The epitaph of Li Shou from the Qing Dynasty was unearthed in the Shijingshan area, which attracted widespread social attention and was reported by many news media. For example, the article "Qing Dynasty Tombstone Excavated at Shijingshan Construction Site" on the fifth page of "Beijing Daily" on April 20 said: The epitaph was discovered during road construction in the Lugu area. It is divided into two parts, the seal cover and the main text. The epitaph begins with Ji Xiaolan's writing and Liu Yong's writing are the biggest features.
During the May Day holiday, the author and Mr. Li Xinle went to the tomb of Tianyaokou Tianyi and saw the epitaph. The cover and stone of the epitaph are made of fine white marble, square in shape, 73 cm long and 16 cm thick, and are very finely polished. There are 19 characters in 5 columns inscribed in seal characters on the cover of the annals, which is "The imperial edict of the Qing Dynasty was awarded to the official Guanglu of the Duchayuan and the censor of Zuodu, Xingpu and Li Gong for the burial epitaph." The epitaph is painted with red. The writer is called Dong Gao. His calligraphy is excellent; the epitaph contains nearly 1,000 words. , in small regular script, painted with red, and engraved with "Tongcheng Peng Defeng Engraved" at the end, narrating the life of the tomb owner Li Shou.
Who is Li Shou? According to the epitaph written by Ji Xiaolan: Li Shou was "born in the year of Kangxi Guisi", that is, 1713, and died in 1792 at the age of 79. His nickname was Peiting, his nickname was Xingpu, and he was also known as Zhuxi. He was "Mr. Xingpu" who was respected by scholars at that time. His ancestors immigrated from Shandong to today's Beijing area. Later, because of his fame, his ancestors "all regarded him as a noble man, and Tan En gave him a gift", which truly made him proud of his ancestors.
Li Shou has been very talented since he was a child, and his official career has been smooth. He started from the imperial examination at the age of 22, rose from a local petty official to a governor, and twice served as Fengtian Fucheng (equivalent to today's mayor of Shenyang). By the 52nd year of Qianlong's reign, he had become a senior official of the first rank of "Censor of Zuodu". In the Qing Dynasty, it was a rare miracle for Han people to achieve such a position.
Li Shou’s achievements are mainly reflected in education. He was good at learning and loved reading. He "composed no less than thousands of poems" and "articles were all in accordance with the law." He was a Jinshi, served in the Imperial Academy, compiled history books, and served as a cabinet bachelor. He also served as an examiner, admiral of academic affairs, and formulated an education system. "Everyone who was selected and selected was successful." He was a great scholar with peaches and plums all over the world. That's why people respectfully call him "Mr. Xingpu", and Ji Xiaolan and Liu Yong compose and write epitaphs for him! Why was he buried in Huangzhuang in today's Shijingshan area? There are presumably two reasons. One is the beautiful scenery there. Huangzhuang is located to the east of today's Lugu Community, where there was the Daci Temple built in the Ming Dynasty. Its existing inscription says that in that area "there are fields to cultivate, gardens to plant, fruit trees around the walls, flowing water under the houses, and a vast western mountain." , unexpectedly in a few cases." Second, it is said that Dou Yujun, a great educator in the Five Dynasties, opened the famous school "Wuhuayuan" there. Dou Yujun was the "Dou Yanshan" who "taught five children and became famous" in the "Three Character Classic". Judging from Li Shou's educational achievements, he may be another "Dou Yanshan" in the minds of scholars in the Qing Dynasty!
Li Shou’s character is also good. Through his efforts, his elder brothers and younger brothers achieved fame. He helped take in the widow of the Xu family and cultivated his son Xu Langyuan into a talent who could "enter the imperial examination and become an official". He is usually reluctant to show off, but he dares to act at critical moments. For example, "When I was serving as the Prime Minister of Tianfu, I made a memorial to destroy the stone tablets that were in violation of the Ming Dynasty. When I was a governor of Hunan, I made a memorial to relieve the Chaling flood, to increase the number of post horses on the roads of Yamen and Chen, and to inspect Western religions. All of them were approved by the imperial edict. When I was a royal censor, I memorialized The official Xu Kui accepted bribes and told the governor of Zhejiang to avoid the disaster and invited him to commend him." Those things cannot be done without some courage. Li Shou had 2 sons and 7 daughters. When he died, he had 7 grandsons and 2 great-grandsons. He was truly the fourth generation living under the same roof.
