Basic knowledge of collection How to identify and defend the inscription

The difference between the stele and the sticker is still very big, and these two belong to completely different types in the class industry. From a formal point of view, the vertical is a stele, and the horizontal is a sticker.

In a broad sense, the stele refers to the carved stone that records the life of merit, and his artistic atmosphere is stronger, and many people in ancient times would engrave their epitaphs on the stele. Or the introduction of some places of interest, as well as contemporary decrees, decrees and decrees are engraved on stone tablets, so that they can be publicized to attract the attention of others. <>

Our ancestors would grind the bamboo pieces to make them smoother and write on them. Later, they would write on some silk fabrics, which were called stickers. Therefore, the paste was originally just a silk book, and then the scope of the paste gradually expanded.

People would also write by hand on stone or cloth in order to spread and pass it on. <>

At the beginning, the stele was without words, and later in order to let the text be passed on, so the text was added to the stele, and at the beginning the content on the stele was portrayed at will, and then underwent some changes, before it became solemn and strict, and now the stele is generally used to describe the life of a certain person. The purpose of engraving is mainly to spread calligraphy, so that future generations can learn calligraphy to have a comparison and copy object, so the more famous calligraphers copy on the post, so as to pass it on, so that future generations can learn. <>

The history of the stele is relatively long, before the Tang Dynasty, most of the inscriptions are based on seal script, official script, regular script, and write very seriously, meticulously. After the Tang Dynasty, there was Xingshu and cursive script. The history of pasting is relatively short, he began in the Song Dynasty, and only made a large number of pastes in the Song Dynasty to copy ancient paintings and calligraphy.

Therefore, the stele and the sticker have their own use and history, and they have their own merits in the form of expression. These are all things that must be understood when learning calligraphy. We can make more novel innovations on the basis of the ancients, but we must also abide by the traditions and rules left by the ancients, so that we can develop calligraphy better.

First of all, the stele is engraved on the stone, usually used to record the life of the person, or some relatively large events, and the post, usually written on paper, or written on silk, is usually used to invite others, or to write their own feelings.

First of all, the purpose of production is not the same, although they are all engraved on the stone, but they belong to two different categories, and from the style is also different, the vertical is the stele, and the horizontal is the post.

There is a difference between the stele and the post, it belongs to two completely different categories in the carved stone, the stele in the broad sense refers to the engraved stone engraved with the words such as the description of virtue, inscription, chronicle in the compilation, etc., and the post originally refers to the silk book. Later, the scope gradually expanded to include letters and their small silk and paper books. And the purpose of production is also different, the font is also different, and the production method is also different.

Identifying a stele requires a wide range of knowledge. After getting the tablet in hand, first go rough. Recognize the name first, then look at the decoration, look at the ink color, and examine whether there are celebrity inscriptions, inscriptions, and collection marks.

Then check the evidence to see if the rubbings are inked and whether there are traces of filling in the traces. Thus the initial conclusion is reached, whether true or false, old or new, refined or coarse. Or a common post, or a rare monument.

If it is a rare monument or an old extension boutique, it must be carefully assessed and carefully identified the authenticity of the inscription, inscription, collection seal and decoration age before it can be conclusive. Here are two main aspects of identification:

Identification is carried out from external visual conditions such as paper and ink color.

Paper from the Song Dynasty, with a magnifying glass, can be seen as long hemp fibers. Song Tuoben commonly used curtain paper, and there is no uniform specification for the width of the curtain pattern. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the rubbing paper had shorter hemp fibers and more components of cotton or bamboo plants.

After several years, the rubbings will turn yellow and become brittle, and now we see a lot of rubbings in the Ming Dynasty that have turned yellow, and this kind of paper is extremely brittle, and it will be damaged if you are not careful. Nowadays, it is common to dye or smoke the paper to fill the old pioneers, and its color is different from the old yellow that has been tempered by time, which is extremely unnatural.

To identify the inscription, you need to observe carefully, and look at the rubbings of the inscription to find the similarities and differences between them. Ink color is the most basic criterion for identification. Most of the early rubbings have lost their luster.

Generally, the longer it is stored, the worse the brightness of the rubbing ink. However, this has a great relationship with the quality of the rubbing's preservation and the number of times it is opened. The faster the rubbing is lost, and the slower it is to turn the rubbing, and the slower it is to do the opposite.

At the same time, the brightness of the ink color has a considerable relationship with the composition it contains. For example, the Qing Dynasty imperial court "Sanxitang Fati", due to the use of imperial ink, it is jet black and shiny, and the open volume can reflect the human figure, which is generally not comparable with the rubbings (Figure 1). If the storage conditions are good, it will take decades or even hundreds of years for the ink to change significantly.

