An epitaph is not a tombstone, but a mournful style, which is generally divided into two parts: the epitaph and the inscription.

Zhiduo writes in prose, describing the name, place of origin, and life of the deceased, while the inscription summarizes the whole text in rhyme, mainly evaluating the life of the deceased.

The tombstone is erected in front of the tomb outside the tomb, and the epitaph will be in the tomb**.

In today's society, the funeral custom of placing an epitaph has basically disappeared, and at most it has become a eulogy for a recitation.

In the Jiangnan generation, such as Yan County, today's mourners will paste a large piece of yellow paper at the door of the house to write the "yellow list", which roughly records the course of the deceased's life, which can be regarded as a continuation of the epitaph.

The "Yellow List" will be burned after the funeral, and in some places its ashes will be carried into the tomb, and in more places it will be scattered in the wind, and the physical nature, the epitaph engraved on the stone slab, will no longer be there.

Now there is an epitaph in the storeroom, leaning against the wall, about 40 by 60 centimeters in length and width, with bluestone slab texture, neatly engraved with rows of handwriting.

Zhang Nan squatted down and read: "Zhou Gong, Rushi, the word Nanfu...... Married to the Lou family, the Lou family, and the Qin family, all of them were given to Anren... Gongshao-Xingwuchen Dengjinshidi, transferred to Taizhou Tiantai-County Master Book and then transferred Wuzhou Yongkang-County Chengtang, except Yang-Zhou Zhou Studies Professor ......"

Before he finished reading it, Zhang Nan's brows furrowed, and he turned his head and asked, "Degui, where did you dig it?"

"Huh?"

"Where was this epitaph unearthed?"

Wang Degui thought for a while and said: "It should be the construction site of the road in the East Chamber, I can't tell the specific location, I have to ask." ”

The people down there did it.

"Ask right away, find out what else is in the tomb, where has it gone!"

When Wang Degui heard this, he hurriedly took out his eldest brother and started to call, while Nong Bosheng on the side said: "Such a tomb of a middle-level official in the Southern Song Dynasty with a name and surname, if it has not been stolen and dug before, a lot of valuable cultural relics may be unearthed." ”

Well, Nong Bosheng is an expert in archaeology and history, but he has been in Yongcheng for many years, and he is not the director of the Cultural Management Committee of Yan County and an expert in local history, while Zhang Nan knows more than him!

In the Song Dynasty famous chronicle "Yan Lu" mentioned this tomb owner Zhou Rushi, in the Wanli period compiled in the "Sheng-County Chronicles" has a more detailed record of this person. ”

As soon as he heard this, Nong Bosheng also leaned down and looked at this epitaph carefully, "I really can't say this, I can't compare to you." ”

Zhang Nan said with a smile: "This Zhou Rushi family, since he began to swarm out of seven Jinshi, he himself was the last official to the Taichang Temple master book in the Chunxi period of the Southern Song Dynasty, Chao Sanlang gave five clothes, and died in office. ”

Zhang Nan is a tomb robber, and he is not a real historian, can he remember this so clearly?

Because he had seen this epitaph in his previous life, in the last year before he was reborn: this epitaph had just been discovered.

Obviously, because his own rebirth has brought changes to his hometown, this tomb of Zhou Rushi was also dug up in advance.

In the previous life, I also built roads to find tombs, but now it was more than 20 years in advance, and the reason is to build roads, who said that the geography of these mountains and rivers will not change, and how to repair this road or how to repair it.

However, Zhang Nan has a deep memory of this tomb, and it doesn't matter who the owner of the tomb is, because there is a good thing in the tomb!

Speaking here, Wang Degui's phone call was finished, "It's in Huayuandi Village over there in Pukou, and there are some iron pieces and a bowl."

When the tomb was dug up, it was broken, the roof was gone, but it was very big and worthless. ”

It was stolen at an early age, plus a massively damaged tomb.

After hearing this, Nong Bosheng said, "What shape of iron piece?"

Wang Degui was blind.

"Where's the stuff!"

Wang Degui was a little nervous when Zhang Nan said it, and hurriedly said: "It's next door, and there are some things without flowers, piled up."

Oh, those pieces of iron looked a little weird, so I didn't throw them away. ”

When Nong Bosheng heard this, he hurriedly said: "Let's go, go and see, it should be to buy a subway." ”

Everyone went out and opened the big iron door of the warehouse next door.

The tombs of the Han nationality in China, in addition to weapons, rarely appear with iron burial goods, and this tomb of Zhou Rushi can be determined to be the Southern Song Dynasty.

There is a town tomb inscription on the purchase land, which is a kind of burial text material with distinctive Taoist cultural characteristics that began to appear in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, and it is placed in the tomb, which means to ensure that the deceased's ownership of the cemetery is inviolable.

Nowadays, some places have simplified this process to: the direct descendants run around the grave, and the lap can run as big as possible, the bigger the better!

It means that the territory in this circle is all their own.

So there will even be such a situation: the son and grandson of the deceased will not be seen as soon as they set off in a circle, and other relatives and friends will wait in front of the cemetery, drink tea, smoke cigarettes, and chat for half an hour by the way, waiting for these guys to run back before the auspicious time.

Of course, there are always a few second-hand goods who don't see people in this run, and the radius is generally tens of hundreds of meters.

One run and two hills, whose yard is so big?

It's too big for the ancestors to take care of it, and it's not tiring to take care of the home!

In modern times, the term "land purchase" has been simplified, while in ancient times, the materials used for this land purchase voucher have changed differently depending on the era.

In the earliest Eastern Han Dynasty, land purchase vouchers were imitated in the form of Jiance (bamboo slips), most of which were engraved on long lead plates, and some were made of jade plates or pottery pillars.

At that time, there were basically three kinds of materials, depending on the financial resources of the owner's family and regional customs.

From the Three Kingdoms and the Western Jin Dynasty, the purchase of land was basically carved on fired bricks. Later, until the Tang Dynasty, some were engraved on long strips of lead-tin alloy.

In the Five Dynasties and the Two Song and Song dynasties, it was mainly wooden, and after the Song Dynasty, it was mainly made of square bricks and stone.

From the Southern Dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, in addition to bricks, stones were also commonly used, and the shape, size and epitaphs were similar, and some even had lids.

This will be for Nong Bosheng, there has always been only one era of this iron land purchase: the Southern Song Dynasty!

According to the Southern Song Dynasty Zhou Mi's "Miscellaneous Knowledge", at that time, the tomb must be built with a land purchase coupon, and the coupon is made of Zimu and Zhu Shu. After the liberation, several pieces of wooden coupons of the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty were unearthed in China, but because the wooden coupons were perishable, although the wooden coupons were more common than the brick and stone coupons in the Song Dynasty, the ones that were preserved were still mostly bricks and stones.

As for the iron...

Rarely!

With a history of more than 800 years, Yan County is located in the Jiangnan region, don't think about the words on the iron, it's good if you don't wear your heart!

Nong Bosheng is an archaeological expert, and he values iron to buy land rolls, but Zhang Nan is not actually interested in that thing.

He's asking for that bowl!

A rare bowl!

Sure enough, after arriving at the warehouse next door, a bunch (not a piece, it seems that Zhou Rushi's family is rich, and there are many filial sons and grandsons who like to run the mountain. The land was bought on the ground, and Zhang Nan picked up a bowl from the side.

"Curator Nong, look at this!"