the head of the stele very beautifully.

Most of the early engraved steles (such as the Hangui Shou stele) were chiseled under the forehead of the stele.The size of this kind of clothing may be large or small, and its position may be high or low, left or right. It is not fixed, but it is generally placed under the title of the tablet and on the body of the tablet, which does not affect writing and inscriptions.But there are exceptions. For example, the "Zhao Ni Stele" is worn at the ninth to tenth lines in the middle of the inscription, and each line occupies the position of three characters. "Yuan'an Stele" has no inscription on the stele, and it is worn in the inscription of the inscription, occupying two lines, each line occupying two characters. The passage in "Yuan Chang Stele" is also in the inscription, occupying two lines, each line occupying two characters.The one worn at the bottom may be the "Stele of King Jing". From the eighth line to the thirteenth line of the inscription, each line occupies two characters.Stele wearing is only a relic of the first stage of practical stele. After a period of time, the engraved stele disappeared because it was useless.After the Han Dynasty, there are basically no steles to be found. The head of the stele and the body of the stele were basically carved from the same stone in the early days, but after the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the stele became larger and larger, and in the Tang Dynasty, the stele was made more elaborately, and the head and the body of the stele were often made of two stone slabs respectively. Engraved for assembly.At this time, the width and thickness of the head of the stele are larger than the body of the stele, so that rain and snow will not directly fall on the upper part of the body of the stele, which has a protective effect on the body of the stele. (2) The body of the stele is the main part of the stele.It is generally made of a piece of stone, mostly rectangular and flat (that is, the height is greater than the width, and the width is greater than the thickness).A small number of steles are also made of multiple stones, forming a rectangular column (that is, the height is greater than the width, and the width is equal to the thickness). For example, the stele of "Shitai Xiaojing" in Xi'an is composed of four stones.The name of each side of the stele body, the front is called the stele yang (some are called the stele face), the back is called the stele yin, and the two sides are called the stele side.The body of the stele is mainly the place where inscriptions are carved.The main text is generally engraved on the Yang of the stele, and the name of the funder or the title of "disciple, old official" and various inscriptions on the stele are generally engraved on the Yin of the stele.On the side of the stele, some texts or titles are engraved, and some are only engraved with some decorative patterns.The calligraphic fonts of the inscriptions vary from era to era.Han steles are mainly in official script. During the Three Kingdoms and Jin Dynasties, the inscriptions on inscriptions were transitional from official script to regular script.During the Zhenguan period in the early Tang Dynasty, running script and cursive script could also be used to write monuments, but they were rarely used. There were only a few representative works such as Tang Taizong's "Jinci Ming", Tang Gaozong's "Wannian Palace", and Wu Zetian's "Prince Shengxian Monument". (3) The stele base is used to support the stele body.In the early days, the body of the stele was small, and the head, body and pedestal of the stele were carved from one piece of stone.At this time, only a blank space is left under the whole stone, and it becomes the stele base without engraving.When the stele was erected, the body of the stele was on the ground, and part of the base of the stele was inserted into the soil to stabilize the head of the stele.Later, the stele body became larger and larger. In order to prevent the stele body from sinking, another stone was often selected as the stele base.This kind of stele base is generally square or rectangular, wider than the stele body, with grooves engraved on the stele base and mortise and tenon joints on the lower part of the stele body. The combination of the two not only fixes the stele body, but also prevents sinking.After the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the shape of stele seats began to diversify, the most prominent being the turtle-shaped "turtle (fu)" seat, or "赑屃 [bixi coin