First of all, the historical connotation of stone carvings is extremely rich, and its own significance must not be ignored because it is an "orphan". No matter in ancient history or modern history, any stone handed down to this day is a reflection of its times and a true representation of history at that time. Therefore, even without other documents, epigraphy still has its special significance. A Qing Liu Xihai's "Jin Shiyuan" contains Zhao Shang's inscription, "Shang is willing to burn pottery, and because of the ancestral grave, he invited his brothers to help him, which will damage him and Jinyang Gongyi to stay here for two nights. Zhao Shangti, the day before Chongyang in the second year of Zhiping. " This question was recorded in Fuleshan, Mianzhou. Obviously, although there are only dozens of crosses and only describes Zhao Shang's two-day life experience, it contains some very important contents. On the surface, it at least explains Zhao Shang's position, the reasons for returning to the province, the people he passed through and contacted, and so on. More importantly, the birthplace of "Jinyang Justice" should be Taiyuan, and Zhao Shang invited him to stay in Fule Mountain for two days. The reason behind this fact is unknown. According to the author's speculation, this person is likely to work in Mianzhou, and Zhao Shang introduced him to two brothers by taking advantage of his position, which is likely to have some potential significance. Unfortunately, Zhao Shang's relevant records were not found in the ancient books of the Song Dynasty. Although it is the only historical data, it is a true portrayal of Song Dynasty officials returning home dressed in rags. It can be seen that the unique epigraphy undoubtedly has its unique historical significance, which is nothing more than how to study it scientifically.
Secondly, from the perspective of historical materials, researchers should pay more attention to other meanings of epigraphy, that is, to get rid of the shackles of epigraphy itself and understand the potential connotation of epigraphy historical materials in many aspects and angles. So far, if we only look at some inscriptions handed down from ancient times from a single level, we may only see their external value. This is only an understanding of these historical materials themselves, and it should be an easy "textual research" work. But this situation is hardly helpful for historical research, because the focus of historical research is not only to understand the stone itself, but also to comprehensively analyze and summarize, that is, to examine the seemingly "isolated evidence" of stone historical materials through the thinking of researchers. Only in this way can we discover many little-known rich connotations hidden behind the stone carvings. This cognitive process of epigraphy from the outside to the inside organically combines the excavation of epigraphy surface with its intrinsic value, which is undoubtedly the best realm for studying epigraphy. Cai Jing, for example, was called a traitor in the history of Song Dynasty, but as a famous calligrapher, his artistic attainments are well-known. During the period of the Republic of China, when Liu Jingyu compiled Dongping County Records, he could see the two Chinese characters "Zhou Xue" inscribed by Cai Jing, which were "vigorous in brushwork" [1] (volume 14), but the original works of Cai Jing that have been handed down to this day are very rare. Therefore, its value is self-evident at least as historical materials of art history. Another example is Jin Shiyuan, which contains six topics about the Western Hills in the Song Dynasty. One paragraph says: "Jinzizhuang and Fangqu Jason, the fourth deputy governors of Kaifeng Prefecture, were ordered to send the whole army to southern Shandong according to the contract, and they have the right to stay on the left, spend their leisure time in Yun Guan, and inherit 30 members from the Ministry of Housing and Chongban. At that time, Yuan Fengxin ordered the workers to publish stones on the first day of the last month in summer. The figures mentioned in this historical material, such as Huo and Zhe Cheng, have hardly left any records in the History of Song Dynasty, and only Zhang Jie has a simple description in the long edition of Zi Zhi Tong Jian. This inscription reveals a wealth of information for us, such as the number of generals, the marching route of the fourth general in Kaifeng, and Song Jun's leisure life during the marching. Compared with the records of the great historian Li Tao, the situation reflected in this inscription is obviously more in line with the historical reality at that time. Therefore, while paying serious attention to the historical materials of epigraphy itself, we must deeply understand and understand its intrinsic value, which is the principle that we must follow in studying epigraphy.
In a word, although the historical materials of epigraphy have irreplaceable historical significance, it is difficult to find their important value without careful study. Generally speaking, some general principles should be followed in interpreting inscriptions. In addition to studying the literal meaning of the inscription carefully, we should also closely contact with its era, and more importantly, we should dig deep into the hidden meaning behind the inscription.