In the spring of the fifth year of Chunyou (1245), the Southern Song Dynasty emperor Jie Shaozong followed the example of bai juyi of the Tang dynasty and wrote an epitaph for himself. Five years later, it will be carved in stone, and his wife Xu Jizhen put forward a request: "Born with Jun Kailao, after death or in the same cave, Jun has self-described immortality, And The Dragon is my Ji Qi, and the two stones are carved together." Jie Shaozong then wrote an epitaph for his wife Yu and recounted this plot, which can be read today from the "Epitaph written by Song Xu's Yu". The Epitaph of Song Xu's Yu is now in the Ming Zhi Tang Museum and has been published in the Ming Zhi Tang Tibetan Song Dynasty Inscription Interpretation and Epitaph (Zhongxi Bookstore, 2019).
"Song Xu's Yu Writing Epitaph" rubbings of the book
The record of the "Epitaph written by Song Xushi Yu"
The autobiography is immortal
The special epitaph of the Song Xu Clan Yu Writing Epitaph lies in the phenomenon of writing relatively special epitaphs, that is, "self-writing" and "Yu (pre-) writing". Zhiwen first mentions that "Songpo Jie ShaoZong Mu Xiang Shan BaiJuShi's self-zhi tomb is an inscription, the poem is twenty-six rhymes, and more than five years will be engraved with stones", which can be seen as an example of a southern Song Dynasty people writing their own epitaphs.
As an applied style, in addition to the role of mourning and liturgical procedures, epitaphs have considerable documentary nature. In terms of the documentary of life deeds and family conditions, no one can be the right of the tomb owner, but only a few of the many epitaphs are written by the tomb owner himself. The Tang Dynasty is regarded as the development period of self-written epitaphs, and the original commentators found that there were about ten self-written epitaphs of the Tang people. The fourth chapter of the recently published book", "In The Pursuit of Life: Epitaphs in Chinese History", "Self-written Epitaphs", is written by Alexei K. Ditter, who says that "autobiographical texts are relatively rare in the traditional Chinese literary world, and autobiographical epitaphs are particularly rare, with less than twenty found so far in the Tang Dynasty." ("Remembering Life: Epitaphs in Chinese History", Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2021, p. 27) And according to Xu Lingling's master's thesis completed in 2015, "Nearly thirty people in the Tang Dynasty have written their own epitaphs, except for Fu Yi and 7 other people who have written epitaphs that have not been circulated or incomplete, the rest have been circulated in the world, and the zhiwen may only be found in written documents, or only in stone carvings, or in written documents and stone carvings." (Xu Lingling: Research on Self-Written Epitaphs, Master's Thesis of Soochow University, 2015, p. 27)
The situation of the Song Dynasty's self-written epitaphs was of concern to Tong Xiangqing. According to his statistics, "there were 33 self-written epitaphs in the Song Dynasty... 15 non-survivors, 18 survivors... Self-written epitaphs 16 parties in the Northern Song Dynasty and 17 parties in the Southern Song Dynasty, the distribution is quite even. (Tong Xiangqing: "Research on the Writing of Epitaphs in the Northern Song Dynasty", China Social Science Press, 2019, p. 210) Self-written epitaphs in the Song Dynasty have shown a diversified appearance, there are differences in the degree of compliance with stylistic formats, and personality elements have been highlighted.