fine]" seat.In terms of mechanics, this kind of stele pedestal makes use of the characteristics of tortoises: wide back, hard shell, and short feet. Grooves are slotted on the back to inlay the body of the stele. love it. "Dragon" has long been one of the sacred beasts worshiped by the Han people in my country. The ancients compiled a moving myth of "the dragon gave birth to nine sons" very early on, and connected the dragon with the turtle.It is said that a long, long time ago, there was a brave and upright dragon couple who had a very good relationship and gave birth to nine sons, but none of them looked like dragons, and their personalities, tempers, and hobbies were also very different.The eldest prisoner cattle, like music, later people engraved animal head on the huqin, it is said to be its portrait.The second child is called Yazi [yazi 牙自], narrow-minded, irritable, brave and good at fighting.The animal head left on the sword is said to be Yazi, who has a violent temper and loves to kill.The third dragon is called Chiwen. It can stand still under the strong wind, and it still has a smile on its face, and it likes to climb high and look far.Therefore, the dragon heads at both ends of the ancient building ridge are called chi kisses.The fourth child is called Pu Lao, and it likes to shout and roar all its life. The bell button of an ancient musical instrument is often carved as a beast, holding the button with its mouth open, which is said to be the image of Pu Lao.The sixth child is called 苴犴 [bian must press], it is shaped like a tiger, it is majestic, it likes to go to court with others, and it hates evil forces, so people always like to engrave its image on the prison door.The seventh dragon son is called Taotie [taotie Taotie], the name means greed, it always has a big mouth open, it seems that it will never be full, so on the ancient bronze sacrificial vessels, whether it is pouring wine or serving rice Its image is adorned on all utensils.The old eight is called Baxia (Baxia Baxia), and it likes water the most, so there are always some faucets of flowing water on the railings, bridge walls, and steps of the ancient bridge, which is the image of Baxia.The ninth son of the dragon is Jiaotu, also called Pushou by others. He has a quiet temperament, is good at guarding the door, is loyal to his duties, and never loses his things.Therefore, on the gates of ancient palaces, temples or some important buildings, there is always a relief carving of a beast head with a ring in its mouth, commonly known as the head ring.The fifth child is the stone turtle named Bixi mentioned above, and some books also call it Baxia.This fifth child has great strength, and he likes to help others carry extremely heavy things to show his strength.So when people are looking for a stele seat, it becomes the most suitable object.I don't know when this story started, and there is no exact textual research, but as far as we know, it has already appeared in the records of the Ming Dynasty. The legend of "Nine Sons Born of the Dragon" is recorded in books such as "Sheng'an Wai Ji" written by Yang Shen, the number one scholar in the new capital of Sichuan during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty (1506-1521 AD). But when engraving the stele, the image of the dragon and tortoise must not be used indiscriminately.At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Ye Changchi, a great philistine master, wrote the book "Yu Shi", and quoted the words of Liu Zihou, a great writer of the Tang Dynasty, when he described the Tang burial order: As a tablet, square body and round head". This system of stele head, stele body, and stele base has been widely spread in the past 2000 years, not only in the vast Han areas of our country, but also in the border areas where ethnic minorities live together; it is not only reflected in personal tombs, ancestral halls, and temples. On the stone tablet, but also developed to a wider range of monuments, monuments.Below we introduce some representative monuments. The Stele of Pei Cen Jigong was engraved in the second year of Yonghe (AD 137) of Emperor Shun of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Yue Zhongqi obtained this monument in the seventh year of Qing Yongzheng (AD 1729), and later moved it to the front of Guandi Temple in Balikun (now Ili Kazakh Autonomous County) in Xinjiang.The stele is sharp at the top and wide at the bottom, and looks like a stone man from a distance, so the local people call it "stone man son".The content records that Pei