Contents: The history of Xiao He Kanqing.
Edited by Xiao He Kanqing History.
Epitaph is a funeral inscription written to the deceased, which has strong biographical characteristics, and it is also the expression of mourning for the deceased by the living, so it has strong lyrical characteristics.
Epitaph is one of the important forms of literary style, but in recent years, due to its strong biographical characteristicsEpitaphs as a special kind of excavation,It has received more and more attention.
Epitaphs are one of the important forms of expression in traditional Chinese funeral culture, and have important value in literature, history, archaeology, folklore, and art.
In response to the question of whether there are similarities and differences between epitaphs and epitaphs, most scholars agree with Xu Shizeng's view in the Ming Dynasty, and there is essentially no difference between the two, only different names.
Those who hold the opposite view also have their own insistences:First, the inscriptions and inscriptions have their own characteristics, the inscriptions are mostly in prose, and more have the characteristics of the text, and the inscriptions are mostly in the prose, which is closer to the characteristics of the poem;The second is that the functions of the two are different, the inscription is used to describe the life of the tomb owner, and the inscription is used to praise the tomb owner.
As a literary genre, epitaph usually consists of two parts, the first half of which is the "preface", that is, the chronicle, which is written in the form of prose to narrate the life and deeds of the tomb owner. The second half is the "inscription", written in rhyme, to praise the merits of the tomb owner.
The epitaphs of the Tang Dynasty were the heyday and maturity of the development of epitaphsBoth in terms of quantity and the quality of the Zhiwen, it has reached a point that cannot be surpassed by other dynasties.
According to the unearthed epitaphs and related documents, in the Tang Dynasty, there were epitaphs from the emperor's relatives to the poor people, monks and women. Writing an epitaph for the deceased has become an indispensable form of funeral.
From the first year of Tang Wude (618) to the first year of Tang Hongdao (683), this stage was the embryonic stage of epitaph development and the transition stage from tomb surface to epitaph development. From the first year of Tang Wude (618) to the twenty-third year of Tang Zhenguan (649), these thirty years were the embryonic stage of the development of epitaphs, namelyTomb table period
The epitaphs of the Western Regions during this period, except for the tomb records, are all tomb tables, and their contents are simpleOnly the deceased's year of death, surname, and official position are recorded, which are mainly used to identify the identity and basic information of the tomb owner.
From the first year of Tang Guangzhai (683) to the twenty-first year of Tang Zhenyuan (805), there were few tomb tables, and epitaphs became the main body.
At this time, the epitaph style was very mature, with titles, inscriptions, and inscriptions, and the length was large, some of which were almost nearly 1,000 words, and there were more narratives and lyrics. In particular, the discussion of ancestors and descendants is intensified to trace back to the origin and reflect the family's prestige.
From the first year of Tang Yongyuan (805) to the fourth year of Tang Tianyou (907), judging from the existing unearthed epitaphs in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, there are almost no complete and chronological epitaphs in this hundred yearsIt seems that the epitaph Xi suddenly disappeared during this period。This was mainly related to the social politics of the time, when the Tang Dynasty had entered a late stage of gradual decline.
After a series of events such as the "Manna Change" in the ninth year of Tang Dahe (835), the "Niu-Li Party Dispute", and the "Huangchao Uprising" that broke out from the fifth year of Qianfu (878) to the fourth year of Zhonghe (884), the Tang Dynasty had fallen into a state of constant war and misery, and the literati had also lost a stable environment for literary creation.
In addition, Tang Wuzong's campaign to destroy Buddha and ban monuments in the Huichang period hindered the development of epitaphs. In addition, in the Western Regions, after two hundred years of development, the big families of the Gaochang Kingdom period have basically declined, so the behavior of carving tombstones to praise merits has naturally decreased, and these factors are important reasons for the stagnation of the development of epitaphs in the Western Regions during this period.
The epitaph of the Western Regions in the Tang Dynasty has a single formMostly written by family members。In the epitaph of the Central Plains, some writers also wrote epitaphs for themselves, such as Bai Juyi's "Epitaph of Mr. Drunken Yin", Du Mu's "Self-written Epitaph" and so on.
These epitaphs usually have the following characteristics: first, they pay attention to the shaping of their self-image and are good at highlighting their literary talentsThe second is to focus on expressing their own temperament, the emotions are real, vivid and touching, but most of them are the tomb owner's own imagination after death, so the reality is weak, and the practicality is not strong;
Third, epitaphs written by others can have a large number of praise inscriptions, while self-written epitaphs have fewer praise words, otherwise there will be a suspicion of self-sycophancy.
In the epitaph written by the family,Generally, a husband and wife write an epitaph for each otherOften, it is the husband who writes an epitaph for his wife to express his grief over his wife's death. For example, Wei Yingwu's "Yuan Ping's Epitaph" written for his wife can be represented, and the Zhiwen is full of emotion and touching.
In addition to spouses writing epitaphs for each other, it is also common for other family members to write epitaphs for their own loved ones. Usually there are more juniors writing epitaphs for their elders, and among the younger generations, there are a large number of cases where juniors write epitaphs for their elders.
Epitaphs written by friends are one of the most common。Normally, the owner of the tomb will ask his friends to write an epitaph for him before he dies, or after the death of the tomb owner, his family asks a friend of the tomb owner to write it.
