To a great extent, Han Li took the Han tablet as a model, that is to say, the combination of official script and inscription provided objective conditions for the completion of the official change 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, it 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. Adapted to the highly mature system of Han inscriptions, Han inscriptions have also become a typical style, that is, parallel prose. There are as many as 1000 words. The tomb owner's name, official position, achievements, date of birth and death, and the name of the monument-erecting person are all recorded in detail, with four rhymes and gorgeous decoration.
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Han steles formed the central "context" of etiquette culture, and at the same time, Confucianism began to penetrate into Han steles in an all-round way. An obvious fact is that most of the Han steles are located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, which is the center of Confucianism, especially in Jining City, Shandong Province, which is known as "the Han stele in the world is half Jining". During this period, the Han tablet eroded the broad meteorological and natural meanings of early Han Li as a whole. However, due to the structure of knife stone, the characteristics of bamboo slips and silk books are further exaggerated, which makes Han Li tend to be fully mature in ontology language.
Han steles have been handed down from generation to generation in large quantities and in various styles, as the saying goes, "One monument is unique, and there is no similarity". Therefore, it is a special subject to study the Han tablet from the style type.
Zhu Yizun said in the postscript to the Temple Monument of Huashan Mountain in Xiyue: "There are three kinds of Han Li, and one question is complete. Historical sites such as Hongdu Shijing, Yinzhou, lujun, Wurong, Zheng Gu, Fang Heng, Liu Xiong and Baishi Shen Jun have long existed. A kind of elegance, the monuments of Han Bai, Cao Quan, Chen Shi, Yi Ying and Zhang Qian are already there. A strange ancient, "Summer City" and "Qi Zhu Bo" have been inscribed. " Wang Shu said in "Inscription and Postscript of Virtual Boat": "Han steles can be divided into three categories: heroic, vigorous and square." Kang Youwei's The Authentic Han Dynasty in Zhou Shuang, Guang Yi, divides the Han steles into eight categories: "Jun Shuang, Shu Dang, Shen Gao, Mao Feng, Hua Yan, Xu He, Zheng Ning and Xiuforehead. In addition, some scholars divide Han steles into five categories according to the purpose of production: those who praise the efficacy of gods and ghosts, those who have temples with gods and monuments; A temple monument describing the sacrifices and builders of the ancestral temple; Praise personal virtue, there are virtue tablets, tombstones and stone gates of graves; To commemorate the completion of civil engineering, there is a completion monument. Others include portrait inscriptions, epitaphs, burial records, stone scriptures and so on. This classification fully observes the cultural functions of Han steles, and combines the formation of different calligraphy styles of Han steles with the Han stele system. Therefore, this classification perspective is undoubtedly more valuable for historical understanding than just dividing the style of Han tablet from aesthetic form.