Cen, the governor of Dunhuang, led 3,000 people to conquer King Huyan, and contributed to the pacification of the Western Regions and the defense of the frontier. "Hanshu" does not record this matter, which can make up for the lack of history and is of great value.There are many imitators in modern times, and both Xinjiang and Shandong have imitated steles; "Xiyue Huashan Temple Stele", the largest piece of Han stele, was carved in the eighth year of Emperor Huan's Yanxi (AD 165), and it is now broken, and only rubbings have been handed down; The "Shangzunhao Monument" is the performance of Cao Wei Huaxin and others asking Cao Pi to accept the Han Emperor's abdication, and the Shangzun title is Yuanzi, which is in Xuchang, Henan;The content of the two steles is to smear Cao Pi as the emperor, which is relatively general.However, they are the earliest steles in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and they are tall and tall, with many inscriptions and compact writing, which are obviously different from Han steles.In terms of calligraphy, the font is square and vigorous, and it is also different from Han Li, which is the first of Wei Li. "Nanxiang Taishou Yu [fu Fu] Xiu's Monument" was the first Jin monument in the sixth year of the Western Jin Dynasty (AD 270); The second stone carving about women in the known history of stone carvings (the first one is "Ma Jiang Epitaph" by Ma Yuannv, General Fubo of the Han Dynasty); "Song", often called "Jin Biyong Stele", engraved in the fourth year of Xianning (AD 278), originally established by Luoyang Taixue.It was unearthed in Dongdajiao Village, Yanshi County, Henan Province in the 20th year of the Republic of China (AD 1931).The monument is still in place.The content records that Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty, and Sima Zhong, the crown prince, visited Piyong three times and held a shooting ceremony in Taixue. There were more than 400 people inscribed on the Yin of the stele, from which we can see some organization of Taixue in Jin Dynasty.This stele is larger than ever before, and it is the best and largest piece among the existing Jin steles; "Cuan Baozi stele", which is now in Qujing Middle School in Yunnan, was engraved in the first year of Yixi, Emperor An of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 405).The content records the life story of Cuan Baozi, and is one of the important inscriptions in the southwest minority areas.Calligraphy is between official script and regular script, and it is said to be a typical example of the transition from official script to regular script in my country; "Cuan Longyan Stele", which is now in Yuanbao Primary School, Luliang County, Yunnan, was engraved in the second year of Liu Song Daming in the Southern Dynasty (460 A.D. Year), one of the representative inscriptions in the early Southern Dynasties.The content is to record the events of Cuan Longyan's suppression of the local ethnic minority uprising, which is of certain value to the study of the history of ethnic minorities in Southwest China.It and "Cuan Baozi Stele" are called Ercuan Stele; "Xiao Yu Stele" was engraved in the third year of Xiaoliang (AD 522), written by Xu Mian, a famous artist, and Bei Yiyuan Shudan. The calligraphy is already in regular script. One of the existing representative steles in the late Southern Dynasties; "Emperor's East Tour Stele", engraved in the third year of Taiyan (AD 437), records that Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty passed through Yizhou (now Yixian County, Hebei) and competed with his officials during his east tour. The case of archery.According to records, two emperors had an archery competition here, and a total of three steles were engraved. Now only one stele has been found, and it is the earliest and the first stele inscribed by the Northern Wei Dynasty.This stele was discovered in 1920; "Songgaoling Temple Stele" was engraved in the second year of Tai'an (AD 456). According to legend, Kou Qianzhi Shudan wrote regular characters with official script. It is cherished by calligraphers, which reflects another evolution in the development of Han Li.The stele is the first stone erected by Taoism, which reflects some activities of Taoism in Songshan; "Zhang Menglong Stele", carved in the third year of Zhengguang (522 AD), mainly records Zhang Menglong's establishment of a school, and is one of the famous steles of the Northern Wei Dynasty.The stele has excellent calligraphy and strong brushwork, which is a model for modern calligraphers to learn