Research On Han Stele Documents

Han steles represent the most systematic and large-scale stone carving group after that of the Three Generations.With its rich content and detailed material,it has been studied and respected by scholars of previous dynasties.Before the Song Dynasty,scholars focused on the cultivation of the historical value of Han steles.Since the Song Dynasty,epigraphists’researches on Confucian classics,history,literature,calligraphy and other aspects of Han steles gradually burgeoned and reached a greater depth.This dissertation attempts to conduct a integrated study of the Han steles,grounded both on the thorough occupation the Han stele literature and on the previous achievements of traditional epigraphy researches.The collation of Han stele documents includes 4 major parts of close interrelation,which are description,identification of counterfeits,text transcribing and calligraphic compilation.First of all,we need to investigate the historical descriptions of Han steles to clarify the extant remains of Han steles and those non-extant,thus to understand the inventory and transcripts of Han steles.Meanwhile,it is necessary to examine the authenticity of Han steles recorded by scholars of previous dynasties,which is an essential procedure in the literature investigation of Han steles.The collation of Han stele documents should finally be implemented on the transcription of texts,which comprises the most important step in the whole collation process.The quality of the transcripts directly affects the following researches and the usage of epigraphical documents.In addition to the transcripts,the collation of the Han stele characters,especially of the Li(隶)characters,reflected mainly on the compilation of the Han Li(隶)character books,which are not only helpful to the study of the Han Dynasty characters,but also beneficial to the study of the classics and history of the Han Dynasty.By combing scholars’ records of Han steles of previous dynasties,it can be found that before the rise of epigraphy in the Song Dynasty,scholars’ descriptions of Han steles are sporadic and scattered.By the Song Dynasty,epigraphists have developed different kinds of categories for steles and metal wares including simple inventories,postscripts,transcriptions,classification by geographical sites or people involved,and by characters.Han steles can be spoted in all these six categories,and there are monographs of each category passing down.During Yuan and Ming Dynasty,the declining era of epigraphy,epigraphists continued the 6 categories developed in the Song Dynasty,with minor repairs and supplements,and plagiarism among scholars.Finally,there comes the revival period of epigraphy,Qing Dynasty.In this period,the descriptions of Han steles are variegated of all categories and the researches in-depth.The epigraphical works are of high-qualities and woven into a tremendous system.Investigating the purposes and methods of epigraphic counterfeits,teasing the history of Han stele falsification and summarizing the methods to recognize falsification serve to guide the recognition of falsification in Han stele and stone-carvings in other dynasties.Since the Song Dynasty,scholars began to identify the counterfeits of Han steles spontaneously.In the early Qing Dynasty to the Qianjia period,the identification developed from spontaneous action to conscious practice,and finally reached its peak after Qianjia.What is specially worth-mentioning is the appearance of monograph on counterfeits identification after Qianjia period,such as the catalogue of fake inscriptions in Lu Zengxiang’s Eliminating the Counterfeits of Metal and Stones in Baqiong Room and Fang Ruo’s Essays on Steles Collation.Based on the previous identifications of Han stele counterfeits,the author on the one hand checked the descriptions of the of Han stele counterfeits identification by scholars of previous dynasties,and tries to compile an independent description of Han stele counterfeits;On the other hand,the author tries to distinguish the counterfeits of the two kinds of Han steles.Firstly,this dissertation finds that the Yanran Mountain Inscription included in Li Yun by Liu Qiu in the Southern Song Dynasty was forged by He Qizhong in Sichuan according to the annotations by Li Shan of Anthology.Secondly,the falsification of the remnant stone of Zhangshou Stele,which has been circulating around for the past few years.Transcription of the characters on the Han stele or the characters on the stone rubbings for a second time.With many original inscriptions and their rubbings gone,transcriptions become the premise of researches.There are a bunch of styles on Han steles,such as seal scripts,Li scripts,Bafen script and other calligraphy styles.Due to the diversity of character styles and the different civilizations of Han stele characters,people develops different ways to transcribe the texts.There are three ways to record the inscriptions on Han steles,copying,transcribing with Kai style,normal transcribing with Kai characters.For copying,there are 3 methods,namely regular copying,scaling and double hooks.Variant methods contributed to preserving the shape and content of stone inscriptions together,and provide reliable data for the further study of Han stele documents.However,we should also see that there are still deficiencies in the methods,especially the authenticity and reliability of recording,so the collation of stone recording is essential.The collation of stone inscriptions is more complex than that of ancient books.It requires not only the collation between ancient books,but also the collation between