Ritualization in the late Eastern Han Dynasty made it an official institution. As a result, the official script changed from the vulgar style of Disciples' Rules to the temple style. This "text" evolution of official script is beyond the original cultural provisions of Hanshu, which is a real "cultural misreading".
To a great extent, Han Liji took the Han tablet as a model, that is to say, the combination of official script and tablet inscription provided objective conditions for the completion of the official transformation in the final sense. Although the method of bamboo and silk calligraphy, which existed before the Han tablet, has the nature and charm of official script, its multipolar development direction makes it in an uncertain process of official script, and it is difficult to form a complete form of official script. Han tablet is the product of the ritualization of stone carving system and the end of official change. The establishment of the official stone carving system and the high maturity of the official script language laid a cultural and material foundation for the Han monument. Therefore, from the standpoint of book history, although we can't ignore the promotion of bamboo slips and silks in the evolution of official script, it is undoubtedly in line with the facts of book history to regard the Han tablet as a model of official script.
Han tablet is an important part of the funeral system in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Therefore, the so-called Han tablet refers to the tombstone, which is an important difference between the Han tablet and ordinary stone carvings. "Modern people say that words are written in stone, but they are not. In the Han dynasty, it was only called stone carving in ancient times. " The predecessor of a tombstone is a monument. Monument is a vertical stone in front of ancient temples and cemeteries, which is used to measure the sun, tie animals, thread ropes as pulleys, and lead coffins for burial. According to documents, there were stone tablets as early as the Zhou Dynasty. "Yili Dowry": "East to North, when the monument is south." Zheng Xuan's note: "There must be a monument in the palace, which can tell the scene of the sun (shadow) and attract Yin and Yang. If there is a monument and an introduction, they will sacrifice in the ancestral hall and take blood. Its material, the temple is made of stone, not wood. " "Book of Rites Under Tan Gong": "The government looks at the monument." Zheng Xuan's Note: "The stone tablet is made by cutting off a big tree, which looks like a stone tablet. It passes through the four corners of the tree before and after the coffin, with Lulu in the middle, and the coffin is wrapped in the countryside. The emperor has six rates and four monuments, and there are heavy deer before and after. " The Book of Rites: "When burying the monarch, you can use auxiliary materials and bury four tablets ... When burying a doctor, you can use spokes and two tablets ... When burying a country car, you can use two tablet computers ... When sealing, you can use a tablet." Zheng Xuan's Note: "All hearses and urns are said to be sealed with urns without ornaments. The urns are erected in front and back, and the deer descended from the coffins with deer and the deer around the monument."
Tombstone is a kind of "monument", which comes from the big wood used in the tombs of the Zhou Dynasty. Later, because wood is perishable, the Han tablet was changed into stone. Shi Shiming ceremonies: "Monument, quilt also. This book was set up at the time of burial. Put a pulley on it with a rope to guide the coffin. The courtiers recalled the beauty of your father's merits and wrote his book. Because of its ignorance, later generations also built it at the head of the road, and the obvious place was named as a monument. "
The Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty is the brewing period of tombstones, and the gravestone inscriptions in Qin Dynasty, gravestones in front of graves, tombs and other cemeteries are important sources of tombstones in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
In the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, especially in the era of Heng and Ling, the development of tombstones reached a mature and prosperous stage. After the Han dynasty, the world sent the dead away, and many things were stone chambers, stone walls, inscriptions and so on. The prevalence of thick burial in the Eastern Han Dynasty objectively promoted the development and maturity of tombstones. At this point, no matter the form, style, or the development of tombstones are perfect, and the evolution from ancient monuments to tombstones that "remember the beauty of father's merits and virtues" has been completed.
The shape of Han stele can be divided into three parts: stele base, stele body and stele head. The base is called "Yi" and is rectangular: it has a turtle shape and a square shape. As a rectangular vertical stone, the monument is called "Yang" on the front and engraved with inscriptions; The reverse side of the tablet is called "Yin" and is engraved with a title; The left and right sides of the tablet are called "edges" and are also used to engrave titles. The head of the tablet is called "forehead", which is used to print titles. There are three kinds: semicircle, reed and square, and there are many carved dragons around. In addition, "those who wear a lot at first, wear outside or feel dizzy are the legacy of tombstones." After the late Han Dynasty and Wei and Jin Dynasties, the aura gradually disappeared.