and copy; "Lanling King Gaosu Stele", carved in the fourth year of Wuping in the Northern Qi Dynasty (573 A.D.) and unearthed in 1920, is one of the famous northern steles.According to historical records, Gao Su, whose style name is Changgong, is brave and good at fighting, but he is a handsome man, so when he goes into battle, he always wears a mask (mask) to solve his incongruity between elegance and bravery.It is said that actors wearing masks or hooking facial makeup when acting in later generations came from this.In the Jiaofang songs in the Tang Dynasty, there was a song about King Lanling, and in the Song Dynasty there was still a tune about King Lanling, which was probably originally sung in praise of him.The calligraphy of the stele is a majestic big character, which is the top grade among the northern steles. "Longzang Temple Stele", which is now in Longxing Temple in Zhengding, Hebei Province, was engraved in the sixth year of Kaihuang (587 A.D.) of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty. The situation of Zaolongzang Temple.Calligraphic block letters.Ouyang Xiu from the Song Dynasty recorded it as Zhang Gongli's book.The stele had a great influence on the change of calligraphy from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, fully reflecting the characteristics of the transition between the early and late periods, and is known as the first stele of the Sui Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty was the most prosperous period of ancient Chinese culture and art, and inscriptions are no exception.At this time, the inscription has the following characteristics. First of all, the body of the stele is tall, and the body of the stele is generally 2 meters high and more than 1.4 meters wide.For example, "Huashan Temple Stele", it is said that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, who was so successful, wrote an "Huashan Inscription" and carved it into "Huashan Temple Stele" in order to worship the "Golden God" named in the Tang Dynasty, the God of Huashan Mountain in Xiyue. In the Huashan Temple, the stele is composed of several stones and is more than 10 meters high.Unfortunately, this stele has been destroyed; the largest surviving stone stele is probably the "Songyang Guanji Shengde Induction Ode" standing on Songshan Mountain.The stele was inscribed in the third year of Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao (744 A.D.), written by Li Linfu and written by Xu Hao.There are 25 lines in official script, and each line has 53 characters.The stele is huge and magnificent.It is 9 meters high, 3 meters wide and more than 1 meter thick.The reliefs on the upper and lower sides of the stele are exquisite.There is a top cover on the head of the stele, engraved with clouds and dragons inlaid with beads, and there are statues of Buddhist niches on the pedestal of the stele.On the forehead of the stele are 11 characters in Pei Xiang's seal script "Ode to the Inspiration of the Holy Virtue of Songyang Guanji in the Tang Dynasty". Secondly, there are many mausoleum steles and temple steles.Tang Taizong Li Shimin had feelings for his soldiers, and he stipulated that after his death, his heroic generals must be buried around his tomb, thus forming the system of civil and military heroes accompanying the mausoleum.The tomb of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty is called Zhaoling, and there are more than 100 heroes, generals, concubines, and princesses buried with him. Tombstones are erected in front of each person's tomb.Therefore, the mausoleum area itself has formed a large-scale forest of steles.There are still more than 40 of these steles, including "Li Ji [ji Ji] Stele".Li Ji, formerly known as Xu Shiji, styled Maogong, was the most powerful military general of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Because of his outstanding military exploits, he was given the surname Li, and changed to this name to avoid the taboo of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty.The stele was inscribed in the second year of Yifeng, Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty (AD 677). Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi personally wrote and wrote Dan, with 32 lines of running script and more than 90 characters in each line.Influenced by Emperor Taizong, Gaozong's calligraphy is quite impressive.The stele is still in place (that is, in the Zhaoling Museum of Liquan County, Shaanxi Province), 7.5 meters high, 1.3 meters wide, and 0.7 meters thick. The body of the stele is the crown of the Zhaoling tomb; In the first year (684 A.D.), the Qianling Mausoleum of Emperor Gaozong was built.The stele is made of seven large stones, 6.5 meters high.The seven sections on the body of the stele are taken from the sun, the moon, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, commonly known as the "Seven Sections Stele", and are now in Qianxian County, Shaanxi Province (formerly Qianzhou).Written by Wu Zetian and written by Tang Zhongzong.The calligraphy is rigorous and tidy, and the style is parallel prose, with a total of 46 lines, each with more than 120 characters, a total of more than 5,500 characters, and more than 1,600 characters in existence.The content is to praise Tang Gaozong's "Holy Virtue", but because the stele was toppled earlier, the full text has not yet been seen. Third, steles of famous calligraphers are popular, thus retaining a large number of authentic works of famous calligraphers.Famous calligraphers in the Tang Dynasty, such as Chu Suiliang, Yu Shinan, Wang Zhijing, Ouyang Xun and Ouyang Tong's father and son, Xue Ji and Xue Yao brothers, Yan Zhenqing, Li Yong, Cai Youlin, Han Zemu, Liang Shengqing, Xu Hao, Liu Gongquan, Shen Chuanshi, Pei Lin, Tang Xuandu, Liu Yuxi and others all wrote many inscriptions.Ouyang Xun wrote more than 20 stone inscriptions, including "Jiucheng Palace Liquan Ming", "Fang Yanqian Stele", "Huangfu's Birthday Stele", "Wen Yanbo Stele", and Li Yong wrote "Dazhao Zen Master Stele", "Li Sixun Stele", "Donglin Temple Stele", "Duanzhou Stone Chamber Records", "Lu Zhengdao Stele", "Lushan Temple Stele" and more than 30 pieces.Yan Zhenqing wrote "Baguan Zhaihui Baode Ji", "Ode to Zhongxing in the Tang Dynasty", "Yuanjie Tomb Table", "Duobao Pagoda Induction Monument", "Li Xuanjing Monument", "Dongfang Shuo Painting Praise Monument", "Free Life Pond Monument" , "Guo Family Temple Stele", "Yan's Family Temple Stele", "Li Dui Ji" and more than 90 pieces; Liu Gongquan wrote "Xuan Mi Pagoda Stele", "Li Sheng [Sheng Sheng] Stele", "Fu Lin Stele" , "Shence Army Stele", "Feng Su Stele", "Wei Gongxian Temple Stele" and more than 60 pieces.Others, such as "Monument of Master Daoyin" written by Ouyang Tong, "Monument of Fang Xuanling", "Monument of Master Meng" and "Preface to the Holy Teaching of Yanta" written by Chu Suiliang, are all famous calligraphy steles in regular script. respected by the family. Tang Taizong Li Shimin advocated Wang Xizhi's cursive script, and writing steles with cursive script opened a generation of calligraphy.He personally wrote "Jinci Ming" (existing in Taiyuan), "Screen Stele" (existing in Yuhang, Zhejiang), "Hot Spring Inscription" and so on in cursive script.The original stone of the Wen stele was lost long ago, and there are rubbings of the Tang Dynasty in the Dunhuang stone chamber, and photocopies are now circulating.Monk Huairen spent more than 20 years compiling "Ji Wang Shu Sheng Jiao Preface", which is a famous Tang stele in cursive script. Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, advocated official script, and he himself wrote beautiful official script. It is said that he wrote more than 30 pieces in total, and there are still about 10 pieces in the world, such as "Jitaishan Ming", "Shitai Xiaojing", "Wang Renjiao Stele", "Qing Tang Guan Ji Sheng Ming" and so on are his handwriting.Among them, "Qing Tang Guan Ji Sheng Ming" was engraved in the seventeenth year of Kaiyuan (729 AD).The stele is located in Fushan County, Shanxi Province. Because the place is remote and sparsely populated, few people know about it, so there are not many people who worked on it, and the stele is well preserved.This is an excellent material for understanding Tang Xuanzong's official script.Under their influence, during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years, many famous clerical script writers appeared, such as Shi Wei wrote more than 40 pieces, such as the "Monument of Zen Master Dazhi" and "Ode to Guanjinluzhai in Qingtang Dynasty".Among them, the Stele of Zen Master Dazhi was engraved on the stele in the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan (736 A.D.), with 32 lines and 61 characters in each line; the Yin of the stele was engraved five years later than the stele, with 27 lines and nine characters in each line. Sun Chengze, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, praised the calligraphy of this stele as the first work in the Kaiyuan period.Cai Youlin wrote official script steles such as "Yuchi Huimiao Stele" and "Pang Luwen Stele"; Han Zemu wrote "Gaohua