Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional festivals - How did people in ancient times carve tombstones? What tools were used?

How did people in ancient times carve tombstones? What tools were used?

After a person dies and is buried, the next most important task is to erect a monument. Generally speaking, erecting a tombstone is the key and the first step in making a tombstone. Because the Chinese believe in feng shui, there is a traditional saying in feng shui that ? The direction of the monument? , i.e. the form of the monument and the direction of the center line determines good or bad; (Therefore, in traditional tomb construction projects, monuments cannot be constructed anytime, anywhere. When erecting a tombstone, it must be chosen according to the auspicious direction in Feng Shui. If the time and date for transporting the soil is chosen according to previous traditional customs, it will not be too close to the day of burial (unless it has been specially treated). This is to allow rainwater to combine with the soil to prevent the stone from sinking easily). Objectively, since this is an important part of interpreting the identity of the deceased, and feng shui arrangements are carefully made, feng shui masters and their families do not erect monuments immediately after burying their ancestors.

In addition to considering the color and orientation of the monument in light of feng shui, they also allow you to consider the literal, auspicious and inauspicious meanings of the inscription for some time before erecting the monument. Thus, in addition to the need for feng shui, it also gives us enough time to think about the content of the inscription. 1, the size of the tombstone, regardless of the size, basically follow the same principles in carving the inscription. It is necessary to explain the identity of the relationship between the deceased and the person who erected the monument in a simple and clear way, in order to maintain the spirit of filial piety and the prudent pursuit of the future, but also to consider the auspiciousness of feng shui.

2. Feng Shui Explanation The Chinese believe in feng shui, especially for the graves of wealthy families, and pay more attention to the design of feng shui to ensure the prosperity of future generations. The left side of the tombstone is often referred to as the ? dragon side? In the eyes of the Chinese, the left side is superior to the right side, and the left side is larger; strictly speaking, if the grave is elaborate, the cemetery is large, and the size of the headstone is relatively large; the upper left corner of the headstone is used to explain feng shui conditions. Generally, if the descendants who constructed the tombstone paid attention to feng shui, the direction of the tombstone would also be engraved on the upper left corner to indicate which hill the tombstone was located on and which hill had the correct inscription.

More attention should have been paid to explaining the rule of the straight direction of the mountain, or furthermore its golden line. In addition, there are detailed explanations of cave shapes and feng shui origins. The purpose of this approach is to enable future generations to trace from the inscriptions the ancestors' burials to the desired ? Feng Shui effect? , and thus understand the suffering of their ancestors. Indeed, it is the fear of future generations moving the wrong feng shui and changing the wrong feng shui. Explaining it in advance with a tombstone is to allow future generations to understand the wishes of the ancestor who built the grave for the future generations. Most of these characters are engraved in horizontal form on the top of the flat surface of the headstone.