The "Epitaph of Xie Fangbao" was unearthed in 1999 in the southern suburbs of Xi'an City, in the area of Chang'an County. Zhiwen Kaishu, a total of 19 lines, full line of 19 words, there is a square grid between the words, the word diameter is two centimeters, there is no author, the name of the book. In the four sides of the Zhiwen width of five centimeters ring carved double row beads and tangled branches and arabesque ornamentation, the four sides of the stone carved zodiac animal prototype pattern, the zodiac is placed in the pot door respectively, as a walking shape, the image is vivid, the lower part of the door of the pot is engraved with mountains, and the upper part is carved with trees. The 12 zodiac signs are arranged in a clockwise meridian order, with a rat in the middle of the lower side and a horse in the middle of the upper side, and the beginning and tail of each zodiac image are also arranged in a clockwise direction.
The following is a brief analysis of the surname, official and burial place of the main Zhi, as well as the calligraphy and decoration of the epitaph. According to Zhiwen Zaizhi Zhizhi Xie Fang Bao, the word Abao, Zuwang Yanmen, born in the army, once served as the general of Sui Yankou, with a military lieutenant, and the captain of the right guard infantry. He died in the sixth year of Daye (610) at the age of sixty-two, and by extension, the Zhizhu was born in the fourteenth year of the Great Unification of the Western Wei Dynasty (548).
As far as this epitaph is concerned, its calligraphy is exactly the same as the famous monument of the Sui Dynasty "Longzang Temple Tablet", and its character body is flat and broad, graceful and clear, and the pen is fine and straight. The whole article is intertwined, the style is unified, and there is no slackness. Its style inherits the aftermath of the stele of the Six Dynasties, chases the legacy of Zhong Xuan, opens the precursor of Tang Kai, and peeps into the clear bones of Ouyang Xun. Use the pen to bring the north and south penmanship into one, and the square and circle are combined. The lines of the North Monument are straight and simple, and the chapters are scattered and unbridled and gradually become neat and orderly, and the thickness of the lines changes, rhythm changes and the beauty of the curves begin to appear This is the germ of the aesthetic style of calligraphy. This style of calligraphy in the Sui Dynasty also deeply influenced the calligraphers of the early Tang Dynasty, such as Ouyang Xun and Chu Suiliang, and greatly influenced the artistic style of calligraphy in the early Tang Dynasty.