Epitaphs are not only an important material carrier of literary carriers, but also a direct object of literary research. The "All Tang Texts" includes most of the essays, essays, essays and other articles of Tang Dynasty writers, and the epitaphs occupy a large part of them.
The epitaphs of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty and the epitaphs of the Central Plains are summarized as follows:The first is to confirm the stylistic value of the epitaphs of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty.
The development of epitaphs in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty has a complete time process, and its development can reflect the evolution of the entire epitaph. Help us to recognize the question of the origin of the epitaph and the question of the name of the epitaph.
Through historical experience, it can be known that the conclusion that the epitaph was changed from the tomb show is more credible, because in the epitaph of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, a large number of tomb tables appeared, and the tomb tables of this period can show that the early form of epitaphs was the tomb table, but with the development of time, its stylistic form and content were gradually finalized into the final form.
In addition, the answer to the question of whether epitaphs and epitaphs are the same can also be found in the epitaphs of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty. That is, in the process of the development of epitaphs, there is actually no difference between epitaphs and epitaphs, but the names are different. In the epitaphs of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, there are many epitaphsBut there are inscriptions in the form of epitaphs, and there are epitaphs, but there are no surnames with inscriptions
This shows that in ancient times, at least in the Tang Dynasty, the ancients did not make a strict distinction between epitaphs and epitaphs, but later there were almost all inscriptions at the end of epitaphs, so they were gradually named with the name "epitaph", which was gradually fixed.
It can be seen that the emergence of epitaphs in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty provides strong evidence for solving the problem of the origin and naming of epitaphs, solves the long-standing controversy among scholars, and is conducive to clarifying the development process of epitaph literature.
The second is the literary corrective value of the epitaphs of the Western Regions in the Tang Dynasty。Due to the large number of epitaphs in the Central Plains of the Tang Dynasty and the fact that the main literati of the Tang Dynasty were active in the Central Plains, the epitaphs had important significance and role for the writers of the Central Plains.
In the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination was the only way to get to the official career, so many candidates asked for directions before the exam, which was flourishing in the Tang Dynasty and recorded in many epitaphs unearthed in the Tang Dynasty.
The epitaphs of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty are completely different from those unearthed in the Central Plains, with almost no inscription of the author's name and identity at the end of the epitaph, and it is difficult to find the epitaph from the literati's anthologies.
Due to the Tang Dynasty Western Regions,There are few local celebrity writersMore often than not, the Central Plains people were offended and relegated to the Western Regions, so it was difficult to form a large-scale literati group.
Judging from the epitaphs of the Western Regions in the Tang Dynasty, many epitaphs were written by people who were officials in the Western Regions at that time, with simple content and single form, and their literary color is much inferior to that of the Central Plains epitaphs. Therefore, the value of literary correction cannot be compared with that of the Central Plains epitaph.
Including the linguistic and written value of the epitaphs of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty. Different stylistic forms use different forms of language, such as epitaphsForty-six pun, and the inscription at the end is mostly four sentencesPoetic form, and with rhyme
From the epitaphs, we can get a glimpse of the literary language style of the Tang Dynasty, the changes in the use of words and the use of rhyme. For the epitaphs of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, the biggest feature of the language style is that the language is popular and concise, mainly descriptive language, and there is little emotional expression.
This is mainly due to the influence of the fixed external form of the epitaph, and the main content of the epitaph is to record the life of the tomb owner, so it is necessary to be objective and true. In addition, due to the limitations of the epitaph carrier and the knowledge level of the literati, the biggest feature of the epitaph style in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty isConcise and popular
The biggest difference between the epitaphs of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty and the epitaphs of the Central Plains is,The tomb owners in the epitaphs of the Western Regions in the Tang Dynasty were all eunuchs, there are almost no epitaphs related to the literati of the Western Regions. These officialdom often have close ties with national politics, so they have important historiographical value, which can supplement important figures and major historical events that are not recorded in historical classics.
The epitaph of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty was inherited from the epitaph culture of the Central Plains, but it did not completely inherit the characteristics of the epitaph of the Central Plains, both in the form of the epitaph and the content of the epitaph, it constantly reflected its own characteristics in its development.
In particular, the epitaphs of the Hu people in the Western Regions are typical representatives of the epitaphs of the Western Regions, which are not only important materials for studying the family status of the Hu people in the Western Regions, but also an important basis for studying the inheritance and integration of the Central Plains culture and the Hu culture of the Western Regions.
Through these Hu people's epitaphs, we can knowHu and Han intermarried, and the surname Hu was sinicizedOn the other hand, it can also indirectly reflect the governance and jurisdiction of the imperial court over the Western Regions during the Tang Dynasty.
1] by Huang Wenbi;Editor, Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Sciences;Turpan Archaeology[M].Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1954
2] (Song) Ouyang Xiu, written by Song Qi;New Tang Dynasty Book [M].Chung Hwa Book Company, 1975
3] (Later Jin) Liu Yu et al. Old Tang Book [M].Chung Hwa Book Company,
4] Zhou Shaoliang, editor-in-chief. Compilation of epitaphs of the Tang Dynasty[M].Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1992