英文摘要 |
The earliest record regarding inscribed stele is found in the San-Li, but the meaning is different to what is understood in the modern sense. The inscribed stele also appeared in contexts such as Xu Shen’s Shuo-Wen, yet only concerning the erecting of a stele, without further clarification. The function, characteristics and other attributes were only explained until Liu Xi’s Shi-Ming during the late Eastern Han period. While testimonia suggest that the two Han Dynasties are pivotal for the development of the stele, the process has yet been analyzed. This paper collates and analyzes extant inscribed stelai during the two Han Dynasties. The pattern of the collated data shows that inscribed stelai during the Western Han Dynasty were primarily for documentary, honorary, or for declaring property ownership; there is also the use of funerary markers to deter looters. By the mid-Eastern Han Dynasty, stelai becomes only one type of inscribed media, but its quantity was manifestly greater than others. Stelai that possessed a traditional format were used for documentary and honorary purposes. The textual genre becomes orientated towards the lterary Ming and Song types. As such, the formal and functional characteristics of stelai became an unqiue system among inscribed media. |