Research On Epitaphs Of Su Xun,Su Shi And Su Zhe

Su Xun,Su Shi,and Su Zhe(hereafter referred to as the Three Su)were shining stars in the Literature of the Northern Song Dynasty.Their monumental writings,handed down from ancient times,are still existed today.However,even considered as a treasury of great writings,these monumental writings received little academic attention because they are few in number.It should be noted that monumental writings by the Three Su is distinctive from others under the context of the Song dynasty,when monumental writings is prosperous.In this paper,Zeng Zaozhuang and Jin Chengli’s Annotations on Jiayouji(Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House,1993),Kong Fanli’s Collected Works of Su Shi(Zhonghua Book Company,1986),and Zeng Zaozhuang and Ma Defu’s Luanchengji(Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House,2009)were used as the source texts,and Zhang Zhili,Ma Defu,and Zhou Yu Kai’s The Complete Works of Su Shi was used as the reference texts,to sort out 40 monumental writings by the Three Su(2 by Su Xun,28 by Su Shi,10 by Su Zhe).These writings were comprehensively examined from three aspects: the creation background,the examination and description of associations and travels of the author,and factors influencing creativity.The first chapter described the relationship between the Three Su and the protagonist of monumental writing,analyzing their reasons to write.It discussed the relationship between Su Xun and his "bosom friends",Su Shi and "the five people" having the individual inscription,and Su Zhe and "the monk" in the pagoda inscriptions,exploring the special reasons for the Three Su to write these monumental writings.The second chapter focuses on the thought content and artistic characteristics of the monumental writings by the Three Su,analyzing their unique artistic charms from three aspects: the tendency of "using history to express the profound meaning",the legend-style artistic technique,and the "unlike preface" form of the monumental writing.The third chapter explored the reasons why the monumental writings by the Three Su are fewer in number than that of their contemporaries.Firstly,the Three Su’s creative views and literary theories on the monumental writing was combed,and the creative mentality guided by this style theories was analyzed;secondly,the internal and external factors influencing the creation of the Three Su ’ s monumental writings were explored,and the influence of "remuneration for writers" practice,"flattering inscription" practice,and "the struggles between officials" on the creation of the Three Su’s monumental writings were analyzed.