Fifth Annual Workshop: On Funerary Inscriptions
Friday, May 19 – Saturday, May 20, 2023, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Elling Eide Center, Sarasota, FL
This workshop is co-organized by Jessey Choo and Alexei Ditter. It is generously supported by the Tang Research Foundation, with additional assistance provided by the Elling Eide Center.
This fifth meeting will focus on funerary inscriptions produced in China between the 7th and 12th centuries. Key issues to be discussed include:
- The “literary” qualities of the text, including its use of style, voice, allusion, or other literary devices, as well as the degree to which these suggest or anticipate different potential audiences of the funerary inscription (e.g., present or future patrons, literary or political rivals, etc.).
- The relationship between the style and content of different parts of the text, such as the preface (xu 序) and closing elegy (ming 銘 or ci 詞/辭), if present, as well as how these discrete parts work in coordination to shape interpretations of the funerary inscription.
- The visual and material aspects of the funerary inscription, such as the style and quality of calligraphy, decorative elements (creeping vines, jihe decoration 幾何紋), etc.), images (spirit animals 神獸, twelve zodiac 十二生肖, 28 constellations or “star lodges” 星宿), the size of the stone, and the layout of text and/or visual elements.
- The impact of the accessibility and visibility (e.g., physical locations and funerary contexts) of the inscribed stone on readership and reception.