Shi Zhecun: Epitaph, Tower Inscription and Classic Buildings in Tang Dynasty

The epitaph of Tang Dynasty, the inscription on pagoda and the epitaph of Shizhecun in Jingzhuang are also important parts of stone carvings in Tang Dynasty. The custom of carving stone tombs has been popular since the Northern Wei Dynasty. Many epitaphs were unearthed during the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi Dynasties. The Tang Dynasty lasted for a long time, and the number of epitaphs unearthed far exceeded that of the Northern Dynasty. Many epitaphs of the Tang Dynasty were recorded in Bao Ke Cong Bian compiled by the Song Dynasty, indicating that the epitaphs of the Tang Dynasty had been unearthed in the Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, no one recorded the full text at that time, and only one name is known so far. Among them, what I regret most is the epitaph of the poet. If the full text is recorded, we can learn more and more about the poet's life story. Mr. Xia wrote a chronicle for the poet Wen Feiqing, but unfortunately he could not know the year of his death. I wrote to tell him according to the record of Bao Ke Cong Bian that Wen Feiqing died in Xian Tong for seven years. He was very happy and recorded it in his "teaching record". This incident shows the historical value of the epitaph. Epitaphs in Yuan and Ming Dynasties were rarely unearthed, or were not recorded. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, farmers in An dug up an epitaph stone of the Tang Dynasty, entitled "Wang Jushi Bricks and Towers", which was beautifully written in regular script. The author signed "Jing Ke", I wonder if his surname is Jing Mingke. When the stone was found, it was split into three pieces, then five pieces, and finally seven small pieces. The rubbings sell well, and many people use them as temporary copies for learning Chinese characters. There are differences among three rubbings, five rubbings and seven rubbings. This is the most profound period of epitaph rubbings in the Tang Dynasty. After Jiaqing and Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty, especially in the last hundred years, a large number of epitaphs of Wei, Jin and Tang Dynasties were unearthed, and the handwriting was not much better than that of Wang Jushi's brick tower inscription, so the value of Wang Jushi was also low. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the epitaphs of the brick tower of Wang Jushi in the prosperous Tang Dynasty were all unearthed from huge tombs, and most of them were epitaphs of wealthy families. The epitaph is huge and finely carved, maintaining the specifications of the epitaph of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Handwriting is also exquisite, often from the hands of famous artists, such as Ouyang Tong's Epitaph of the Spring Boy, especially the best epitaph in the Tang Dynasty. Because Ouyang Tong wrote the tablet, there is only one tablet written by Master Daoyin, which is in block letters, and the epitaph of the boy in spring is in block letters. With these two stones, Ouyang Tong's calligraphy presents a complete picture. After the Tang dynasty, many small epitaphs appeared in the epitaph of the whole boy and the tablet of the master of the guide. This stone is only 30 to 40 centimeters high and wide, and many inscriptions are not very clever, and the handwriting is also very sloppy and vulgar. The tomb owners described in Wen Zhi have no special deeds, but are all middle-level officials, scribes or wealthy businessmen. At that time, social atmosphere prevailed and funerals were held. Tang Yaohui recorded the funeral ceremony in the Tang Dynasty, and there was a "stone pavilion" in the funeral procession. It can be seen that the epitaph stone should be sent to the grave in the colorful pavilion in the funeral fashion. In this way, people have to have epitaphs when they do funerals. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, this custom became popular among the people, resulting in many shoddy epitaphs. This kind of epitaph rubbings are estimated to be "Tang Xiao epitaph". Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, a dozen or twenty tablets were estimated, and the price was only two yuan. So far, more than 4,000 epitaphs of the Tang Dynasty have been unearthed and publicly recorded. In addition, there are many secret monuments piled up in the warehouses of the provincial and municipal cultural management committees, and the number will be quite large. Zhang Fang alone has more than 0/000 epitaphs of the Tang Dynasty, which is called "Thousand Tang Zhi Zhai". These epitaphs are well preserved, and it is said that all their rubbings will be printed by Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House. Li Genyuan in Tengchong collected 93 epitaphs of the Tang Dynasty. Last year, Qilu Bookstore printed all the rubbings, the most striking of which was the epitaph of the poet Wang Zhihuan. Xu Naichang also collected more than ten epitaphs from Tang Dynasty epitaphs, and he didn't want to spread rubbings, so outsiders didn't know its name. One of the most relevant historical documents is Epitaph of Gaoxia, which I have collected for 20 years and have never seen its rubbings. Now the original stone has been returned to the library of East China Normal University, but the rubbings have not been obtained. Between tombstones and epitaphs, a kind of "tower inscription" appeared in the Tang Dynasty. After the death of monks and nuns, they all built tower-shaped tombs by cremation (called "tea" in teaching) and put the ashes in the tower. In addition, carve a square or rectangular inscription and build it on the front of the tower. Pagoda inscription is not an epitaph, because it is not buried underground; Taming is not a tombstone, because it does not leave the grave, it