Prose · LT507

Epitaphs & Elegies

Funerary epitaphs, elegiac odes, and memorial prose honoring departed souls.

81works

8dynasties

24authors

Tang

28 works

618–907

  1. Inscription for My Humble CottageLiu YuxiMountains need not be high—if immortals dwell there, they become renowned; waters need not be deep—if dragons reside, they become sacred. Though this is a humble room, my virtuous character makes it fragrant.
  2. Memorial Text for the Twelfth NephewHan YuMy sight is blurred, my hair is grey and my teeth are loose.
  3. Epitaph for Liu ZihouHan YuIt is when a man is in straits that his loyalty and honour show.
  4. Lament at an Ancient BattlefieldLi HuaHeartbreaking, grievous to the eye: can anything be like this?
  5. Address to the CrocodilesHan YuNow I make a pact with the crocodiles: within three days, take your ugly kind south to the sea.
  6. Stele for JiziLiu ZongyuanTo stay upright in hardship, to hand the great law to a sage, and to transform the people.
  7. Stele on the Pacification of HuaixiHan YuMinisters and generals, the civil at ease and the military at play, grew used to what they saw and heard and took it as the way things are.
  8. Stele for the Confucius Temple at ChuzhouHan YuGoulong and Qi are honoured for their deeds; Confucius for his virtue.
  9. Stele for the Temple of the God of the Southern SeaHan YuThe rims of heaven and the edges of earth lay wide open and clear.
  10. Stele for the Temple of King Yan of Xu at QuzhouHan YuThe rewards of humaneness and of violence are simply different.
  11. Stele for the Luochi Temple at LiuzhouHan YuLychees red, oh, plantains yellow; meats and greens, oh, set out in the lord's hall.
  12. Stele for the Ancestral Temple of the Yuan FamilyHan YuAll that we have now: how could we not think of its root?
  13. Stele for Prince Cheng of CaoHan YuAll that Prince Cheng achieved came from himself alone.
  14. Tomb Stele of the Late Tang Chief Minister Lord QuanHan YuWhat others feared to do, he did boldly; what they raced after, he never glanced at.
  15. Tomb Tablet Inscription for Lord Fang, Duke of Qinghe CommanderyHan YuSteeped by eye and ear, he was able without study.
  16. Epitaph for Li YuanbinHan YuLiving without goodness, who calls it long life? Dying yet undying, who calls it early death?
  17. Epitaph for Master ShiHan YuTo hear the Master lecture was like a traveller coming home.
  18. Tomb Tablet Inscription for Mr Zhang, Law Officer of Hezhong PrefectureHan YuMy ambition was no less than the ancients', my talent surely no less than men of today's.
  19. Offering at the Tomb of Tian HengHan YuMany have died since ancient times, yet you still shine with a lasting light.
  20. Offering to Zhang the Twelfth, Magistrate of HenanHan YuAt the year's end the cold was cruel, the snow tormenting and the wind ravenous.
  21. Offering to Liu ZihouHan YuJade pendants and precious gems, you let your words flow freely.
  22. Offering to Registrar HouHan YuWhen I fished or roamed, you were always at my side.
  23. Offering to Instructor XueHan YuWe parted laughing and talking; now we come to your door in tears.
  24. Offering to Zhang the Thirteenth of the Forestry BureauHan YuThose still alive are all grey and frail, and half have left the world.
  25. Offering to Vice Director MuHan YuWine and meat are set before you; why do you not eat?
  26. Offering to Mr. FangHan YuIf there are spirits: while I live, have no care for your wife and children.
  27. Lament for Dugu ShenshuHan YuIf the dead know nothing, I grieve for you, and that is all.
  28. Offering to Han, Vice Minister of PersonnelLi AoYou stripped away the ornament and reached the root.

