According to legend, Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor engraved the warning words on the carriage and several cases, always reminding himself to guard against the slightest; Xia Yu carved and chiseled aphorisms on the instrument bracket to show his eagerness to seek talents; SenseTime inscribed "Gou Ri Xin, Day by Day, and Day by Day" on the copper plate for its own use, aiming to change the heart and face and be determined to innovate; King Wu of Zhou wrote "Household" and "Four Ends of the Seat" and other inscriptions, the purpose of which was not to forget the philosophy of "happiness, sorrow, gain and loss"; Zhou Gong engraved words on the back of the golden man of Taimiao, focusing on preaching the truth of "many words, many things, and many defeats"; When Confucius visited the "Vessels", he realized the virtue of "full of losses and humble benefits". It can be seen that the ancient emperors and sages have always been vigilant and cautious anytime and anywhere. It seems that this has been a thing for a long time.

What is "Ming"? The inscription, the name also, refers to the general first thing for the utensils (including the characters) is to have a clear name, that is, "name" and "correct name". In addition, all naming, or correcting names, without exception, need to be based on the innate way (essence) and acquired virtue (use) of the object. According to the record of "Zuo Chuan: The Nineteenth Year of Xianggong", Zang Wuzhong (the Spring and Autumn Lu State Doctor Ji's surname is Zang's name and the name of Wushi is called Zang Wuzhong or Zang Sun Su) once said: "Fu Ming, the Son of Heaven is Lingde, the princes are said to be meritorious, and the adults are called Varnish." This means that all inscriptions that record people should follow the principle that the Son of Heaven is intended to glorify his virtues; For the princes, focus on affirming their meritorious achievements; For the doctor, he only praised his hard work.

In the era of the Xia Dynasty, nine large tripods were forged with the metal of Kyushu's tribute, and the treasures of various places were engraved on them; When he arrived at King Wu of Zhou, on the arrow shaft of the Su Shen State tribute, he also solemnly carved words. Such stories are all to remember the virtues and martial arts of the emperors of the Celestial Empire.

In the Ji Zhou era, Jiang Taigong Lu Wang once asked the smelting master Kunwu to cast his Jin Ce who was sealed to the Qi State. And Zhongshan Fu (that is, Zhong Shan's father, also known as Fan Zhongshan and other Zhou Xuan Wang Qingshi) carved traces of "children and grandchildren will always be used" on the captured trophies. These belong to the inscriptions of the prince and the emperor to promote their own great achievements.

Entering the Spring and Autumn Period, Wei Mei of the Jin State (Ji surnamed Linghu Famous Spring and Autumn Jin General) will fight against the Qin State, engraved on the "Jinggong Bell" awarded. And Kong Kui (from the surname Ji Spring and Autumn Doctor Weiguo) wrote "Ding Ming" to commend the footprints of the ancestors who supported the Weiguo Office. Inscriptions like this one praise the hard work of the doctors in defending the country.

According to the "Historical Records of the Qin Dynasty", when the ancestor of the Qin State built an altar to worship the king of Huoshan, he dug out a stone coffin, and the inscription on it read, "The emperor ordered the virgin father not to be in chaos with Yin, and gave the sarcophagus to Fahrenheit". In "Zhuangzi Zeyang", it is said that after Wei Linggong died, he divined a cemetery, and when he was digging for burial, he found a stone coffin with the inscription "Bufeng Qizi, Linggong took it", and was therefore called "Linggong". The content of this kind of inscription dug up from the ground is also praised as an oracle of the apocalypse, which is really strange and laughable.

In addition, according to the record of "Han Feizi and the Outer Prince's Upper Left", during the Warring States Period, King Wuling of Zhao (340-295 B.C., surnamed Zhao, the name of Yong, the monarch of Zhao State, and the young son of Wuling, called himself "Master Father") ordered people to carve big footprints on Fanwu Mountain, and wrote an inscription on it: "The Lord Father often travels here"; It is also recorded in this book that King Qin Zhao once assigned a special person to carve a large chessboard on Mount Hua, and engraved the inscription "King Zhao often has a book with the gods here". Such an inscription of great joy and joy, so boastful, is not only absurd in content, but also sad and pitiful if its form and purpose are investigated.

