Stele inscriptions generally refer to carved stone characters or patterns. The earliest inscriptions on stele are the "Stone Drum Inscriptions" of the Qin Dynasty. Most of the inscriptions have inscriptions written in calligraphy or inscriptions on stone. However, some cliff carvings and grottoes are often carved directly on the stone surface with a knife without writing. It is difficult to guess the writing style of inscriptions without a base. Even if the inscriptions are based on the original stone, there are often distortions in the writing style. Therefore, when learning calligraphy, you should start with the original calligraphy or a photocopy as much as possible. Of course, some carefully carved rubbings of stele inscriptions have fewer artifacts and more accurately express the charm and mood of the original. They are known as "only the authentic ones are first-class" and can also be used for legal purposes. ----"Appreciation of Ancient Steles and Calligraphy" Fei Shengqian
The written ink is copied on a flat stone slab (or stone wall) or wooden board, and then engraved. Later generations made rubbings of the vertebrae and used them in the form of rubbings for appreciation and observation. They were called stele inscriptions when they were near the pond. Inscriptions generally include: stele, architectural stone carvings, cliff stone carvings, epitaphs, etc. The stele consists of a base, a body, and a forehead. The base is sometimes carved into the image of a tortoise, and the forehead is embossed with a double dragon coiled around it. The body of the stele is engraved with an inscription. Sometimes there are words engraved on the back of the inscription, that is, in the shade or on both sides of the stele. Famous steles from the Han Dynasty include the "Zhang Qian Stele", "The Ritual Vessel Stele" and "Yi Ying Stele", the Eastern Jin Dynasty has the "Cuan Baozi Stele", the Northern Wei Dynasty has the "Zheng Wengong Stele", and the Tang Dynasty has the "Jiucheng Palace Liquan Inscription", "Yan Qin Li Monument" and so on. Architectural stone carving is mainly to carve commemorative or indicative words on stone buildings. For example, stone monuments and temples in the Han Dynasty, and grottoes in the Northern Dynasties all have stone carvings. The famous one is "Shaoshi Stone" in the Han Dynasty. "Que", "Stone Carvings of Xiangtajun Ancestral Hall", "Zhiyang Fujun Shendao Que" in the Western Jin Dynasty, "Twenty Products of Longmen" in the Northern Wei Dynasty, etc. Cliff carvings are generally carved on relatively flat stone walls or cliffs. The famous ones include "Ode to the West" and "Ode to the Stone Gate" of the Han Dynasty, "Shimen Inscription" of the Northern Wei Dynasty, "Taishan Diamond Sutra" of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and "Ode to the Stone Gate" of the Southern Dynasty. "He Ming" and so on. Some cliff-carved stones are also listed as stele, such as the "Zheng Wengong Stele" in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Epitaphs are specially used for funerals, and the content is the life of the tomb owner. As a calligraphy art, epitaphs from the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties are the most abundant, mainly including "Epitaph of Wang Jun's Wife Huafang", "Epitaph of Liu Huaimin", "Epitaph of Diao Zun", "Zhang Heinv's Epitaph" and so on.