In the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period, there were pillars in the ancestral hall, which were used to tie livestock for sacrifice. This kind of stone pillar is the earliest monument in China. During the Warring States Period, big noble was buried. Due to the depth of the tomb, the coffin was slowly lowered with a pulley rope, and the monument became a bracket for loading pulleys. After the funeral, some stone tablets were left in the cemetery. In order to commemorate the dead, some people carved some words on the stone tablet, so a monument appeared. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the wind of erecting monuments prevailed, and the production of backs became more and more elaborate. Tang Dynasty is the most developed period of inscriptions in China, which is not only rich in content, but also of high value in calligraphy.
The structure of the monument is generally divided into three parts: the monument head, the monument body and the monument seat. The head of the monument is mainly carved with some names, or just plays a decorative role. The body of the monument is engraved with inscriptions, and the pedestal plays a bearing and decorative role. After the Ming Dynasty, the name "stele" appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, the stele seat was changed from tortoise to tortoise-shaped, but it was a stone pile used to sacrifice livestock in the ancestral hall. At the same time, people also calculate the time according to the position of the shadow it casts in the sun. During the Warring States Period, when big noble was buried, due to the depth of the tomb, the coffin was slowly lowered with a leash with wheels. Monument is a fashionable wheeled support. After the funeral, this scaffold is often left in the cemetery. Later, in order to commemorate the dead, people carved words on this ready-made big stone and recalled the "achievements" of their predecessors, so a monument appeared. Until the upper part of the stone tablet in the Western Han Dynasty cemetery, there was still a round hole (called "piercing hole"), which was the trace left by the hanging coffin. The earliest existing tombstone in China is the "Lu Xiaoyu Monument" in the third year of the Western Han Dynasty (26 BC). In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the custom of setting up tombstones was widely popular and has been in use ever since.
"Ming" is a kind of writing carved on objects in ancient times (mostly on bronzes, tombstones, stones and other carriers) to warn oneself or call merit, and later it became a style. This style generally rhymes, and the content is mostly short and pithy, especially the inscriptions carved on utensils for warning. Inscriptions often rise from trivial matters in life to philosophical rational understanding of life, which is concise and elegant. The text is short but ingenious, the content is simple and profound, the form is lively and easy to recite and remember, which is of great enlightenment to our observation, thinking and expression of life, and is worth reading and pondering repeatedly. Inscription is not only the content of ancient philology; But also has very important historical value and great significance to historical research. It recorded the merits and demerits of the monarch at that time, as well as all aspects of society at that time, such as transactions, laws, sacrifices and so on.