Yuewen" and "Ye Huiming Stele" and other official script steles. Li Yangbing [Ning Ning], a great seal script writer in the Tang Dynasty, was pretentious and boasted that after Li Si in the Qin Dynasty, he was the direct successor of seal script.During the Tianbao and Dali years in the mid-Tang Dynasty, he carved many steles and steles in seal characters. Among the recorded ones, there are thirty or forty pieces such as "Three Graves", "Town God's Temple Stele", but only 16 or 7 pieces are extant. Fourth, there are many inscriptions that reflect the relationship between countries and nations, and have high historical value. The Stele of the Tang-Tibet Alliance, engraved in the third year of Tang Changqing (823 A.D.), was erected in the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet, and it still exists today.On the right side of the stele is Chinese, regular script, and on the left is Tibetan. The content records the Tang-Bo alliance.According to historical records, before the alliance between Tang and Tibet, there were many wars and wars. This alliance demarcated the boundary between Tang and Tibet, and engraved it on stone, so that future generations will remember it, marking the arrival of a peaceful period between Tang and Tibet. There has not been a major war for hundreds of years, which is conducive to the development of the Han and Tibetan races.This stele is an excellent physical material for studying the history of the relationship between the Han and Tibetan nationalities; the "Nanzhao Dehua Stele" was erected in the fifteenth year of Geluo Fengzanpuzhong (766 AD), and the stele is located in the west of Nantaihe Village, Dali, Yunnan Province. .The monument is 3.02 meters high and 3.27 meters wide.The content records a series of important historical facts in the early days of the establishment of the Nanzhao regime, and is the first-hand material for studying the history of Nanzhao; An important inscription praising the performance of King Ge Luofeng of Nanzhao and the relationship between Nanzhao and the Tang Dynasty; "The Great Qin Nestorian Popular Chinese Stele" was erected in the second year of Jianzhong (AD 781) of Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty.The stele is 280 centimeters high, 85 centimeters wide and 16 centimeters thick.A cross is engraved on the head of the monument.The names and titles of 70 Nestorian monks are engraved in Syriac and Chinese on the lower part of the stele and on the left and right sides.The inscription consists of 32 lines, each with 62 characters, divided into two parts: preface and eulogy.The content mainly describes the spread of Nestorianism (Nestolian Christianity) in China, and it is an important material for studying Nestorianism in the Tang Dynasty and cultural exchanges between China and the West.After the stele was unearthed in the late Ming Dynasty, it not only attracted the attention of Chinese scholars, but also attracted the interest of foreign missionaries. At the beginning of the 19th century, some people tried to smuggle this stele out of the country. Due to the protection of the masses, their plot failed, and the forest of steles in Xi'an is now preserved. The above-mentioned four aspects of Tang steles not only reflect the characteristics of Tang Dynasty steles, but also reflect the grand occasion when ancient Chinese steles reached their peak.Although the subsequent dynasties had their own characteristics, there was no new climax of inscriptions. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, calligraphy-based inscriptions continued to develop. Great calligraphers such as Su Shi, Huang Shanshan, Mi Fu (fu Fu), Cai Xiang, Zhao Mengfu (fu Fu), and Xian Yushu all had excellent works.Su Shi, courtesy name Dongpo, wrote dozens of inscriptions such as "Sima Wen Gong Stele", "Chibi Fu", "Biao Zong Guan Stele", "Feng Le Pavilion Ji" and so on. "Qian Chibi Fu" is a regular script written by Su Shi himself. The diameter of the characters is seven or eight points. The calligraphy is steady and smooth, which is different from the common ones.Huang Tingjian, whose name is Valley, has written dozens of inscriptions such as "Bo Yi Shu Qi's Tombstone", "Diliang Gong Monument", "Vows", "Dragon King Monument".Regarding the "Stele of Di Liang Gong", the ancients said: the matter of Di Liang Gong (Di Renjie), written by Fan Wenzheng (Fan Zhongyan), and written by Huang Wenjie (Huang Tingjian), are "three wonders in the world".Mi Fu wrote "Thousand Characters", "Taoxi Poetry", "Wuhu County Xueji" and other regular