Why should the epitaph in Tang Dynasty be gilded?

It is no longer news that Tang people like to paste gold when writing epitaphs. It is not uncommon for epitaphs to cover up evil and promote good, whitewash dry Kun, and make things out of nothing, and the Tang people themselves have a clear understanding of this: "Generally speaking, writing is ambition and books are beautiful, so it is necessary to promote it first, so that future generations can see it and respect it with the change of Yuling Valley. Some people don't deserve to be called Fude, and they have to write the front rules to have a wide garden. To the world, more than half of people doubt the text, and the cover is not true. "

Looking at these epitaphs, we can see that when the ancients wrote epitaphs, they often paid attention to two points: first, keeping secrets for the deceased and not revealing shortcomings; The second is for the deceased, or even out of thin air. Qin Zhongyin of Bai Juyi? The poem "Erecting a Monument" satirizes this phenomenon: morality is declining and articles are flourishing. But when I saw the stone in the mountain, I set it up as a roadside monument. Mingxun knows Taigong, and both Syria and Germany are Zhong Ni. The more, the more expensive, and a thousand words are straightforward. Who do you support? When you want to write. But those who want fools are happy, and those who don't think about sages are light. Is it the only sage who sneers at it, but still spreads doubts to future generations? The words of ancient stones and moss, An Zhi is a shameful word. I heard about Wangjiang County, and it has been ordered to be handled. There are benevolent policies among officials, and the name is not heard in Beijing. The body longs to be buried, and people cover Luqi. I can't go back after climbing the iron well, so I'll leave Jiang Mei with me. So far, men and women are crying. No one has erected a monument, only the city people know it.

The stone tablet records people who are better than Jiang Taigong and as good as Confucius and Zhong Ni. Only in this way can they be handed down to future generations, while those who are truly talented and hardworking can only be submerged in the years because they have not erected a monument, and finally only the local people know. This poem by Bai Juyi satirizes the wind of boasting about family status and praising virtue in order to establish a monument. Because according to historical records, in order to get a good epitaph for the deceased, people often have to spend a lot of money to find someone to ghostwrite, and the ghostwriter, driven by rich profits, can write words as great as Confucius in Jiang Taigong and make future generations suspicious just to meet the needs.