is independent. But the inscription on the pagoda is the same as the epitaph. From the perspective of rubbings, there is no difference, but it is rarely square. General collectors classify tower inscriptions as epitaphs. Women who practice at home or believe in Buddhism should also be cremated after their death, such as Wang Jushi's brick pagoda inscription and Mrs. Cheng's pagoda inscription. Cheng's calligraphy of the pagoda inscription is also excellent, which is as famous as Wang Jushi's brick pagoda inscription, so it is called the small brick pagoda inscription. Most of these pagodas are made of bricks, so they are called brick pagodas, also known as "spiritual pagodas", and also called "gray pagodas" in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, generally called monk pagodas. This kind of tower is found in almost every ancient temple, and Tallinn in Shaolin Temple is the grand view. The Tallinn classic building in Shaolin Temple is also a popular Buddhist stone carving in Tang Dynasty. The general form is hexagonal or octagonal stone pillars, with a treasure cover on the top and a lotus pedestal on the bottom, which are located in front of the Buddhist temple or Sandao, or at the entrance of the avenue and postal kiosk. Both sides of the pillar are engraved with Buddhist scriptures, most of which are Diamond Sutra or Dalagni Sutra. There is a preface before the scripture, followed by the names of Chua's builders and calligraphers. This classic building has no historical and documentary value, and calligraphy is not written by famous artists, so no one has paid attention to it. Stone carvings recorded before the Qing Dynasty are not accepted by classic buildings. There were few books carved in wood in the Tang Dynasty, and almost all books were written by hand. Some unknown intellectuals make a living by writing books and selling money. Most of their works are classics of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, so they are called "Confucian classics". The average student's handwriting is not bad If he writes badly, no one will buy his manuscript. However, many of the existing Dunhuang documents are naive and clumsy, probably because there are no experts in the temple to copy scriptures in Xixiang. As for the classic buildings in the Central Plains and wuyue, calligraphy is very good. I have a rubbings of Darani Jing Lou of Shaoxing Fu Shang Temple, and my handwriting is not under Wang Xingman and Ouyang Tong. Just because Jingsheng's social status is not high, he is despised by literati. Ye (Ju Shang), a stele scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, was greatly wronged by Confucian classics, and deliberately went to various places to collect more than 500 kinds of rubbings of Confucian classics. The name of his study is 500 classrooms. 1956 saw four bundles of rubbings in the rubbings department of Shanghai Ancient Books Bookstore. After investigation, it was found that they were all classics, seals with leaves and inscriptions with leaves, only to know that they were all five hundred classics lost by Ye Jia. I couldn't buy it at that time, so I missed it. After more than a month, I went to the shop assistant to ask about the whereabouts of these rubbings. It is said that no one in Shanghai bought it, and it has been shipped to Beijing Liulichang. I don't know who finally fell in. Inscriptions also began in the Tang Dynasty. Before the Tang Dynasty, all stone carvings could be called monuments. After the Tang Dynasty, there was a difference between stele and post. Emperor Taizong loved Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, carved Preface to Lanting on a jade plate and rewarded ministers with rubbings. People who got this kind of rubbings were also carved on jujube chips or stone tablets, and rubbings also spread. This kind of woodcut or inscription is called "post inscription", not "inscription". Qin Shihuang's "Stone Carving on Yishan Mountain" had a jujube manuscript in the Tang Dynasty. The rubbings on the original stone are called "slices", and the rubbings on jujube blocks can only be called "stickers". Wang Xizhi's Preface to Shinto, inscribed in Huairen Ji, is named after the function of this inscription and is a "monument"; But from the perspective of calligraphy and its function, it should be said that it is also a kind of "post". Someone said in the preface to the holy teachings (the words of Huai Wang Xizhi) that the horizontal stone carving is a pillar and the stone carving is a monument. This difference can only be applied after the Song Dynasty. Because from the beginning of "Chunhua Pavilion Post", the posts of all previous dynasties were carved with horizontal stripes, but the tower carvings of some eminent monks in Tallinn, Shaolin Temple were also carved with horizontal stripes. Can it be said that it is a post? In short, it is difficult to simply define the difference between a tablet and a post. In my opinion, the main difference lies in the function and times of lettering. The purpose of carving the handwriting of ancient or contemporary celebrities is to let people learn calligraphy, which is a post; The purpose of engraving contemporary historical materials, biographies and poems is to preserve documents and spread them to future generations. This is a monument. However, the rubbings of inscriptions, which were cut and embedded in books, are now commonly called posts. Most people only talk about temporary posts, not temporary monuments. [Note] This article is actually a stone carving in the second half of the Tang Dynasty. Because the full text is long, it is divided into two parts with additional titles. Author's note. The original text was published in the 7th issue of Knowledge of Literature and History (1988). 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