The Forest of Steles in Xi'an is recognized by the world as a world cultural heritage, the "stone library" of Chinese culture, and the "palace" of calligraphy art. In 2000, it was rated as a 4A tourist attraction by the National Tourism Administration. Since the reform and opening up, tens of thousands of literati from all over the world come here to visit every year. At the same time, the fire of Chinese calligraphy art is spread to all over the world. The author feels extremely gratified and proud to live and work here, and will undoubtedly be inspired and nurtured over time. In many years of contact with Chinese and foreign tourists, in addition to hearing words of praise and admiration for the ancient Forest of Steles, I also heard a lot of talk about the word "" in the Forest of Steles among the tourists who came one after another. They followed the tour guide around the small hall and approached the plaque with the word "Lin" erected on the "Xiao Jing Pavilion" written by Lin Zexu. The tour guides with different knowledge had different opinions. What's more, they are passed on to tourists by mistake. Some people say that this plaque is good, but why is the word "" missing? It is said that Lin Zexu was demoted and sent to Yili, Xinjiang. He was in a bad mood, so he wrote one stroke less in the word ""; some say that Lin Zexu lost his "official hat" and was sent to pass by Xi'an to write a plaque for the Forest of Steles on purpose. The tour guides were serious about what they said, and the tourists found it "interesting". Because this statement has been circulating for a long time, last year, someone actually added the prefix " It is indeed inelegant and detrimental to the image of Xi'an as an ancient cultural city. For this reason, the author has done a little research on the word "" in the Forest of Steles in order to achieve a complete understanding. The emergence of the word ""
According to the ancient documents that can be seen now, the emergence of the word "" should be no later than the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Unfortunately, the data recorded at that time have disappeared. According to "Rites and Betrothal Gifts": "The palace must have a way to recognize the sun and scenery and attract yin and yang." "Book of Rites: Sacrifice" records: "The king leads the animal... and enters the temple gate to be beautiful." Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty noted: " "It's beautiful and beautiful." He also said: "The public house looks at Feng." Zheng Xuan noted: "Feng cut the big wood in the shape of a stone tablet at the front and rear corners of the coffin, and put it through the middle to make a windlass to wrap around the coffin." This shows that: (1) this thing existed in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and the word has been recorded in the Confucian classic "Yili"; (2) the material was mostly wood at that time; (3) its purpose was to offer sacrifices Enter the temple to tie up livestock and measure the shadow of the sun. If it stands next to the tomb, it is used to guide the rope to lower the coffin. According to another study, the use of stone carvings with characters began in the Han Dynasty. Since there was no printing technology at that time, the spread of text relied entirely on ancient bronzes, wooden caskets, and bamboo slips. The only information that can be seen today is the inscriptions on stele and seals that have been handed down, such as the "Ancient Seal Wenbian". Seal foreheads of "Chen Jun" and "Zheng Gu" in Han Dynasty (see Figure 3). Engraved printing began in the Tang Dynasty, and became so popular in the Song Dynasty that the interpretation of Qing Dynasty characters could only be found in engraving books. "Shuowen Jiezi" written by Xu Shen in the Han Dynasty is representative. Interpretation of the word ""
The bottom line of the Chinese "Shuowen Jiezi" says: "It is also a vertical stone. From the sound of the stone. The eyebrows are cut." The Qing Dynasty's "Shuowen Jiezi Annotation" says: "A vertical stone." Also. From the sound of the stone, the word "stele" printed on the engraving board all appears with "" (see page 450). However, the word "" in "Shuowen Jie Zi Yi Zheng" written by Gui Fu in the Qing Dynasty is all written as "stele" (see page 816). Therefore, the author conducted research on the word "base" on the right side of the structure of the stele according to the rules of the Six Books of Chinese Characters. "Shuowen Jiezi" says: "Jianye, the deacon also follows Jia. Xu Kai said that the right side is heavy and the left is heavy, so it is supplemented and moved under Jia." "Shuowen Jiezi Annotation" says: "Jianye, the deacon also follows Jia. And It says: "In ancient times, the armor was like a human head. It was like a human head under the armor." "Shuowen Jiezi Yi Zheng" said: "The armor of Beifu is like a human head under the armor." "Yi". " said: "Heaven is superior to the earth and the earth is inferior. Cangjie Chapter is inferior. Those who follow human nature respect the right and respect the left and inferior." However, Ma Xulun's "Shuowen Jiezi Liushu Zhuzheng" explained it in more detail. He said: "The original head of Kai is a human head in armor." From the above, it can be concluded that in ancient China, where there was no printing or printing was not yet developed, writing and sculpture were the main means of text dissemination, and it was inevitable that errors in transmission and copying were inevitable; The word humble is like this, and so is the word humble. What's more, the original "" on the right side of the stele was changed to "bei" to promulgate Zheng. For example, the note under the inscription on the stele of the book says: "The original work of Kai was a standing stone to commemorate the merits and virtues of Cong Shi Cong Bei Sheng. The original work of 'Bei' is now the eyebrows of the Zhengfu." "Kangxi Dictionary" under the word "Shi" in the Stone Department says: " "Vulgar Stele Characters". The two books "Jinzheng" and "Vulgar Stele Characters" are evidence. Opinions on the word "Lin" on the horizontal plaque on the stele pavilion
Whether the word "Lin" on the stele pavilion in the "Shitai Xiao Jing" in the current stele forest comes from the legend Lin Zexu's book or from which master The handwriting is undoubtedly correct. The word "" is the original appearance of the word "stele" today.
From the Wei, Jin and even the Tang Dynasty, none of the characters "" in the "Calligraphy Dictionary" collected by each school have an apostrophe on them (see Figure 4). However, the word "stele" today has been passed down to this day by descendants for thousands of years, copied by the government, forged and passed off as genuine without any verification. The legend that Lin Zexu intentionally left out the word "stele" after being demoted is obviously unfounded. Those who think they are knowledgeable will paint or spray-paint the word "" on the signs outside the east and west gates of the Forest of Steles, but it is just to add a little more to the story and lose the elegance of Xi'an, an ancient city with profound cultural heritage.