Monuments, The Interpretation of Words by Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The stele in the ancestral temple is a stone pillar that is used to tie livestock for sacrifice.
The history says: "There must be a stele in the palace, so you can know the scenery of the sun and attract Yin and Yang. Where the stele is primed, it should be made of wood." (Zheng Xuan's note on "Rites and Brides") The stele also has another purpose, that is, it is used as a burial tool for holding funerals. Because Monuments are often set up at the four corners of the tomb.
The Book of Rites records: "The public office regards the monument." Zheng Xuan in the Han Dynasty noted: "The monument is made of a big wood, shaped like a stone tablet, which passes through the trees at the four corners before and after stopping, and between them is Lulu (that is, a pulley), and the coffin is lowered with a strand (thick rope). The "monument" is made of chopped wood, which looks like a stone tablet. When the coffin is stopped for burial, one is set at each corner of the grave. There are circular holes in the monument, and a rope is tied in the hole. One end of the rope is wound around the wheel and the other end is tied to the coffin. When the coffin is stopped, it is put into the grave smoothly. After the funeral, this kind of wooden tablet is often buried in the grave.
In the Tang Dynasty, the seal performance "Feng Shi Wen Jian Ji" was performed. Take the city of Qi 'an. When the matter is finished, it is closed in the mine. "The" pillar of the coffin "here refers to the wooden monument. It is said that there are still such wooden pillars around the tomb mine excavated in Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province. It should be said that there are wooden pillars with holes first, and then there are stone monuments with holes. Tombstones originated from ancient times as" monuments "for pulling coffins to stop burial. At first, they were made of wood, but there were no such pillars. Write the life story and eulogy of the deceased on it. There is still a round hole in the middle of the monument, which is called "wear". In this way, the tombstone is formally formed.
According to the development of the monument, the situation of the monument can be roughly divided into four stages.
The first stage is mainly the Han Dynasty. At this time, the situation of the inscription is characterized by the clouds and the laurel crowns, which become the main ones. Mainly in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the custom of building monuments that prevailed in the Eastern Han Dynasty disappeared because of Cao Cao's order to stop the thick burial. However, the contents of the monuments did not disappear, but they appeared in another situation. That is, they moved from the ground into the tomb, which became the first epitaph that prevailed in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. According to the vertical stone as a monument, the carved stone of the Wei stele that appeared at this time could only be used as a side branch of the monument. Therefore, People seem to call this period the period without steles.
The third stage: mainly the Sui and Tang Dynasties. At this time, the steles are divided into three parts, which are composed of stele crowns (steles), stele bodies and stele seats, and their situation can be said to be diversified and artistic. Especially, the stele crowns have different shapes and more patterns.
The fourth stage, that is, from the Song Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, is only a continuation of the afterwind of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Not only is it not as exquisite and vivid as the Tang Dynasty, but it is also not as primitive and clumsy as the Han Dynasty, giving people a dull and rough feeling, that is, some monuments are just a square stone, without any decoration, crown and turtle seat, and only a square stone foundation is used as the monument seat.