Tracing back to the source, by listing the "causes, contents, forms, and purposes" of many of the inscriptions above, the general style of the inscriptions is immediately apparent.

After the Qin Dynasty unified China, Qin Shi Huang walked on the mountains of China and liked to carve stone tree tablets everywhere. The whole country, under its arbitrary dictatorship, despite extreme cruelty and tyranny, the inscriptions that praise virtue are still brilliant. Like "Taishan Ming", "Yishan Ming", "Langya Taiming", etc., simply reading the inscriptions, all show the emperor's grace and majesty. In the Han and Han dynasties, Ban Gu's "Yanran Mountain Le Stone Inscription" and Zhang Chang (born year unknown - 206 AD character Shu Dunhuang Yuanquan native Eastern Han Dynasty calligrapher) "Xiyue Huashan Hall Que Inscription", their carved stones are also intended to praise merit, but the preface is obviously too long. In this period, in terms of inscription attainments alone, Cai Yong is not only second to none, but also the best in ancient and modern times. For example, his "Huang Yueming", which praised Qiao Xuan's military exploits, completely imitated the style of "Shangshu", and the "Ding Ming" written for Zhu Mu obviously became an inscription in prose, which is why Cai Yong is better at writing inscriptions. As for Feng Yan's "Daoyang Ming", "Dao Yin Ming", "Cane Ming", "Che Ming", etc., although they follow the law of "Dadai Li Ji Wuwang Jian", the artifacts do not match the inscriptions, and the details are inappropriate. Cui Chu (A.D.?-92 years of the word Tingbo, Anping, Zhuo County, Eastern Han Dynasty) "Bottle Ming", "Sword Ming", "Fan Ming", etc., have too many praises and reputations, and few exhortations and warnings. Like Li You (about 55-135 A.D. Boren Eastern Han Guanghan Dynasty) "River Ming", "Luo Ming" and many other inscriptions, its content is thin and trivial, not only "Yarrow Turtle Ming" and "Go Ming" are mixed, and the "Weighing Ming" is placed after the "Mortar Ming", so the name of the artifact is not distinguished, how can the inscription be clear and profound? Moreover, like Cao Pi's "Sword Inscription", its sword and nine treasures are chillingly named, and the inscription is plain and mediocre. In addition to the above, only Zhang Zai's "Sword Pavilion Inscription", which is handsome and handsome, just like a fast horse galloping, belongs to the latecomers. Therefore, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty (Sima Yan 236-290 A.D., the founding emperor of the Jin Dynasty from Wen County, Hanoi) ordered the "Sword Pavilion Inscription" to be engraved between Minshan and Hanshui, which can be said to complement each other.

What is Proverbs? The proverb, the needle, is like the ancient stone needle for the prevention and treatment of diseases. As a literary style, "Zhen" has flourished in the third dynasty of the Xia and Shang dynasties. However, the surviving proverbs and sentences of the Xia and Shang periods, such as "Xia Zhen" and "Shang Zhen", have been incomplete. At the beginning of the Ji Zhou Dynasty, King Wen's Taishi Xinjia (a historian at the end of the Shang Dynasty and the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty whose year of birth and death is unknown) collected the advice of hundreds of officials, and once compiled the "Hundred Officials". Although only one piece of "The Proverbs of the Yu People" has survived, the stylistic format and needle meaning are very complete. In the spring and autumn seasons, the style of "proverb" was not used much, but it was not completely cut off. According to the record of "Zuo Chuan: The Fourth Year of Xianggong", Wei Jiang (Ji surname Wei in ?-522 BC, the name of the Wei family, the name of Zhuang, the history of the Zhuang Dynasty, the secretary of state of the Spring and Autumn Jin Dynasty) once quoted the story of Hou Yi in "The Proverbs of the Yu People" to exhort the Jin mourning public to be diligent in government; In addition, according to the record of "Zuo Chuan: The Twelfth Year of Xuangong", the king of Chuzhuang has a proverb that "the people's livelihood is diligent, and diligence is not scarce", which will be widely spread and shocking neighbors.