script and running script steles.Cai Xiang wrote "The Story of Day Jintang", "The Story of Wan'an Bridge", "Liu Yi's Tombstone" and so on.Among them, Ouyang Xiu wrote the "Day Jintang Ji", Shao Bi seals the forehead, Cai Xiang's regular script has 18 lines, and each line has 39 characters. The calligraphy is rigorous and dignified, which is quite similar to Yan Zhenqing's style.It is said that when Cai Xiang wrote this stele, he wrote each word on a piece of paper, and finally chose the better one to carve it on the stone, so people call this "Ji" "Bai Na stele".Zhao Mengfu was a great calligrapher in the Yuan Dynasty, and he wrote nearly a hundred kinds of inscriptions, such as "Shaolin Temple Yugong Monument", "Xuanmiao Temple Rebuilt Three Gates", "Xuanjiaozong Biography Monument", "Xu Xizai Shinto Monument", "New Temple Learning Monument" for its representative works.Among them, "Xuanjiaozong Biography Stele" was written by Yuan Yuji, and Zhao Mengfu enshrined the seal script and wrote Dan.In the fourth year of Zhizheng (1344 A.D.), Wu Quanjie engraved the stone.Regular script has 26 lines and each line has 64 characters.The vivid brushwork of the stele shows the skill of Zhao Shu. "Xu Xizai Shinto Monument", written by Ouyang Xuan, and Mao Shaozhi's collection Zhao Mengfu's regular script. In Anyang, Henan, the inscriptions on the stele are extremely neat and engraved on all sides, so the local people call it "four-faced stele".Although the stele is a collection of characters, the calligraphy is strong and strong, which is unmatched by others. It is also a masterpiece in Zhao Shu, so those who comment on calligraphy often regard this stele as the top grade of Zhao Shu. "New Temple Study Stele", written by Li Shisheng in the Yuan Dynasty, and in seal script by Zhao Mengfu.It was engraved in the 30th year of Zhiyuan (AD 1293), and it was written by Zhao Mengfu when he was in his prime (40 years old).The inscription written by Zhao is the first to be seen in the world, and this is the only one that has been written in seal script.The title of Zhao Zhi's book has grown since then.Zhao was written by others, and the regular script style is too annoying, so he never writes seal script lightly, only occasionally has sketches of seal script, and there are absolutely no huge monuments. "Preface to Li Yuan's Return to Pangu", written by Han Yu, is rarely written by Shushu.Its calligraphy style is rigorous and magnificent, which can be used as a model of large-character regular script. "Xian Yushu Big Character Poetry Praise" is a poem written by Xian himself, with 71 cursive lines.The calligraphy of the book is bold and solid, with a vigorous and regular style.It can be as famous as the great calligraphers of the Yuan Dynasty such as Zhao Mengfu and Kang Liao [nao Nao]. Song and Yuan inscriptions, in addition to many steles written by famous calligraphers, also have a feature that there are many steles with pictures, such as "Astronomical Picture Stele", "Yuji Picture Stele", "Huayi Picture Stele" and so on are very famous. "Huayi Picture Stele", engraved in the seventh year of Fuchang (1136 A.D.) in the Puppet Qi Dynasty of the Southern Song Dynasty, is now in the Forest of Steles in Xi'an. "Huayi Map Stele" is a Chinese and foreign map of the Song Dynasty, and the Chinese part is the main one.In the picture, the mountains, rivers, the Great Wall, and the geographical locations of the states in China are clearly marked. As for other parts, only some names and the relationship between them are briefly marked in the picture. "Yuji Picture Stele" was engraved in the seventh year of Fuchang in the Puppet Qi Dynasty of the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1136), but it was drawn later than the "Huayi Picture Stele" engraved in the same year.The existing Forest of Steles in Xi'an.The coastline drawn in the picture is more accurate, which shows that we know more about the coastal areas than before.On the whole, the "Yuji Map Stele" is relatively close to today's Chinese map. "Pingjiang Map", engraved in the second year of Shaoding in the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1229), is in the Suzhou Museum.It is the most detailed city map of the Song Dynasty that has been handed down, and it is the oldest map of Suzhou in existence. "Geographic Map", engraved in the seventh year of Chunyou in the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1247).The representation of the mountains in the picture is a step ahead of the "Huayi Map Stele", and the terrain in the