Six Dynasties calligraphy

Author: Huaren De
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: A Series of Books on Chinese Calligraphy by a Doctorate Supervisor of Chinese Calligraphy. II. The Form and Calligraphy of Tombs from Western Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties
Modern and contemporary excavated inscriptions on the tiles of Qin Shi Huang's tomb laborers and Han Dynasty tomb bricks for identifying coffins and remains for relocation were designed for identification purposes, hence they were crudely carved on broken tiles and bricks. During the Han Dynasty, the custom of setting up tomb inscriptions had already emerged among the aristocracy and landlords. These inscriptions varied in form and text. There were tomb records and seals, such as the "Record of Ma Jiang, Wife of Jia Wu Zhong" unearthed in Luoyang, Henan in the first year of the Yanping era (106) and the "Seal of Kou Tong Ben" unearthed in Yixian, Shandong in the sixth year of the Yanxi era (163); cliff tomb inscriptions, such as the "Cliff Tomb Inscription of Su En Village" in Qijiang, Sichuan from the first year of the Yanguang era (122) and the "Cliff Tomb Inscription of Lei Pi Stone Cliff" in Nanchuan, Sichuan from the second year of the Yangjia era (133), with over twenty such inscriptions found in Sichuan; painted inscriptions on stone, such as the inscription on the left side of the stone relief of Xu Aqi's tomb in Nanyang, Henan from the third year of the Jianning era (170); inscriptions on stone coffins and sarcophagi, such as the "Inscription of Wang Hui's Stone Coffin" unearthed in Lushan, Sichuan in the seventeenth year of the Jian'an era (212), the "Inscription of Guo Zhongli's Stone Sarcophagus" and the "Inscription of Guo Ji Fei's Stone Sarcophagus" unearthed in Shenmu, Shaanxi without a date; and stele-shaped tomb inscriptions, such as the "Inscription of Sun Zhong Yin" unearthed in Gaomi, Shandong from the fourth year of the Xiping era (175), which was shaped like a guī (a ritual vessel) without a hole and placed horizontally, differing from the upright placement of Western Jin stele-style tomb inscriptions in tomb chambers. These indicate that tomb inscriptions at the time had no fixed form.
During the Three Kingdoms period, only the three stone tablets of "Bao Juan," "Bao Ji," and "Zhang Kou" from the Wei Dynasty seemed to be stone tablets placed in tombs. Cao Cao, due to the devastation of the world, ordered to prohibit extravagant burials and the establishment of steles. Later, the Emperor Wen of the Northern Wei issued an "edict on frugal burials," and the Prince Gonggao also established prohibitions, with strict enforcement of the stele ban for over fifty years. In the fourth year of the Xianning era of Emperor Wu of Jin (278), as the ban had relaxed, he issued an edict: "These stone beasts and steles, as private praise and promotion, foster hypocrisy, waste resources and harm people more than anything else. They must be banned, and those who violate the ban, even if pardoned, shall have them destroyed." (7) Due to the strict ban, some high-ranking officials, aristocrats, and wealthy families dared not to set up steles and instead made them very small, leaving two or three characters uncarved at the bottom to place them upright in the tomb chamber like a stele. Examples include the fragmented tomb inscription from the eighth year of the Taikang era (287), the "Inscription of Guo Huai, Wife of Jia Chong" (Figure 15), the "Tomb Inscription of Xu Yan and His Wife Liu Jianxun," and the "Tomb Inscription of Liu Tao," all in the shape of a guī (pointed top) stele, with the "Inscription of Guo Huai" having a square base. The "Inscription of Xu Fu's Guan Luo Stele," the "Stele of Cheng Huang, a Scholar," (Figure 16), the "Stele of Zhang Lang, Governor of Pei Gu," and the "Inscription of Wei Chui, a General of Wuwei" were all in the shape of a wanzi guī (rounded top) stele, some with decorative dragon heads. Even Guo Huai, the mother of Jia Chong's wife and the mother-in-law of Emperor Hui of Jin, was not exempt. These stele-style tomb inscriptions were all unearthed in the capital region of Western Jin, now Luoyang and Yanshi in Henan.
Since tomb inscriptions did not serve the purpose of binding the coffin, they did not have the "holes" (pian) like steles. The "Tomb Inscription of Zhang Zhen and His Wife" from Eastern Jin inherited the form of Western Jin stele-style tomb inscriptions, though the front (positive) and back (negative) sides had "holes," the holes were not fully carved through, serving only as symbols. Some other tomb inscriptions were simplified into rectangular shapes, often inscribed on both sides, such as the "Tomb Inscription of the Noblewoman Zuo Cai," while some were inscribed on all four sides, such as the "Tomb Inscription of Wang Jun, Governor of Youzhou" and the "Tomb Inscription of Chengyang Jianhou Shi Chao" (Figure 17). The "Tomb Inscription of Hua Fang" (196)