The historical basis for The Epitaph written by Emperor Shaozong for his wife Yu
"Self-written epitaphs were still a different kind of customary act in the Tang Dynasty." (Huang Zhen: "A Brief Discussion on the Tang Dynasty's Self-Written Epitaphs", Yangtze River Academic, No. 1, 2006) Bai Juyizuo has an article "Mr. Drunken Yin's Epitaph and Preface", which Reveals Shaozong's admiration for the different customs embodied in this behavior. However, There is a dispute between the authenticity and falsity of Bai's self-written epitaph. Cen Zhongmian's "Epitaph of Mr. Bai Ji Drunken Yin" ("Cen Zhongmian's Collected Historical Papers", Zhonghua Bookstore, 1990) lists ten doubts, and Chen Yinke and Luo Liantian have agreed with the hypothesis. Geng Yuanrui and Zhao Congren's "Cen Zhongmian 'Doubtful Epitaph of Mr. Bai Ji Drunken Yin' " ( Tang Dynasty Literature Series , Vol. IV, 1983 ) refuted them one by one. Japanese scholars Yasuzo Kawakai and Hiromichi Yoshimura have examined this epitaph. In particular, Yoshimura has written many articles, which he said: "Looking back at the circulation process of the Epitaph, we have not found evidence that this text is completely forged. However, even if this is Bai Juyi's own epitaph, the existing "Epitaph" is false and coexists,...... It is also true that there are traces of supplementary pen tampering." ("According to this inscription, bai juyi's authenticity is examined", Yangtze River Academic, No. 2, 2011)
Jie Shaozong did not doubt the authenticity of the "Epitaph and Preface of Mr. Drunken Yin", because he admired Bai Juyi and he had the act of making his own epitaph, which was different from the mainstream. It is even more unusual for his wife to ask Jie Shaozong to write an epitaph for him. Jie Shaozong was able to agree from the perspective of the couple's feelings, but it seemed that more support was needed, and he also wrote the reasons he found in the Zhiwen. "Xihedong Liuzi Hou wife Yang Shi 卒, Zi Hou Zhi Qi Tomb", here refers to Liu Zongyuan's "Deceased Wife Hongnong Yang Clan Zhi" written for his wife. (Liu Zongyuan's "Liu Zongyuan Collection", vol. XIII, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1979, pp. 338-340) The second reason, the original punctuation of the collator is "Fanyang Zhou's burial, Liangren Cao Yin is also Zhou Weiming", which should be changed to "Fanyang Zhou's burial of Liangren CaoYin, also Zhou Weiming", which actually refers to the fact that Zhou Shi, the wife of The Tang Dynasty Cao Yin, wrote an epitaph for him. Yao Ping pointed out that "the Cao Yin Epitaph is likely to be the earliest surviving epitaph written by a woman." ("Remembrance of Life: Epitaphs in Chinese History", p. 37) However, this epitaph does not see rough stones or rubbings, and the text was originally derived from "Rong Zhai Essays", which is also controversial in its authenticity. Hong Mai wrote that "in the third year of the Qingyuan Dynasty, Chen Zhuang, the captain of Xinzhou, sent a Tang stele to the tang dynasty, which was written by a woman for her husband", and after recording the zhiwen, he said that "the woman can be so literate, but it is a pity that it is not passed on, so the book is written to the lack of the zhi". ("Tang Caoyin's Epitaph", "Rong Zhai Essays and Five Strokes", vol. II, Zhonghua Bookstore, 2005, p. 848) Li Xiumin once examined it from three aspects: edition, style, and grammar, and believed that "Tang Caoyin's Epitaph is actually a pseudo-zhi, or more precisely, a rumor." (Li Xiumin: "Identifying Falsifications," Classical Literature Studies, No. 2, 2016) Yao Ping also found that "this epitaph does not mention the chronology and funeral arrangements of the deceased, which are the most basic contents of the Tang Dynasty epitaphs", ("Remembering Life: Epitaphs in Chinese History", p. 37) She thinks that Hong Mai may have made deletions.
The "Epitaph of Cao Yin" was indeed unearthed, but it was just a rumor that appeared at that time, and it would be more convenient for Emperor Shaozong to receive this "knowledge". The inscription mentioned in the Rongzhai Essays and Five Strokes was obtained in the third year of The Qingyuan Dynasty (1197), and the contents of the Five Strokes were engraved in the Ganzhou Ben of the Fifth Year of Jiading (1212), the Jianning Ben of the Fifteenth Year of Jiading (1222), and the Shaoding Edition of the First Year of Shaoding (1228). The epitaph written by Emperor Jieshaozong Yu was written in the tenth year of Chunyou (1250), and it may be seen in all books. And Hong mai is a native of Poyang, Raozhou, and the Jie couple are from Fengcheng, Hongzhou (Longxing Province), not far apart, "Rong Zhai Essay" has long been famous, oral transmission, copying the contents of the book are easy. This can be seen as an example of the spread of this special "knowledge" of "wife for husband", and importantly, Jie Shaozong did not doubt the Cao Yin Epitaph.
