What does copying of inscriptions mean?

Word: Stele inscription

Pinyin: bēitiè

Basic explanation

[a rubbing from a stone inscription] Rubbing of a stone inscription

Detailed explanation

Rubbings or prints of stone and wood carvings can be used for learning calligraphy.

Ming Cao Zhao's "Gegu Yao Lun·Ancient Ink Marks Theory Part 1": "Use paper to add to the inscriptions on the stele. Use a hairspring pen to circle the calligraphy and painting in the bright place, and fill it with thick ink, which is called ring extension." Qian Yong of the Qing Dynasty wrote in "Lv Yuan Cong Hua·Yingneng·Shu": "The first class of writers who have extremely talented people who can compare with Songxue and Huating are asked to read classics and history, study inscriptions on inscriptions, travel to famous mountains and rivers, and look at the ink of ancient people, so that they can be passed down to the world. "The first scene of Cao Yu's "Beijing People": "Every night when he returns from the study, he must memorize some articles such as "Selected Works of Zhaoming" and "Long Wen Bian Ying" in his grandfather's room, and occasionally copy inscriptions on inscriptions. Some dry and clever words."

[Edit this paragraph] Rubbings of stone tablets

Inscriptions on stone tablets were commonly known as "black tigers" in the past. They have both cultural and historical connotations. It is a work of art that combines artistic taste and craftsmanship.

In order to record important events and grand celebrations of the previous dynasty, our predecessors carved literary forms and calligraphers' handwritings on cliffs and stone tablets through the hands of famous craftsmen. Therefore, the stone tablets have a multifaceted art. The content is also mounted into scrolls or albums, thus becoming inscriptions. Stele calligraphy is the collective name of stele and calligraphy. In fact, "stele" refers to the rubbings of stone carvings, and "stele" refers to the famous ink marks of the ancients, which are engraved on a wooden board or assembled on a stone. In the early days of the development of printing, rubbings of tablets and inscriptions were important means of spreading culture. In the future, people will have to study these written materials in order to learn calligraphy or make historical materials. For this reason, these "steles" have authenticity, timeliness, craftsmanship and artistry. Since cultural goods can circulate in the market and have economic value, appreciation has become an important means.

To understand the various rubbings left in ancient times, it is important to identify the original stone. Since the original stone tablet was destroyed, the only remaining original rubbing or the only copy will be priceless. According to historical records, Huang Tingjian of the Ning Dynasty once recorded that the "Zhenguan Engraving" on the Confucius Temple Stele was purchased for a thousand taels of gold. This illustrates the value of Yu Shinan's "Confucius Temple Stele". However, when the "Chengwu Version" and "Xi'an Version" were reprinted later, the quality of the reprinted copies was not as good as the original rubbings. In 1920, the great collector Luo Zhenyu publicly sold the Ming rubbings "Xi'an Benmiaotang Stele" authenticated by him, which was worth 140 oceans, and the "Chengwu Benmiaotang Stele" collected by Zhang Shumo was worth 120 oceans.

Due to the law of value, many collectors are interested in truly learning to appreciate inscriptions. From the overall understanding of inscriptions, appreciation also extends from the outside to the inside, with different aspects. The first thing that catches the eye is the decoration of the rubbings. Various old rubbings, especially ancient rubbings, have styles from different periods. Therefore, "folded decoration", "butterfly decoration", "thread decoration", etc. all reflect the materials and mounting era. Characteristics, and then the rubbing paper and the specific ink color and effect of the rubbing, this is an objective analysis of the materials and techniques.

After the Southern Song Dynasty, masters of counterfeiting inscriptions increasingly focused on rubbing techniques and carving stones. Therefore, further identification of calligraphy style, pen usage, etc. has become the main basis for appreciation. In addition, there are auxiliary basis for identifying the inscriptions, such as inscriptions, seals, inscriptions and postscripts, etc., which can help us identify the authenticity.

[Edit this paragraph] The difference between stele and post

The title of stele first began in the Han Dynasty. According to research by Wang Jun, a scholar in Shuowen in the Qing Dynasty, the earliest stele had three purposes: the stele in the palace, which was erected in front of the palace to measure the shadow of the sun; the stele in the ancestral temple, which was erected in the ancestral temple to tie livestock; The tomb stele was used to pull the coffin into the tomb when the emperor, princes and officials were buried. Due to these practical purposes, the earliest three types of tablets did not have text patterns on them.

Tie initially refers to the original ink written on silk or paper. Later, excellent ink writing was difficult to spread, so they were carved on wood and stone, which could be made many times. In this way, these original ink writing works carved on wood and stone and their rubbings were collectively called Tie.

To sum up carefully, the differences between stele and post are as follows:

1. The purpose of making is different. The original stele had no text, but later it was used to entrust the indestructible gold to be immortalized by future generations. , added text to the stele, and changed from the initial casual depiction to solemn and meticulous. Its main purpose is to trace the lineage, narrate life, and praise virtues, rather than to spread calligraphy. Therefore, the calligrapher may or may not be a famous person. Most steles before the Tang Dynasty did not sign the name of the person who signed them. It can be seen that the content of the steles was emphasized rather than the writing. The purpose of engraving calligraphy is to spread calligraphy and provide calligraphy students with copies of the calligraphy of famous masters of the past, so the quality of calligraphy is its selection criterion. As long as it is a masterpiece of a famous book, even a short note will still be included, with little regard for the content.