picture has a three-dimensional effect. "Astronomical Map Stele", carved by Wang Zhiyuan in the seventh year of Chunyou in the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1247), is now in the Suzhou Museum.The stone carving is more than two meters high and one meter wide. The picture is centered on the North Pole, with 1440 stars collected, 41 lines of explanatory text, more than 2000 words, and a brief description of the astronomical knowledge known at that time. "The Stone Carving of Jingjiangfu City Defense Map", engraved in the eighth year of Xianchun in the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1272), is now preserved in Yingwuyan, Guilin, Guangxi.It is the floor plan of the city defense fortifications built four times in Jingjiang Mansion (now Guilin City) to defend against the attack of the Mongolian army since the sixth year of Baoyou (1258 A.D.). It is an important historical material for studying the development history of Guilin City and the history of ancient city defense. . 《汾阴后土图碑》，刻于金天会十五年(公元1137年)，现存山西万荣后土庙，为荣河县知县张维等所刻的后土庙建筑全貌图碑，是现存最完整的北宋祠庙图之一。可从中了解宋代国家一级祠庙的概貌。 明清时期陵墓碑在气势规模上又有发展。明之十三陵，清之东、西陵，都著称于世。 明十三陵在北京昌平县天寿山下方圆44公里的小盆地上，建有长陵、永陵、定陵等十三处明代皇帝陵墓。每陵布局大体相似，都有碑亭、明楼等建筑。如长陵(明成祖朱棣墓)明楼呈方形，四面辟券门，中贯十字形穹窿顶，上檐下悬匾额，大书“长陵”二字。正中竖碑一座，阴文刻“大明成祖文皇帝之陵”。定陵为神宗朱翊〔yi亦〕钧陵墓，明楼檐下榜额刻“定陵”二字，楼内石碑碑首额篆“大明”二字，碑身刻“神宗显皇帝之陵”。明十三陵各陵之神功圣德碑有明显特点，多为无字碑，刻有碑文的只有长陵和思陵(明崇祯墓)的两块碑。其他明碑，如《永宁寺碑》等，也是十分著名而重要的碑刻。《永宁寺碑》是明永乐十一年(公元1413年)刻《永宁寺记》与明宣德八年(公元1433年)刻《重建永宁寺记》二碑的总称。记述明朝永乐年间派员赴奴儿干(今黑龙江下游特林)设置都司衙门，任命都指挥同知、都指挥佥事等官，以安抚当地居民等情况。该碑是说明明朝初年黑龙江、乌苏里江、松花江流域和库页岛地区为我国领土的重要证据。 清代有东、西两个陵区。现以东陵为例略加叙说。东陵位于河北遵化县马兰峪，有孝陵、裕陵、定陵等皇帝陵五座，皇后陵四座。始建于康熙二年(公元1663年)，陵园以昌瑞山为中心，南北长125公里，东西宽20公里。各陵布局也大体相似，都有圣德神功碑楼，神道碑亭等。裕陵为乾隆皇帝陵，圣德神功碑楼内，有龙蝠碑两座，高六米，赑屃座，碑文用汉、满两种文字刻就。定东陵为咸丰皇后慈安与慈禧的陵寝。碑亭内龙蝠碑，重量就达20余吨，碑座也是整块石料雕成的赑屃座，以体现碑刻的高贵等级。 清朝时，为了统一的多民族国家的巩固和政权的稳定，康熙、乾隆两朝比较注意民族关系的协调。乾隆皇帝明确表示，对各民族要“因其教，不易其俗”。这种政策的集中体现就是承德避暑山庄外八庙及其碑群的建立。 溥仁寺及其碑刻。溥仁寺俗称前寺，建于康熙五十二年(公元1713年)。这一年，蒙古各部的王公贵族到承德庆祝康熙皇帝(玄烨)的60寿辰，所以特建此寺并刻《溥仁寺碑》以为纪念。普宁寺及其碑刻。普宁寺建于乾隆二十年(公元1755年)。这时，乾隆皇帝在平定了准噶尔部达瓦齐叛乱后，正在避暑山庄大宴厄鲁特四部的上层贵族，并分别封以汗王、贝勒、贝子等头衔。因他们都信奉喇嘛教，所以乾隆皇帝下令依西藏三摩耶庙之式建普宁寺和碑亭以作纪念。碑亭内所竖之碑有《普宁寺碑》，用满、汉、蒙、藏四种文字书写，内容叙述建寺立碑情况。《平定准噶尔勒铭伊犁之碑》和《平定准噶尔后勒铭伊犁之碑》，均用满、汉、蒙、藏四种文字刻写，碑文分别记述了清政府平定达瓦齐、阿睦尔撒纳叛乱的情况。普陀宗乘之庙及其碑刻。准噶尔叛乱平定后，漠南、漠北、青海、新疆等地的蒙古、维吾尔族上层人物，齐集承德，朝见清帝，显示了祖国的统一。清政府对此十分重视，花了四年时间(公元1767—1771年)，仿照当时藏传佛教的中心——拉萨布达拉宫，建成普陀宗乘之庙，其庙占地22万平方米，是承德外八庙中最大的一个。正当此庙落成时，率众返回祖国的土尔扈特部首领渥巴锡，来到承德朝见乾隆帝，随即到普陀宗乘之庙行瞻礼。故在该庙赐刻《土尔扈特全部归顺记》、《优恤土尔扈特部众记》两碑以作纪念。两碑均是用满、汉、蒙、藏四种文字刻成的大型石碑，记述蒙古卫拉特部之一的土尔扈特部，于明崇祯三年(公元1630年)，被其头目率领到伏尔加河流域游牧，后来因不堪沙皇俄国的压迫与欺侮，又于乾隆三十六年(公元1771年)回归祖国怀抱。清政府拨出价值20万两银子的物资，把他们安置在新疆伊犁河流域放牧。两碑是研究清朝民族关系的重要材料。 元、明、清进士题名碑，是一类著名的专题碑群，现存首都博物馆，共198块。其中元代三块；明代77块；清代118块。题名碑共记载了5162名进士的姓名、籍贯及名次。其中光绪三十年(公元1904年)的两块清代最末的一科进士题名碑中，在其碑文的第二甲第三排第10名刻有近代著名爱国人士沈钧儒的名字。元明清三代进士题名碑，是研究我国晚期科举制度的重要实物资料，有较高的史料价值。 墓碑、祠庙碑、纪念碑就数量而言是碑刻中的主体，此外还有一些有着特殊功用的记事碑。如，《交通规则石碑》刻于宋开禧元年(公元1205年)，一在福建闽北山区松溪县旧县村，一在松溪县竹贤村。本世纪80年代发现。碑文记载唐宋时期“仪制令”，内容有“贱避贵，少避长，轻避重，去避来”等路规。经福建省交通部门鉴定，这是迄今发现的记载我国古代交通规则最早的碑石。 前述各类碑刻，从文字角度区分主要是汉文碑刻，此外我国还有一些少数民族文字的碑刻。 契丹文石刻。分为契丹大字石刻和契丹小字石刻两种，有墓志铭、纪功碑、建庙记和游记等类别。刻石年代主要是在986年至1150年之间。分布地点除陕西、河北有三种外，多数都在辽宁西部和内蒙古自治区昭乌达盟等地。现存契丹大字石刻，主要有《辽太祖纪功碑》(残石)、《大辽大横帐兰陵郡夫人建静安寺碑》、《耶律延宁墓志》、《北大王墓志》(即《耶律万辛墓志》)、《萧孝忠墓志铭》、《故太师铭石记》、《石棺铭文》以及辽上京遗址出土的两件残石等。现存契丹文小字石刻，主要有《兴宗皇帝哀册文》、《仁懿皇后哀册文》、《道宗皇帝哀册文》、《宣懿皇后哀册文》、《萧富留墓志铭》、《许王墓志》、《故耶律氏铭石》、《萧仲恭墓志》、《耶律仁先墓志》、《大金皇帝都统经略郎君行记》(简称《郎君行记》)等10余种。它们是现存研究契丹文字的主要材料，十分重要。 西夏文石刻。西夏文字颁行于1036年，西夏灭亡(公元1227年)以后，仍为党项族所使用，直至明末。现存西夏文石刻多在甘肃、宁夏、河北、北京等地出土，数量不多，代表性石刻有甘肃武威西夏《感应塔碑》、宁夏银川西夏《仁宗寿宁碑》、元代《居庸关西夏文石刻》、《敦煌莫高窟六字箴言碑》以及明代河北保定西夏文石刻等，都是研究西夏历史、西夏文字的重要材料。 女真文石刻。主要有摩崖石刻和碑刻等，中国现存者有吉林省的海龙县《海龙女真国书摩崖》、扶余县《大金得胜陀颂碑》、舒兰县《昭通大将军同知雄州节度使墓碑》，河南省开封《女真进士题名碑》、《奥屯良弼诗碑》(相传发现于山东蓬莱县，故古称《山东蓬莱刻石》)、《奥屯良弼饯饮碑》等。此外在朝鲜还保存有数件。 元代蒙文碑刻。包括蒙古畏兀儿字碑和八思巴蒙古字碑。畏兀儿字碑刻，现存者计有昆明筇竹寺《云南王藏经碑》(碑阴刻有云南王阿鲁的蒙古语令旨)，内蒙翁牛特旗《张氏先茔碑》、《竹温台碑》，甘肃武威《西宁王忻都公神道碑》，山西济源《紫微宫碑》及“皇后懿旨”文末之蒙古畏兀儿字“令文”等。八思巴古字碑刻，已发现者约有20余件，分布在陕西周至、韩城，甘肃泾川，山西太原，河南安阳、许昌、浚县，河北易县，山东邹县等地的元代寺观。内容多为皇帝圣旨、皇后懿旨、皇子诸王令旨或帝师法旨。所述主要为保护佛寺道观产业及减免僧道赋税差役诸事。这两种碑刻都是研究元代历史、制度、宗教、寺观的重要资料。元代白话碑，是元代以八思巴蒙古字书写的官方文书，用汉语白话直译为汉文后，所刻诸碑石的通称。其内容十分丰富，尤其对研究元代专名译语有特殊价值。冯承钧编的《元代白话碑》、蔡美彪编的《元代白话碑集录》等可资参考。 除上述刻字碑外，还有只竖碑、不刻字的“无字碑”，如《泰山无字碑》、《乾陵无字碑》、《十三陵无字碑》等。《泰山无字碑》根据司马迁《史记》记载为汉武帝于元封元年(公元前110年)登泰山时所立。碑高六米，宽1.2米，顶上有石覆盖，石的颜色黄白，因无字，故名无字碑(也有人称为石表)。《乾陵无字碑》，建于7世纪末期或8世纪初，以一块完整的巨石雕成，通高7.53米，宽2.1米，厚4.12米，总重量达100吨。碑首有九条螭龙盘绕。碑侧各有升龙图一幅，升龙长1.49米，宽1.19米。碑座阳面的线刻画的是一幅狮马图。图长2.14米，宽0.66米。狮马图之马屈蹄俯首，悠然就食，雄狮昂首怒目，威严挺立。该碑碑身高大，雕刻精细，不愧为历代无字碑之冠。关于立碑不刻字的原因，向来众说纷纭，以《乾陵无字碑》为例，就有三种说法，一说武则天曾经留有遗言：“己之功过，留后人评”，所以只竖碑不刻字；一说武则天“德高望重，无法可书”；一说这是唐中宗李显为自己立的碑等等。 前述各类碑，内容虽异，但一般都是为人而立的。树碑的基本用意，是表示人们的哀思和怀念。因此，可以说，碑是人们心中永存的颂歌。