Jie Shaozong was able to agree to write an epitaph for his wife Yu, and the harmonious relationship between the husband and wife was an important reason. The state of happy marriage reflected in the "Late Wife Hongnong Yang's Chronicle" and "Cao Yin's Epitaph" should have influenced the concept of the Jie couple. After there are stories of predecessors that can be emulated, it is also possible to hope that a special case should be left as a motive. Jie Shaozong concluded that "the husband is the wife's aspirations, the wife is the husband's inscription, since ancient times", but "the first time I did not see his book in the former", to write a history for his wife before she died, is the biggest difference, but also the breakthrough he wants to make. There are many people with distinct personalities who write their own epitaphs, and Shaozong's self-written epitaphs have become unique, and Xu Jizhen can take the initiative to make this request, and it is also remarkable to emit a precious female voice. With a historical basis, Emperor Jie Shaozong encouraged himself, "Of course, it can also be righteous, and the text can be thick and thick and self-righteous", at this point, Zhiwen entered the "Yu Writing" section.
"Remembering Life: Epitaphs in Chinese History", Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, April 2021
Yu wrote the contents of the epitaph
The "Epitaph of Song Xu's Yu" is actually a special self-written epitaph of one party. Xu Jizhen asked her husband to write a zhi for him, as a husband and wife, Jie Shaozong already knew his wife, and because it was Yu Writing, Ji Zhen himself should have read the zhiwen and even had the opportunity to participate in the writing. Although Zhiwen did not mention Xu Jizhen's cultural level, Xu's "examination of Fu Lin, learning from Youfushi", can be known from a family with books, combined with her ability to put forward the request of "Yu written epitaph", even if Jizhen is illiterate, at least she can know and understand the content written by her husband. The couple had a great friendship, and Jie Shaozong agreed to write an epitaph for his wife, or he would seek her opinion on the content. Therefore, Xu's Epitaph is almost self-written, which is an evaluation of her life made by a Southern Song Dynasty housewife in a special way.
The content of the epitaph written by Yu is relatively ordinary, but this is the truth of a civilian family in Fengcheng County, Longxing Province, Jiangnan West Road of the Southern Song Dynasty, and it is also the real life course of an ordinary housewife in ancient times. Zhiwen first quotes the narrative of the three capitals from his brother Jie, introducing the Xu clan and its origins with the Jie clan. Jie Sanjing also appears in the "Song Jie Cemetery Text" collected in the same book, ("Ming Zhi Tang Collection song Dynasty Inscription Interpretation and Epitaph", p. 151) is the nephew of the tomb owner Jie Zhongwen, zi Shao Yin, Shao Ding second year (1229) jinshi, who served as the commander of Yulin County. Jie Sanjing said to Jie Shaozong, "My great-grandfather Concubine Xu, that is, Yuan Zhi Wanzai's obscure sister, Ru's great-grandfather Lianzhou Guiyang Zanfu Duke and Wan Zai Gong and his ji father Zhonghe were friendly, and the family was connected throughout the ages, so Ru Gu belonged to Zhonghe's son, and this life is a marriage." Here directly mentions several ancestors of the Jie and Xu clans, first wan zai cheng Xu Ru obscure, then Jie Shaozong's great-grandfather Guiyang Cheng Jie xianjue, and finally Xu Xie (Zhonghe). Xu Xie's son was Xu Fulin, who married Jie Shaozong's aunt, who was Xu Jizhen's father, so Jie Shaozong also called Xu Fulin his maternal uncle. Jie Shaozong and Xu Jizhen's daughter Jie Xihui later married Xu Jizhen's nephew Xu Siwen (Gongfu).
The Xu family "Shiju Fengcheng Zhijue Creek", "Ji Zhen was born on the ninth day of June in Qingyuan Dingwei", that is, the third year of the Southern Song Dynasty Ningzong Qingyuan (1197). She married Jie Shaozong of Changning Township at the age of 18, about the eighth year of Jiading (1215). When Yu wrote the epitaph in the tenth year of ChunYou (1250), Xu Jizhen was 53 years old, and according to the life expectancy of the ancients, he had indeed reached the age of thinking about life and death. Zhiwen said that she was "diligent and frugal in nature, and all women and wives and mothers have their own way, and the family has its own order, from a little bit of physiology, and a strong yan", which is the full text of Xu Jizhen's overall and only evaluation, or introduction. The Jie couple had two sons and two daughters, and had three grandchildren when Yu wrote the epitaph. The last person to write an epitaph for Xu Jizhen was "Qidi Xiang Gong Jinshi Fan Yan", Fan was a Jinshi in the seventh year of Chunyou (1247), and shizhi linchuan master book. The inscription "Clan Brother Chao Sanlang TongJue Tanzhou Junzhou and Inner Stewardship Persuasion Nongying Tianshi Borrow Qijing Sun", that is, Xu Jingsun, the History of Song, Baoqing II (1226) Jinshi, who "set up Yongxing Ling, Zhilinwu County, Tongju Tanzhou", (History of Song, vol. 410, p. 12347) is a famous courtier in the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty, a famous figure in the Xu clan.
