Wei Yuanyan Jun's Epitaph (Selected Masterpieces of Ancient Rare Books and Inscriptions Series)

Author: Xiao Cang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-11
Features: Yuan Xianjun's epitaph, upright script, totaling nineteen lines, each with twenty-one characters. Carved in the second year of the Yanchang era of the Northern Wei Dynasty (513). Discovered in Luoyang, Henan in 1918. Currently stored in the Nanjing Museum. The epitaph cover and the epitaph together form a tortoise shape, with the cover being tortoise shell and inscribed with a single line of regular script: "[Epitaph for Yuan Jun, a Scholar-Official of the Wei Dynasty]." This epitaph is not only unique in form but also exquisite in calligraphy. The regular script is dignified and elegant. It is a fine example of Northern Wei epitaphs. Today, it is published in photolithography based on rubbings for the study and appreciation of calligraphers.