When the Spring and Autumn Period for hegemony turned into the Warring States period to dominate, the moral decline of the world intensified, and the world's eagerness for quick success and quick profit became stronger. All praiseful inscriptions are noisy, and ironic proverbs disappear. Yang Ziyun of the Western Han Dynasty (surnamed Yang Mingxiong, Ziyun, a writer in the late Western Han Dynasty) imitated the "Proverbs of the Yu People", and created 25 proverbs that were subordinate to the responsibilities of officials, such as "Jizhou Proverbs", "Sikong Proverbs" and "Zong Zhengqing Proverbs". During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cui Chu, Cui Ying and Hu Guang (91-172 A.D., a scholar from Huarong, a native of Huarong, Boshi Nanjun, and a scholar of the Eastern Han Dynasty) supplemented and completed a "Hundred Officials", which put forward the content of their admonitions and exhortations according to their official duties; In terms of form and style, it is like hanging a mirror and a crown, in fact, he admires the ancients and inherits the style of Xinjia.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Pan Miao's "Fu Jie Zhen" was concise and concise, but it was superficial. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wen Qiao (288-329 A.D. Taizhen or Taizhen Taiyuan Qi County) wrote the "Servant Zhen", although the content is extensive, but it is too complicated; and the Western Jin Dynasty Wang Ji (the year of birth and death is unknown, Wuzi, Taiyuan Jinyang, Jin Wendi, Sima Zhao's son-in-law), although the side is widely cited, but the substance is bland; As for Panni's (c. 250-311 A.D., a writer of the Western Jin Dynasty, Xingyang Zhongmu), the righteousness is great, and the style is mixed. All the subsequent works are rarely written properly. Even like Wang Lang (about ?-228 AD, his real name is Wang Yanzi, Jingxing, Donghai, Tanren, late Han Dynasty to Cao Wei Chongchen scholars), the "Miscellaneous Proverbs" actually wrote turbans and shoes into it, even if there is indeed a sense of caution and caution in it, but it is very inappropriate to appear in the text of "Proverbs"; Furthermore, although the "Miscellaneous Proverbs" is concise and to the point, it is obviously intended to emulate the "Wuwang Jianji", but the "water, fire, well, stove" utensils it expounds are particularly mediocre and vulgar, which obviously deviates from the purpose of the proverbs.

According to the truth, the "proverb" was supposed to be suitable for reading admonitions, while the "inscription" was used to engrave reminders on the utensils. Although the names of the two are different, they are completely identical in order to achieve the purpose of exhortation and vigilance. Proverbs, because they are mainly used to prevent the occurrence of negligence, must be clear and decisive in words and sentences; And the inscription, precisely because it has both praise and disapproval of the deep philosophy of speculation, so the words and sentences, not only to be far-sighted, but also to warm and moving. Therefore, whether it is an inscription or a proverb, the two examples must stand up to scrutiny, and the meaning of the text, in addition to being concise and to the point, must also have an unforgettable effect. This is the fundamental importance of Ming and Zhen in writing. However, with the decline of the world, like the targeted speech style of the ancients, it has long been lost and died; The institutional habit of inscribed inscriptions on ordinary utensils has sunk and died. Therefore, the two styles of inscription and proverb will not be able to favor future generations in the future! Nevertheless, it is still necessary to understand the value and significance of their foresight.

In short, the inscription is the text on the surface of the object, and the proverb is the path that leads to virtue. Persisting in the warning and exhortation of the inscription proverbs, don't put the lettering into a text, and turn it into a funny appearance of Dong Shi Xiaofeng. If you ask the true meaning of Mingzhen's creation, the righteousness is profound and magnificent, and the conciseness is the most spiritual.