Why should a monument be erected after death? What is its significance?
The origin of the monument.
You can remember the graves of bereavement for one or two generations, but not after three generations, especially after migration and war, you don't know where the ancestral graves are. How to solve it, people have come up with many ways. At first, people buried the dead. Inspired by the wooden stakes used to maintain the coffin rope, they inserted wooden stakes and bamboo poles in front of the tomb and tied fibrous things (paper or silk, etc.) ) to indicate the date and time of birth and death of the deceased, which is called "Ming Jing" (or "Ming Jing"). But it is easy to be damaged, so people try to find another way: the rich use stone pillars instead of wooden pillars, and engrave the name, birth time and official rank of the deceased on the stone pillars.
In order to carve more characters, its shape evolved into squares and rectangles, and it began to be buried inside or outside the tomb. Referring to the architectural structure, the top of the monument is capped and decorated with animals, plants or landscape patterns, and the body of the monument is engraved with the resume of the deceased. It shows that he was buried alone with his wife, concubine, son and daughter. Geomantic geographical orientation of the inscribed Yin House (that is, the tomb) (expressed in heavenly stems and earthly branches). Middle-class families set up medium-sized tombstones, while poor families can only set up small stone tablets with names, ceramic brick tablets or plant some evergreen trees as symbols.
As a result, tombstones are gradually transformed from practical products into cultural works of art, and their functions, shapes, textures and decorations are becoming more and more diversified. Celebrity tombstones pay more attention to granite, marble and other high-quality stone materials. There is a statue of the deceased on the top of the monument or a porcelain statue of the deceased embedded in the center of the monument. Tombstones have become "honorary certificates" and decorations to record the family background and merits of the deceased. This is in line with the social fashion of China people to honor their ancestors, benefit future generations and last forever.
In order to avoid natural erosion and man-made destruction caused by wind, rain and sun, a monument was erected outside the tomb, and the epitaph and inscription were buried in the tomb. Tombstones prevailed in Han and Tang dynasties, and later became a fixed trend.
Extended data
A memorial carrier made by human beings for the burial place of the deceased is generally made of stone, wood, metal and other materials.
In ancient China, the "tomb instead of grave" was just buried underground, and there was no sign on the surface. Later, there was a grave with dirt on the ground and a tombstone.
After death, if you want to build a tomb, most of them must have an epitaph. Epitaphs generally record the name, place of origin, achievements, year of death, name of the person who built the monument and the relationship with the deceased. Writing an inscription should be full of respect and affection for the deceased. In the 22 nd year of the Republic of China, the Yuan Keli Tombstone, an interview with Suixian County, Tongzhi County, Henan Province, said: "Yuan Shangshu can set a tombstone, which is in the south of Suizhou City and the east of Liudian Village." The monument is eight feet high and is still called the system, about ten feet high.
References:
Tombstone-Baidu Encyclopedia