According to the calligraphy characteristics and style tendency of Han steles, Han steles can be divided into the following three categories:
1, Fang Zhuo Pu Mao, Jun Express Sharp
There are Zhang Qianbei, Xian Yu Huang, Jian 'an for six years, Fang Heng, Zhang Shou, Geng Xun and Liu Xiong. This school of Han steles still maintains the simple and broad meteorological and natural meaning of early Han Li, and it is the work that can best reflect the greatness of Han steles. They don't have the exquisite and elegant decoration meaning shown by most Han steles in the same period, and their brushwork is unpretentious, especially the knife meaning. Judging from the origin of the official reform, this kind of tablet was rarely influenced by bamboo slips and silk calligraphy, but evolved directly from the stone carvings in the Western Han Dynasty. The difference is that the stone carvings in the Western Han Dynasty pursue roundness and thick lines because they do not lose the meaning of seal cutting, while this kind of works cover the pen with a knife, showing a clumsy gesture. This inscription is represented by Zhang Qianbei. Because of the great contrast between the brushwork and the Han tablet of the same period, the brushwork of later generations is often criticized: "Its handwriting is quite fine, but it is difficult to copy, and there is no brushwork at all, especially Yin." The so-called "no brushwork at all" means that "Zhang Qianbei" does not conform to the purpose of the Han tablet, that is, the silkworm head and goose tail. In fact, Zhang Qianbei's brushwork appeared at the end of the official change in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, which had the leading significance and was the beginning of the official change. Kang Youwei believes that Zhang Qian Biao Fu has strokes that can be put into modern faithfulness. It can be seen that the Fang Bi Sweating Monument, represented by Zhang Qianbei, not only has the style and type value in the history of calligraphy, but also has far-reaching significance for the transformation of calligraphy style.
2, elegant and neat, strict statutes
This kind of Han stele can be divided into two categories according to the brushwork: A: Su Kuo's internal strength: The representative Han steles are Li Qi, Chen Shi, Yi Ying, Huashan Temple, Lou Shou, Zhang Jing, Jianning, the filial son of the dynasty and Li Mengchu. This kind of work is typical of a temple, so it is beautifully carved and very decorative. As this kind of works are generally obscured by the neutral aesthetic thoughts of Confucianism, its aesthetic paradigm largely dispels the vulgarization tendency of early Han Li, effectively restricts the "loose brushwork" of bamboo and silk calligraphy, and makes it present an aesthetic style of blending sense with elegance and vulgarity. In terms of brushwork, this kind of inscription fully absorbs the elegant and agile brushwork of Han bamboo slips, and also incorporates the brushwork of the knife, making the lines present a unique and elegant combination of knife and pen. B: Smart and elegant: This kind of inscriptions include Confucius Temple Monument, Yin, Han, Cangjie Temple Monument, Confucius Table Monument and so on. This inscription flies vertically, with open strokes and great momentum. Because the temple is upright and elegant, it is largely caused by the different reliance on the second-class inscriptions of knives and pens.
3, quaint and simple, complicated and changeable
Such inscriptions include Xia Chengbei, Li Sangong Mountain Monument and lujun Monument. This school of Han steles has lofty spirit, simple style, meaning of seal script, low degree of bureaucracy and strong retro orientation. There are great differences between calligraphy and brushwork and general Han steles. Sun Chengze's "Summer of the Gengzi" comments on "Summer North": "There is a seal in its words, and it is eight points. Hong is very strange, which is really strange. There are those who doubt its falsehood, but the pen is heroic, which is by no means beyond the reach of future generations. Commenting on his book "High Soul" in Guang Yi and Zhou Shuang, Kang Youwei said: "Only heroes and dragons and phoenixes tend to think that books are dragons. I call it "Summer City" which is a different style. If it is near this winter, it will be a slab bridge or something. With The Analects of Confucius as the core, China is also in China and Africa. "In terms of brushwork, this kind of inscription advocates a round pen and has extremely rich meanings." Every stroke, every stroke, is very provocative. "(Wan Qing Dynasty) Lu Junbei is particularly prominent in this respect. Yang Shoujing's Pingbei Ji says, "Tang and Mijihai are magnificent, fat but not angry. "This kind of stele was in a non-mainstream position in the Han Dynasty, with little influence and little existence, because it pursues the meaning of seal strokes and has obvious retro tendency. However, this kind of inscription and postscript had a great influence on the official script in Tang Dynasty and the cliff-style classic calligraphy in the middle and late Northern Dynasties.
Han tablet evolved from the common people-early Han Li. Therefore, although the Han stele, as the main body of the temple, had to make schema amendments to its early bamboo slips and cliff calligraphy for cultural purposes, it could not completely eliminate the early strong sense of life, overall strength and momentum. Therefore, the vitality of bamboo slips and cliff calligraphy based on aesthetic freedom still dominates and affects the Han tablet to a great extent.