The Epitaph of The Song Xu Clan Yu did not engrave Xu Jizhen's death year. It is impossible to write an epitaph in advance of the year of the tomb owner's death, and the common practice is to leave a blank space, and add it after the death of the tomb owner, or directly supplement it at the end of the zhiwen. However, Jie Shaozong wrote that "if the husband returns to the full years, not known, and the book is booked", according to this expression, it was not originally intended to supplement the book of the year of death on the epitaph. Other compilers believe that it is reasonable that the Zhiwen itself was written in the tenth year of Chunyou (1250), but the epitaph date the tomb owner "Southern Song Dynasty Lizong Chunyou Decade (1250) died". Among the epitaphs of Ming Zhitang is also an epitaph written by Jie Shaozong, namely the "Records of the Song Xu People JieShi Yuan", (Ming Zhi Tang Tibetan Song Dynasty Inscriptions and Epitaphs", pp. 266-267) This time the object was his daughter Jie Xihui. Xi Hui was the eldest daughter of Emperor Jie Shaozong, born in the fourteenth year of Jiading (1221), and married Xu Gongfu of Fengcheng Fucheng Township in the fourth year of Jiaxi (1240). Later, she suffered from a gas disease and her health was not good for a long time, and in the spring of the second year of Baoyou (1254), she returned to her mother's house with an illness, "the more two decades, the smaller the healer, the return.". I don't want to "return to two months and return to work, and the beginning of autumn will be reformed, and his mother will look at it." In his words, his mother said: 'There is no regret in death, but it is not possible to be a woman and a woman.' 'Wept after talking to each other, but then we could not afford it.". When Jie Xihui was sick, his mother also went to visit the sick, and Jie Shaozong only had Xu Jizhen's wife, so Xu Shi could not have died in the tenth year of Chun Yu (1250). Unfortunately, Xu's land coupons have not been seen, and Jie Xihui's "Xu Siwen's Wife JieShi Land Coupons" ("Ming Zhi Tang Collection song Dynasty Inscription Interpretation Of Land Coupons", p. 345) has survived.
A Qing Dynasty case of writing an epitaph for his wife Yu
"Song Xu's Yu Writing Epitaph" is a combination of "self-written", "he written" and "Yu written", especially in the fact that women take the initiative to seek inscriptions, in the "non-mainstream" things done by civilian couples, and also in the concept of life and death and local social landscape reflected in this behavior. Asking her husband to write an epitaph reflects the awakening of Xu Jizhen,a southern Song Dynasty woman, who has awakened her self-consciousness and calmly penetrated life and death. Husbands are willing to write articles, relatives and friends are willing to write inscriptions, and eventually be able to go to the stone and hide in the earth, which makes people can't help but admire the feelings of the husband and wife, and also have more beautiful imaginations about the local inclusive and open social atmosphere. The biggest feature of this epitaph is the zhiyuan, that is, the word "Yu written" is clearly placed at the beginning of the stele.