stone rubbings and ancient books.The former alone can not solve the problems encountered in the collation of transcripts.Although Chen Yuan’s "four methods of collationt,are applicable to the collation of stone text transcriptions,they need to be reconciled in the specific operation.Most of the different texts in the collation of stone inscriptions are errors in interpretation or transmission.Therefore,it is necessary to reinterpret them in combination with rubbings or relevant materials in order to improve the quality of stone inscriptions.In addition to copies the texts of Han steles,epigraphists also copied the Li characters on Han steles from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty in order to compile Han Li character books.In the Song Dynasty,there are Liu Qiu’s Li Yun,Lou Ji’s Source of Han Li Characters,and the anonymous Han Li Fen Yun.In the Qing Dynasty,Gu Aiji’s Li Bian and Zhai Yunsheng’s Li Pian were the masterpieces.The Han Li character books of Song and Qing dynasties can be divided into two categories according to the different methods of compilation and text copying:one is to organize the characters according to rhyme,representatives including the four books of Li Yun,the Source of Han Li Characters,the Rhyme of Han Li and the Discrimination of Li;the other is to organize the characters according to the 540 parts of Shuowen Jiezi and copy with double hooks,eg.Zhai’s Li Pian.At present,the latter method are considered the best way to reflect the development of characters,and the two hooks copying are considered to be the most realistic way to copy the texts.Of course,the traditional Han Li character book usually are organized according to rhymes and their major contents are the characters’ copies.The two types of calligraphy have their own advantages and disadvantages,but they both play significant role in the study of the development and evolution of characters,and also play an important role in interpreting classics,characters,distinguishing counterfeits and preserving inscriptions.On the basis of the descriptions,falsification identification,text transcribing and word compilation of Han steles,Han stele documents could be used in proving classics and supplementing history is.First of all,Zhu Baidu,Chunyu Hongen,Pi Xirui and other scholars in the Qing Dynasty have conducted in-depth researches on the Confucian classics recorded in Han steles from four aspects:one is to collate the handed-down scripts according to scripts cited inHan steles,secondly is to study the transmission and teaching of the Confucian classics of the Han people based on the records of steles’ master;the third is to interpret the classics based on the historical materials of the Confucian classics included by Han steles,and the fourth is to study the phonology,semantics and philology based on the Confucian classics of the Han stele.Secondly,on the basis of the study of the Qing Dynasty,the author will further to comb and count the items of the classics cited by the Han steles,and summarize the characteristics and value of the classics cited by Han steles.When citing classics,Han steles include both modern and ancient scripts,and include several classics at one time.Also they cite either directly or with variations.The materials cited by the Han steles are of important academic value in preserving the different texts of the classics,providing early versions of the classics for the collations,preserving the texts of the classics in Li style,and retaining the Han people’s ancient interpretation of the classics.In addition,there are also historical records of Confucian classics taught by the subjects of the steles,which are valuable materials for the study of the history of Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty,especially for the study of the oppugnation and integration of the classics in Li characters and in ancient Zhou Style in the Eastern Han Dynasty.The value of Han steles documents for the study of the history of the Han Dynasty is mainly reflected in the fact that Han steles could supplement and correct the fallacies of historical records.Firstly,the Han steles include political,economic,ideological and cultural historical materials of the Han Dynasty.These historical materials are closely related to the traditional historical records,and are supplementary to the historical facts records of later Han Dynasty or the Eastern Han Dynasty.Secondly,the Han steles literature mainly focuses on the preservation of biographical data.A large number of historical facts about the life of the stele owner are not recorded in handed-down texts.Even if recorded,the historical records could be calibrated by steles with more detailed information and possibilities for rectification.For this purpose,the author compares the biographical data of Han steles with the relevant records in historical books,and makes a "Table of biographies of Steles",which facilitates the comparative study of steles.Thirdly,the studies of events and figures recorded jointly by Han steles and historical biographies should be the focus of our comparative perspective.What the ancients said "could be reinforced with Historical Biographies" is the best interpretation of this part of Han stele data,which is also most valued by scholars of epigraphy in previous dynasties.Although the epigraphists of the past dynasties have done a lot of researches on the verification and supplements of the history of Han steles,these studies are mostly presented in the form of fragments and yet to be systematize.In addition,there are also omissions in the textual researches of predecessors.