Song

34 works

960–1279

  1. Record of the Names Inscribed at the Remonstrance BureauSima GuangThose who chase eagerly after fame are like those who chase eagerly after profit: how far apart are they really?
  2. Oath Written at the Shrine of the Five PeaksYue FeiTo welcome the two emperors back to the capital, restore the lost lands to our maps, so that the court has no cares and our sovereign can rest his head in peace: this is my wish.
  3. Offering to Shi ManqingOuyang XiuAlas, Manqing! In life you were a hero, and in death a spirit.
  4. Grave Marker at ShuanggangOuyang XiuA rich offering now is not as good as poor care while she lived.
  5. Stele for the Temple of Han Wengong at ChaozhouSu Shi A common man becomes the teacher of a hundred generations; a single word becomes the law of the realm.
  6. Epitaph for Mr Xu, Registrar of Hailing County in TaizhouWang AnshiSome lifted him, none pushed him down; yet his life ended here, and who made it so?
  7. Stele of the Temple to Manifest LoyaltySu Shi Without loyalty there is no lord; without filial piety, no kin.
  8. Spirit-Way Stele for Lord Wang Wenzheng, Grand CommandantOuyang XiuWithout the tortoise or the yarrow, the Duke was our oracle.
  9. Grave Marker for Mr Zhang, Recorder of Henan PrefectureOuyang XiuOnly those who do good have heirs, and what is entrusted to writing lasts without end.
  10. Grave Marker for Master HuOuyang XiuThe Master's virtue lives in people and will be seen by later ages without a marker.
  11. Grave Marker for Lian the Retired ScholarOuyang XiuTo be a man like Master Lian is enough.
  12. Grave Marker for Mr Zhou, Erudite of the Court of Imperial SacrificesOuyang XiuHe served the living with full filial piety, mourned with full grief, and did it by the rites.
  13. Grave Marker for Shi ManqingOuyang XiuHe would rather lose himself in the crowd to stay lofty than bend a little to fit the world.
  14. Grave Marker for Mr Ou, Magistrate of YongchunOuyang XiuThe three men's way was in nothing different; yet how different their success and failure!
  15. Grave Marker for Mr Tang, Posthumous General of the Right Feathered Forest GuardOuyang XiuHidden virtue will surely come to light in time; how soon rests with one's descendants.
  16. Spirit-Way Stele for Lord Li, Posthumous Chief Minister of the Imperial RegaliaWang AnshiHe followed virtue and righteousness, sought no glory for himself, and taught his sons well.
  17. Tomb Stele for Mr Sun, Fiscal Commissioner of GuangxiWang AnshiAn orphan boy, he went on foot to study and to serve, and in the end made his own way.
  18. Grave Marker for Lord Chang, Edict Attendant of the Baowen PavilionWang AnshiHe went against custom to suit himself, walked alone and stood apart.
  19. Epitaph with Preface for Mr Liu, Fiscal Supervisor of Jinghu NorthWang AnshiAh, Mr Liu, who should have lived long and been eminent: why stored so long, used so little?
  20. Tomb Tablet for Lady Xiahou, Grand Lady of Xianyuan CountyWang AnshiCompliant as a wife, careful with kin; strict as a mother, lenient with the maids.
  21. Offering to Lord Fan of the Zizheng HallOuyang XiuSlander did not hurt you; praise did not please you.
  22. Offering to Yin ShiluOuyang XiuYour eloquence could exhaust the ten thousand things, yet could not withstand a single prison clerk; your ambition could make the four seas seem narrow, yet found no place to set your one body.
  23. Offering to Su ZimeiOuyang XiuOne lifetime is short; ten thousand ages are long.
  24. Offering to Mei ShengyuOuyang XiuOnly my voice and tears come from my own heart.
  25. Offering to Liu ZiyuSu Shi Yuan is slight and Bai is common, Meng Jiao is cold and Jia Dao lean.
  26. Offering to Chancellor Sima on Behalf of the Three DepartmentsSu ZheYour body like withered wood, your heart like metal and stone.
  27. Offering to Academician Ding YuanzhenWang AnshiHad it not been for my Yuanzhen, I would never have grown.
  28. Offering to Wang Hui, ShenfuWang AnshiYou have taken my mother, and now you rob me of my friend.
  29. Offering to Registrar Gao ShixiongWang AnshiThe days and months of a lifetime pass faster than a juggler's leaping balls.
  30. Offering to Erudite Zeng YizhanWang AnshiThat fate ran against talent, people truly know.
  31. Offering to Vice Commissioner Li ShoupengWang AnshiYou laughed and talked at ease, better even than usual.
  32. Offering to Zhou JidaoWang AnshiMy conduct was at odds with the world; you alone held to me tenderly.
  33. Offering to Shu Xiang YuandaoWang AnshiLike a fine steed in harness, yoked to a firewood cart.
  34. Offering to Zhang Anguo, Examiner of the SecretariatWang AnshiThat goodness need not bring blessing has long been so.

Ming

6 works

1368–1644

  1. Epitaph for a Dead TravelerWang YangmingYou and I are just like them!
  2. Biographical Sketch of My Late MotherGui YouguangThat there should be people in this world without a mother! O Heaven! What anguish!
  3. Inscription for the Tomb of the Five MenZhang PuThose who, stirred by righteousness, died.
  4. Record of the Miraculous Responses of the Celestial ConsortZheng He, Wang Jinghong (traditionally attributed)If a man can be wholly loyal in serving his sovereign, no task will fail; if he can be wholly sincere in serving the gods, no prayer will go unanswered.
  5. Grave Marker for My Late Friend Fang SizengGui YouguangHeaven brings forth talent with difficulty, and brings it to completion with more still.
  6. Burial Note for HanhuaGui YouguangLooking back to that time, in a flash ten years have gone. Ah, how sad it is!

Qing

7 works

1636–1912

  1. Epitaph for My SisterYuan MeiThe paper ash flies up, and the north wind blows wild across the open land. Your elder brother is going home, yet still turns back again and again to look at you.
  2. Record of the Submission of the Whole Torghut Nationthe Qianlong Emperor (Hongli)this is voluntary submission, not surrender.
  3. Lament for Xuan ZuorenFang BaoThe hopes our two hearts shared are shut away; for all time we can only gaze toward each other.
  4. Lament for Wu's Youngest SonFang BaoYour little son cries in the room: guard him forever, let nothing befall him!
  5. Offering to Shi BingzhongLiu DakuiOnly in your company was I like a sick man healed.
  6. Offering to Lord Wu WensuLiu DakuiMan's life in the world is a sudden dream.
  7. Offering to My Maternal UncleLiu DakuiWho knew that you would suddenly die, while I, unworthy, am still so fallen and of no account?