The famous scholar, thinker, and writer Fang Dongshu wrote the "Life Of His Wife and Sun" to his wife in 1831, which is a Qing Dynasty example of a husband writing an epitaph for his wife Yu. Reed Jing commented: "Fang Dongshu wrote an epitaph for his wife before she died, which is not in line with tradition. ("Remembering Life: Epitaphs in Chinese History", p. 209) In fact, the precedent of Shaozong and Xu Jizhen was revealed 581 years ago, which was even more different from tradition at that time. However, there are some differences between the two Yu-written epitaphs. First, Xu Jizhen took the initiative to propose, while Fang Dongshu "pitied him for his hardships, old age and illness and death, but Yu Yu's aspirations, his suffering and his deeds, and his views, so as to comfort his heart." Taking the wife's life to know the text as precious, and the happy Yu Zhi Nengwen also, shu can write its immortal reasons", (Fang Dongshu: "Kao Yu Collection" volume 11) took the initiative to write a chronicle for Sun Shi. Second, the "Epitaph written by Song Xu's Yu" may be because it is necessary to go to the stone, but the four hundred and five crosses have less portrayal of Xu Jizhen himself; "Wife and Sun's Life" wrote nearly 1,200 words, focusing more on the details of Sun's cultural level, physical condition, and family activities, and was more direct in emotional expression. Third, Fang Dongshu did not use the word "Yu Zhi", but replaced it with "Shengzhi". Fourth, the performance of "Wife and Grandson's Life" in the stylistic characteristics of the epitaph is relatively unclear, and the literary and lyrical nature is much stronger.
The two Yu Zhi zhi also reveal some similarities. First, before writing an epitaph for a partner, both husbands had funeral preparations. Jie Shaozong first had his own epitaph and was about to carve a stone; Fang Dongshu was because more than ten years ago he had said to Sun Shi that "Ru don't die, wait for WuLi to be able to be a coffin and then you can", at this time, "determined to make a false loan, buy wood, and make the craftsman synthesize it". Preparing for a funeral can affect the mentality of the perpetrator and his or her family members and facilitate certain decisions. Second, Yu wrote epitaphs that reassured his wife and promised the purpose of immortality. Xu Jizhen's sentence "Jun has self-described immortality" expresses a woman's yearning for the immortality of carved stones, and Fang Dongshu also points out the starting point of writing "to comfort her heart" and "can write its immortality". Third, the husband is the wife's name, and it is indispensable to praise the wife's virtues and good qualities, showing the harmony of the husband and wife relationship.
epilogue
Read it with the words "Born and grow old, and help me from within." Carved stone is hidden, and it is safe and solid. More than ten million years, or the change of the Linggu Valley, the viewer still relies on the viewer to cover up" The inscription as the end of the "Song Xu Yu Writing Epitaph", nostalgic. At the research level, we always have to look for "special". "Song Xu's Epitaph of Yu Writing" is actually just an epitaph of an ordinary Southern Song Dynasty Jiangxi housewife, if it were not for "Yu Writing", it seems that it would not have been paid special attention, and the attention received by the epitaphs of prominent eunuchs will still be close to the heavens, just like before the death. But in essence, the life that disappears after each party's epitaph is unique, which is a difficult problem to solve. Focusing on the epitaphs of famous people, epitaphs containing special information, and excavating the value of each historical material is a reasonable research choice. For the large number of people's epitaphs with simple and similar content and similar stylized sentences, there may be insufficient room for "storytelling", and how to use them needs to be considered. The book "Ming Zhi Tang Collection of Song Dynasty Inscriptions" containing the "Song XuShi Yu Epitaph" published a total of 397 Song Dynasty epitaphs and land coupons, mainly from Fuzhou and neighboring areas in Jiangxi, which are more coherent in the time period, and the match between the epitaph and the land coupons is not low, and it is a group of inscriptions with concentrated characteristics. Time is concentrated, space is concentrated, and the relationship between the characters is also closely related. A cursory reading of these epitaphs gives a rough idea of the situation of several large local clans and the close in-laws between the various clans. The content of the epitaph is the life of the tomb owner, and it is also a microcosm of the environment in which the tomb owner lived at that time, which can reflect the style of the times and society in many ways. Coherent civilian epitaphs unearthed within a certain area are particularly possible in regional social studies.
Looking at the self-written epitaphs of the past generations, Xu Jizhen's "Song Xu's Yu-written Epitaph" is still special, special in that this is an epitaph written by her husband and belonging to a woman before her death, and it also lies in the fact that among the few self-written epitaphs, the identity of the Jie couple is the most ordinary and ordinary. This kind of writing epitaph commonly used in ancient China, the practice of carving stones and existing in stone, is extremely penetrating and enduring, and is a choice that hopes to transcend time and space and life. Presumably, the couple can feel that hundreds of years later, when the viewer saw this Fang Yu writing the epitaph, he did not just sigh, but affirmed their approach. The "works" of this ordinary couple in the distant time and space are indeed "safe and solid", and there is still the power to transcend time and space and life.