Reading the inscriptions of ancient villages and towns is the most convenient way to understand the history, culture and humanistic customs of ancient villages and towns. These inscriptions may exist on the plaques, couplets, inscriptions, and stone carvings of buildings such as religion, culture, government offices, ancestral halls, archways, pavilions, and residential houses in ancient villages and towns. Good inscriptions and their meanings can often play a role in the scenery to add the finishing touch or refresh the scene, especially the inscriptions of famous masters or important political figures deserve special attention.
It's just that words are silent, and the medium in which it exists is static, and if no one introduces it, it may be difficult for our feet to reach and our eyes may not be able to relate. More often than not, we always glance at it in a hurry, and rarely pay attention to the name of the writer, and miss the opportunity to look at the important inscriptions, and miss the opportunity to exchange ideas and information with the ancients.
Even if we pay attention to it, it is usually easy to have another problem, that is, the inscriptions of the ancients were written with a brush and then carved, due to the variety of fonts, if we do not have the knowledge base of calligraphy, cursive, seal, etc., it is often difficult to quickly and effectively identify each character. Therefore, I would prefer the inscriptions that are well-written and easy to read, because they are close to the common people and have a wider audience.
Of course, the calligraphy attainments of the ancients were much higher than those of most contemporary people, or the audience of their words was themselves some insiders or people with a high level of calligraphy, then inscription at that time was no longer a simple tool for disseminating information, but an art. If it is accompanied by color and wood and stone and other media to express, it can often bring people a sense of beauty or a certain artistic conception, such inscriptions are not only a channel to read the background of ancient villages and towns, but also become a scenery of ancient villages and towns.
This article is excerpted from the book "Ancient Villages and Towns in Reading Time: Appreciating 150 Ancient Rural Towns from 30 Perspectives", all rights reserved.