Language Stone; A Comparison of the Similarities and Differences of Language Stones

Author: (Qing) Ye Changchi compiled / Ke Changsi commented / Chen Gongrou / Zhang Mingshan edited
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-04-01
Features: The Yushi (Ten Volumes), compiled by Ye Changchi of the Qing Dynasty. This is a specialized monograph on stone inscriptions in the form of notes. In the preface written in the eleventh month of the 27th year of the Guangxu reign, he wrote: "After over twenty years of searching, I collected more than 8,000 inscriptions, stroking and examining them day and night without realizing my advanced age." He also wrote: "From the earliest times to the Song and Yuan dynasties, I reviewed the central region and explored the islands. The names and meanings of the creations, the preliminaries of the titles, the rise and fall of calligraphy, the origins of collection, and even the tracing, mounting, and framing, as well as anecdotes and trivial matters, are categorized and not mixed." "There are 486 inscriptions, divided into ten volumes." "It merely shows the path and is just for discussion." In the self-record of the third month of the first year of the Xuantong reign, he wrote: "After this book was completed, two months later, I was appointed as the educational inspector of Gansu. My observations after crossing the Long Mountains were slightly added. In the Bingwu year, I returned to my hometown, recovered from illness in Dushan, and further revised it, removing redundancies. It has been eight years since the Xinchou year when it was finalized." It is known that this book was finalized in the first year of the Xuantong reign (1909). Volume 1 is arranged by dynasty, summarizing inscriptions from pre-Qin to the Yuan Dynasty; Volume 2 is arranged by region, discussing inscriptions from various places and overseas; Volumes 3 and 4 discuss the content of inscriptions and the distinction between steles and rubbings; Volume 5 discusses various types of stone inscriptions other than steles; Volume 6 discusses the style of inscriptions, authors, calligraphers, and engravers; Volumes 7 and 8 discuss the writing of inscriptions; Volume 9 discusses the format of inscriptions and taboo characters; Volume 10 discusses the "editions" of stone inscriptions and the tracing, mounting, and framing. This book is as important to the study of stone inscriptions as Ye Dehui's Shulin Qinghua is to the study of ancient book editions, and it may be even more meticulous. Modern Ke Changsi wrote Yushi Yitong Ping (Commentary on the Differences and Similarities of Yushi), which provides many corrections and supplements to Yushi, while maintaining the original style, making it suitable for simultaneous reading. To provide a broader reference for the academic community and facilitate comparative reading, it has been decided to combine Ye Changchi's Yushi and Ke Changsi's Yushi Yitong Ping into one book for editing and publication. The first two volumes of Ke's manuscript were hand-copied from Qing-era originals, while the remaining volumes were handwritten drafts with messy corrections, making them very difficult to read. Therefore, we requested Zhang Mingshan, a comrade from the National Cultural Relics Administration, to carefully transcribe the entire manuscript. Each item was then linked to the corresponding item in Ye's book, with Ye's text aligned to the left and Ke's text indented two spaces, allowing the original text and commentary to be cross-referenced. The manuscript was also proofread by Chen Gongrou.