The author of Li Shou’s epitaph, Ji Yun, whose courtesy name is Xiaolan, is 11 years younger than the owner of the tomb, Li Shou. He is the historical figure played by the actor Zhang Guoli in the TV series who plays opposite the treacherous minister He Shen. "Manuscripts of the History of the Qing Dynasty" said that he was "extremely knowledgeable. He wrote the "Summary of the Complete Collection of Four Libraries", which advanced and retreated from hundreds of schools of thought. He picked out the key points and picked out the hidden meanings. He was always coherent and made a great vision." Interestingly, he also served as the "Censor of Zuodu" like Li Shou. He wrote an epitaph for Li Shou, maybe it was his duty, or maybe it was out of respect for Li Shou.
Li Shou's epitaph was written by Liu Yong, whose courtesy name was Chongru and whose name was Shi'an. He was 7 years younger than Li Shou and was the "Liu Luo Guozi" in folklore. His calligraphy was especially loved by scholars in the Qing Dynasty. He wrote an epitaph for Li Shou, which undoubtedly increased the value of the tomb owner.
Li Shou’s tomb is a famous tomb in the Qing Dynasty.
Volume 165 of "Jifu Tongzhi" compiled by Li Hongzhang contains: "The tomb of Li Shou of the Guo Dynasty is in Huangzhuang." It also records his epitaph relatively completely. Compared with the unearthed epitaph, it is only 3 lines shorter. It is estimated that it was adopted from Ji Xiaolan's collected works. content. However, the newly unearthed epitaphs provide a larger amount of information than the Jifu Tongzhi, and provide more intuitive information for researching the history of the Qing Dynasty, which is very precious.
It is not clear when Li Shou’s tomb was destroyed, but its epitaph was composed by famous writers, written by famous people, and engraved by famous people. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is one of the "three unique monuments" of the Qing Dynasty. The quality of the cultural objects Extremely high, it is also a big surprise in the archaeological discoveries in Beijing!
Recently, five epitaphs from the Ming Dynasty were discovered in Lindai Town. According to relevant people, although some epitaphs have been discovered in our city during land leveling, it is still relatively rare to find five epitaphs in the same place. .
These five epitaphs were discovered by a farmer from ***he village in Lindai Town during the land clearing process. The stones are square in shape. Due to weathering, the writing on the tombs has been blurred. , but the small characters engraved on the logo are still clear. According to the analysis of the relevant person in charge of the Municipal Museum, these five epitaphs are roughly from the mid-Ming Dynasty.
From the vaguely legible font, it can be seen that the large piece in the middle is the epitaph of Shen Sheng, the Minister of Civil Affairs. According to historical records, the Shen family was a famous official family in ancient times. Shen Sheng's two sons passed the Jinshi examinations around 1443. They were the first batch of Jinshis since the establishment of Pinghu County. The eldest son went to Guangzhou to be the magistrate, and the second son went to Shandong Road to supervise the imperial envoy. The person in charge of the Municipal Museum said that the discovery of the five epitaphs has certain reference value for studying some local history.
Epitaph
Epitaph is a memorial style in ancient China.
When burying the deceased, they were carved on the stone and buried in front of the grave. Generally it consists of two parts: Zhi and Ming. Most of the records are written in prose, describing the deceased's name, place of origin, and life story; the inscriptions are summarized in verse, praising the deceased's achievements and expressing condolences and comfort. But there are also those who only have ambitions or only inscriptions.
The writing requirement for epitaphs is a narrative summary, gentle language, and simple text. Epitaphs are usually written by others after the death of the person who bears the inscription, and occasionally they are written by the person who bears the inscription during his or her lifetime.
An epitaph is a brief introduction to the life of the deceased written in or on the tomb. Especially for great or memorable people, their tombs often have epitaphs. They are found in China and the West. This custom exists, but writing epitaphs is no longer popular in modern China.
Generally speaking, epitaphs are written in rhyme, both in China and the West, but there are exceptions. For example, Han Yu's "Epitaph of Liu Zihou" is written in blank prose.