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Tombstone and Buried Tablet (Guilin Tours, Guilin Hotels)

vicky | 24 July, 2008 03:22

      The mubei and muzhi are two different things that serve the same purpose. The Chinese tombstone (mubei), like its western counterpart, is an oblong piece stone, erected vertically in front of the tomb and engraved with an inscription beiwen). The muzhi is usually in the form a square stone tablet which is buried in the grave with the coffin and placed in front of it. The practice of burying a tab- let as part of the Chinese funerary rites appeared later than the tombstone.

The earliest Chinese tombstone had no inscriptions. They were but simple rectangular slabs with small holes, through which ropes were run to lower the coffin into the pit. Some of the very ancient tomb- stones still show vestiges of the holes on them.

   The inscription, which appeared later, generally gives a brief account of the dead person, listing the major events he experienced and the lofty qualities he possessed to perpetuate his name to later generations. Important inscriptions or epitaphs, penned by eminent statesmen, men of letters or other public figures and engraved by master masons, are cherished as valuable relics important to the study of ancient literature, calligraphy and art in general.

    Some inscribed epitaphs could be very long. One such on a great stele dedicated to the Prince of Qi or Han Shizhong (1089-1151), a Song Dynasty general famous for his resistance against northern invaders, has a total of over 13,900 characters, the longest ever found on any tombstone.

Other tombstones carry no inscriptions at all. A typical one, and also the best known, is the tall stele standing at the front of Qianling Mausoleum in Shaanxi Province. The crown of the stele is carved in the shape of several intertwining dragons, and the sides are decorated with cloud-and-dragon patterns, but there are no words engraved on the face. This is the monument that Empress Wu Zetian (624-705, reigned 690-705) erected for herself. She refrained from singing her own praises, but preferred to leave it for later generations to appraise her merits and faults.

Inscriptions are bound to reflect the age in which they are written. Though the practice of erecting tombstones is as a whole falling into desuetude in New China, the few that have been built are completely new in content and form.

 Towering aloft in Tian'anmen Square is the Monument to the People's Heroes. Its face is engraved with eight big characters, gilded and written in the hand of the late Chairman Mao Zedong, reading: "Eternal Glory to the People's Heroes". At the back is a memorial article authored also by Mao but written out by the late Premier Zhou Enlai. The stele is different from all tombstones of past ages. It is a tombstone without a tomb, but a monument dedicated to all the heroes who have laid down their lives for the cause of the Chinese people. The monument is over 37 metres tall, and its pedestal, decorated on four sides with 10 sculptures carved in bas-relief on its white marble, is closed in by double-tiered marble balustrades. Simple and magnificent, it is also the grandest stele that China has ever built.

 

Source: http://www.yangshuochina.com/HistoryCulture/AncientRelics/2207.html

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Guilin Hotels: http://www.yangshuochina.com/hotel/

China Travel: http://www.yangshuochina.com/citys/

Chinese culture: http://www.yangshuochina.com/HistoryCulture/AncientRelics/list149_1.html

Yangshuo Attraction: http://www.yangshuochina.com/sight/

Guilin Attraction: http://www.yangshuochina.com/sight/

China Hotels: http://www.yangshuochina.com/citys/

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