2. Different calligraphy styles. The stele has a long history. Before the Sui Dynasty, the calligraphy styles used were solemn seal script, official script, and regular script. It wasn't until Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty personally sprinkled his pen that running script began to be written on the monument. Except for the stele of the ascended prince, there are very few steles inscribed in cursive script. The engraving of calligraphy began in the Zhao and Song Dynasties, and most of them were poems and essays, so they were mostly written in running, cursive and regular script.

3. Different shapes. Steles are stone carvings erected on the ground. Most of them are rectangular, and some have domes and spires. Although there are ones with inscriptions on one side, there are also ones with inscriptions on two or even four sides. The huge monuments are often more than ten feet high, and they are magnificent. Because the posts are mostly based on slips, letters, and hand scrolls, they are generally about one foot high and one to three or four feet long. They are horizontal, mostly in the shape of a stone slab, and only have words engraved on the front. In addition, there are very few steles with wood carvings on them.

4. Different production methods. Before the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties, the stele was usually made of calligraphy and stone, that is, the writer used a red pen to directly write the words on the polished stele, and then engraved it. Stele engravers can often make stylistic changes in the strokes of the characters due to the convenience of the knife technique, which is slightly different from the original calligraphy script. Some inscriptions are even made directly without the calligraphy script. The calligraphy incorporates the artistic taste of engraving and has a strong flavor of gold and stone, which cannot be reflected by writing with a brush. In fact, it is the joint creation of the calligrapher and the engraver. The engravings are all imitated on stone, that is, the words on the ink mark are first copied with ink on transparent paper, and then outlined with vermilion from the back according to the words; then the stone is rubbed on the stone, and finally carved, there are two more lines than the stele. process. Although the process is complicated, the engraving requires being loyal to the original work and doing your best to complete the image. Each process must not be mixed with your own ideas, so the high-quality calligraphy can reach the level of authenticity.

[Edit this paragraph] Forgery detection methods of inscriptions

The forgeries of ancient inscriptions include re-engraving and re-engraving, fake engraving, wax inlay, dyeing, forgery of inscriptions, photocopying and Zinc plate, scraping, patching, inking, matching, sealing, ink and decoration forgery and other methods.

Re-engraving and re-engraving means that the original has been destroyed or has been lost long ago, so the re-engraved version is called a re-engraved version. Because the original stone does not exist, and the rubbings are extremely rare, or have become lone copies, or have not been handed down at all, the value of the reprinted copy cannot be underestimated. However, there is often more than one kind of reprint, and there are also priorities and advantages. For example, the Qin Dynasty's "Yishan Stele" legend was overthrown by Wei Wu, and the people of the city burned it down without passing it on. Du Fu once said: "The monument at Yishan was burned in the wild fire, and the engraving on the jujube wood was distorted." This shows that there were copies in the Tang Dynasty, but they are not passed down today. The only one that has been handed down today is the copy copied by Xu Xuan, who was south of Zheng Wenbao in August of the fourth year of Chunhua in the Song Dynasty, and was reengraved in Chang'an. Later, Shaoxing, Pujiang, Jiangning, Qingshe, Shuzhong, Zouxian and other places used the Chang'an version as their ancestor.

Another reason is still in the world. Because of the inconvenience of traveling a long way, or because the handwriting is blurred and damaged due to the age, the tablet merchants still redo and engrave the stone to pass it off as the original stone, which is called a reprint version. Most of the reprints were carved in a hurry, and most of the carvers were illiterate. There were many mistakes in calligraphy and painting, and the original tablets were still there, so they were of little value. There are many types of this kind of carvings after Qianlong and Jiaqing, including stone carvings, wood carvings, gray paint, mud wall carvings, etc. Among them, the ones made from tile ash mixed with raw lacquer or clay are the most popular. Because they are light in cost and high in profit, they are easier to engrave. They are rougher than those carved in wood and stone, and the most popular ones are on the market. The titles in the reprints range from the Qin and Han dynasties to the four mountains and cliffs. Engraving often only involves forty or fifty copies at a time, and sometimes more than a dozen copies are made. The version is damaged. Therefore, the initial extension was relatively realistic, but later it became unrecognizable.

False engraving is a forger who makes up a document based on the information in the book, and what is written and engraved is called a forgery. Because fake engravings are baseless fabrications, let alone reprints, they are worthless. In order to deceive people's trust, fake engravings often lie about being unearthed in a certain month and at a certain place. Some use rubbings to deceive people, and some simply sell the stone carvings together.

For example, the Han Dynasty's "Ceremonial Stele in the Yingling Tomb", "Zhang Fei's Inscription on the Horse", and "Tao Hongjing's Epitaph" are this kind of fake engravings. There have been many forgeries of Han steles since the Ming Dynasty, and the calligraphy faces are very similar. People without certain experience can easily believe the forgeries to be true.

Textual criticism has been very popular since the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Later, Dinghai Fangruo wrote a book called "Essays on the School Stele", which was devoted to the era when the calligraphy and paintings on the famous stele were damaged. The character "Jiang" is intact and was added in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The "Maming Temple Stele" of the Northern Wei Dynasty has not yet been broken and is a rubbing made before Daoguang. Those who forged it followed the theory and used wax inlays to fill in the damaged characters or fractures of the original stele to make them look like old ones. Therefore, any old rubbings found to be weak and questionable in textual research, or if the paper and ink are not dated enough or the color is incorrect, should be taken to attention. Without careful study, no casual judgments should be made.

The method of copying inscriptions is the same as practicing calligraphy, both to learn calligraphy well.