The Study On Chinese Characters’ Direct Components Of Yuan Familys’ Epitaphs In The Northern Wei Dynasty

This paper is based on the epitaphs of yuan familys in the Northern Wei Dynasty.The direct components is an entry point for exploring specialties of these epitaphs.And we try to discuss the changes of Chinese characters of the yuan familys’ epitaphs with the method of quantitative analysis so that we can explore the characteristics of the change and usage of components in this period more deeply.From this,the regularity of Chinese characters’ evolution in this period is summarized.The research materials in this paper are mainly from the "corpus of inscription characters used in the Wei,Jin,Southern and Northern Dynasties" established by the center for the study and application of Chinese characters,ECNU.The epitaphs from newly published epitaph compilations and journal articles in recent years are also collected.The characters collection which based on the interpretation of epitaphs mainly consists of three steps.Firstly,cutting and classifying the character pictures from each epitaph and picking the clearest and most completed characters,integrating these characters and the corresponding information in the database.Then,choosing the most representative thematic form of the characters from the font,and summarizing it under each head.Finally,dividing all effective characters with the method of the theory of configuration.The method of division combines the principle-oriented division and the form-oriented division,then classifying the direct components according to the function and meaning.The results of classification of direct members according to standard of classification are same form but different function components and same function in different form components.It is easier to find the relation between different components by combining the form and function of components,so as to provide convenient conditions for the establishment of the structure system of the yuan familys’ epitaphs.For the study of philology,the epitaphs of yuan familys in the Northern Wei Dynasty is a typical inscription material in the Wei,Jin,Southern and Northern Dynasties.The summary of the characters’ changes of these materials from the perspective of components can also provide relevant examples for further investigation of the characteristics of the development of Chinese characters in this period.The paper is divided into five parts.The first part is the introduction,which introduces the general situation of the research,the situation of the yuan familys’ epitaphs and the research status.Secondly,the research methods and significance are described.Finally,the relevant terms used in this paper are explained.The second part explains the steps and rules for the process of the characters and components of the yuan familys’ epitaphs,and adds some examples for explaining those complicated matters.The third part is the detailed description and specific analysis of the same form but different function components and same function in different form components in the epitaphs of the yuan familys.It gathers the components that are functionally related due to the change of the form together,and detects the mutual influence between components through the description of the situation of components and characters.The fourth part,based on the analysis of the third part,discusses the variation law of characters reflected in the changes of direct components,and highlights the characteristics of the characters’ changes in the epitaphs of the yuan familys.The fifth part is an appendix,which includes the direct components and the characters of the yuan familys’ epitaph,which is a supplement to the full text analysis,and also a clue to check the font.The Yuan familys’ epitaph is a kind of inscriptions in the Wei,Jin,Southern and Northern Dynasties.The characters have the characteristics of heterogeneity.From the perspective of direct components,it is mainly manifested in the increase of semantic components variations and phonetic components variations,and the appearance of a large number of symbolic components.There are various forms of writing and constructing,but they are not random.The source and change process of components can still be detected from same form but different function components and same function in different form components.