“人生忽如寄,寿无金石固。”古人感到生命短暂,常将重要的事件、著作和死者的生平铭诸金石,从而形成丰富的金石文献。一般来说,金银器上的铭文均较简短,铜器铭文则盛于商周时期,汉以后可资研究的仅有铜镜铭文等。石刻文献则兴于汉,盛于唐,历宋、元、明、清而不衰,存世文献为数极巨,为研究古代历史文化提供了大量记载,也为研究古典文学者所宝重。 “Life suddenly send, life without stone solid. ” The ancients felt short life, often the important events, writings and life of the deceased Ming stone, thus forming a rich stone literature. Generally speaking, the inscriptions on the gold and silver wares are relatively short, while the inscriptions on bronze ware flourish in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The stone literature flourished in the Tang Dynasty, including the Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. The documents of the surviving world were extremely numerous and provided a great deal of records for the study of ancient history and culture, as well as for the study of classical scholars.