The writing format of traditional tombstone inscriptions

Traditional tombstone inscription writing pattern

Tombstone inscriptions generally consist of four parts: time, text, signature and word limit.

1. Time: the time when the tomb was built. It is written on the right side of the tombstone, not at the top. It is often written at 2\/3 of the entire tombstone. The font should be written in a smaller size.

2. Text: It is written with the names of two tomb owners. In the old tomb, only the husband's name is written, and the wife only writes the surname, and most of them are not written in the center, only on the left side; the modern tombstone is written side by side, with the male on the right and the female. On the left. It is usually written like this: "The 12 characters of "a kind father, a certain prince, a certain virtue, and a certain clan's life field (or the tomb)" are arranged in 2 columns. In the center of the left and right columns, some people suggested that the number of words in the main body of the text should not be double, and if it was to be singular, it should be changed to "a kind father, a gentleman, and a certain family's longevity (or his tomb)". The first character is written in the top grid center. , The font size is the same as the 2 characters of Shouyu. "Father, a male, and a certain family" are arranged in 2 columns of 5 characters. In old-style tombstones, the word "Ruren" is often seen after a woman's surname. Women with these two characters, Usually the husband is a 7th rank official or above or the wife of a famous family, ordinary people's wives are generally not qualified to enjoy this honorary title.

3. Inscription: It is specially stated that the person who made the tomb, even if the funder is the owner of the tomb, should also write the names of his children and grandchildren. The common ones are: "filial son XX, XX, XX, SUN XX. XX, XX, XX, Jing Li" If there is no son but only a daughter, write "filial daughter XX, XX, XX, grandson XX, XX, XX, Jing Li", the inscription is 3 points on the left 2, the font size is generally the same as the date, and there should be an empty space before "Jingli", and the surname should be omitted before the name of the descendant, but if the grandson has a different surname, his surname should be written.

4. Word limit: The total number of words in the inscription, including the time, must be 5 times plus one, that is, 16 words, 21 words, 31 words, 36 words, and 41 words. One more word is forbidden, and one word cannot be missing. The 5 characters of "die" or "gold, wood, water, soil and fire" correspond one by one, and the first character must be "sheng" or "jin". Therefore, when the total number of characters is not 5 times plus one, the time, text, and inscription will be included. It is necessary to add or subtract words properly until the number of words in the above rules is reached.