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Inscriptions of the Tomb Tablets of the Yan Family of Wuxing

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Inscriptions of the Tomb Tablets of the Yan Family of Wuxing
Wuxing Yan shi chuan jia wan yan lu (Inscriptions of the tomb tablets of the Yan family of Wuxing) is a handwritten copy, by Yan Qifeng of Wuxing, Zhejiang Province, of an original with a different title: Wuxing Yan Qifeng Dizhuang ji lu (Records compiled by Yan Qifeng of Wuxing in his Dizhuang studio). Wan yan in this 1909–11 copy’s title is a refined term for stone tablets. The work bears several seal impressions of Yan Qifeng’s library to prove its authenticity. It is a draft copy made for the Yan family, and it mainly contains inscriptions from the family tomb tablets collected from literary collections and local histories. Such a work would have served as a complement to the family records and would have been considered part of the Yan family genealogy. No mention was made of this work in the biographical essays about Yan Qifeng written by three different scholars, Yang Xianchi, Huang Shisan, and Cheng Jinfang. One possible explanation for this omission may be that the work was never finished. Preserved rubbings of tablet inscriptions are an important source for the study of history and literature and offer examples of various styles of calligraphy. Such inscriptions contain records of the life and family of a tomb owner. Some of the texts are commemorative in nature and in fine verse. Because of the limited space, the inscriptions are always composed in a concise, clear, but also distinctive manner.

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