Song Dynasty rubbings were usually darker in ink, but over time, they were mostly remounted, and the ink was dull and faded. In the Ming Dynasty, most of them were rubbed with pine smoke ink, the ink color was deep and thick, and the glue content was less, and some of the rubbings using the rubbing method were seriously faded; A few dark and shiny ones are well-made.

Identification is carried out through evidence, avoidance, etc.

Evidence is the most important point in the identification of inscriptions. The early extension of the same kind of carved stone or post plate has many preserved characters and is intact, while the late extension is the opposite. The words that are more preserved or intact than those of the early extension are called "evidence".

Through the comparison of evidence, it is an effective and more accurate method to identify the rubbing. In addition, white marks are common on rubbings, and this kind of white marks that are dotted or patches are called "stone flowers". The stone flower is the defect caused by the weathering of the engraving plate that has been subjected to rain and wind and sand for a long time; Or at a certain time, the man-made damage is caused by the hard wound of the engraving, and the imprint is manifested after rubbing.

Due to the different early and late production of stone flowers, the rubbings of each period will also be different. Therefore, to be precise, these traces of stone flowers and defects reflected on the rubbings are also part of the evidence.

The value of the stele is determined by the level of the calligrapher's creation, even if it is an unknown calligrapher, if it belongs to a representative book of a certain historical stage, it is often quite valuable. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, most calligraphers did not leave their names, but this did not affect their artistic value. The second is the means of engraving, the most representative such as the Tang Dynasty Chu Suiliang's "Big Wild Goose Pagoda Holy Order", which was completed by the famous carver Wan Wenshao, which retains the charm of the pen to the greatest extent.

The second is the extension technology, including the quality of the paper used, the quality of the hammer and the degree of ink sophistication, if any aspect is not handled properly, it will affect the charm of the rubbing. According to the experience of predecessors, the identification of rubbings of inscriptions is first measured from paper and ink. Gutuo has the difference between north and south, the north paper is thick, the paper grain is horizontal, the texture is loose, and it is not easy to receive ink, so the north ink color is blue and light, not and oil wax, and the overall color is light and wrinkled; The paper is fine, the ink is made of smoke and wax, the color is pure black, and the surface is floating.

If it is a counterfeit, wipe it with your fingers, and it will be black. Because the ancient paper has special properties, the surface is different, although the face is yellow and the inside is white and often new, not easy to change color, the counterfeiter is often the same inside and out, it looks better, in fact, it will be fake. Generally speaking, after thousands of tempering, the knife edge is constantly damaged, and the shape is deformed, so the rubbing is the sooner the better, the unbrushed one is better than the framed one, and the whole one is undoubtedly better than the one that has been cut and framed.

The value of the rubbing is also determined by the age factor, which can be checked by proofreading the bibliographic review of the rubbing. There are usually three inscriptions, namely the writing age, the inscription age, and the rubbing age, the first two are basically not too long apart, and the so-called inscription refers to the rubbing age, which can be judged according to the inscription and collection seal of the inscription itself, and the value is higher if it is collected by a famous artist and has a credible seal. Before that, it is necessary to clarify the concepts of facsimile, re-engraved, re-engraved, pseudo-inscribed, re-inscribed, and progenitor.

The re-engraved version is relative to the original engraved version, and only if it is known that a book is re-engraved in a certain book, it can be called a re-engraved version, but the situation is complicated, related to the original engraved version, and there is no exact certainty, and the re-engraved version cannot be judged casually, because the re-engraved and re-engraved have similar meanings and are easy to confuse. The re-engraved version is the re-engraving of the proof-checked base, and its layout can be the same as the original base, or it can be different. Although the engraving is also re-engraved, but the re-engraving is according to the original style of the original copy, not only the number of words in the line is still the same, and even the words and the surname of the engraver are also re-carved.

Therefore, when using the title of re-engraved copy, on the one hand, it should be noted that it is a re-engraved copy, and on the other hand, it should also be paid attention to whether it is a re-engraving. The counterfeiter made up the text based on the information in the book, and then wrote the engraving which is a forgery and has no value at all. The earliest engraved or rubbed copies of books or tablets are the ancestral books that were derived from the later books.

If it belongs to the ancestral book, the unique book, the rare book, and the rare book, once it is circulated in an orderly manner, it is naturally very expensive. In a general sense, rare things are precious, among which rare books and rare books are the most valuable. Nowadays, the Han and Wei inscriptions and the like, Ming Tuo, the early Qing Dynasty are rare books, the Tang Dynasty Song Tuo, Ming Tuo are rare books, no matter what the tablet, as long as the Qing Dynasty unearthed the first extension are rare books, there are inscriptions, inscriptions, collection marks are also rare books.