The epitaphs of the Tang Dynasty exert its long-lasting influence on Chinese literature, histories, and funeral customs. From the author’s and the deceased’s perspectives, the dissertation attempts to explore the diversity of the deceased works and their significance and influence on the epitaph works during the Middle Tang Dynasty. The epitaph is written to mark the location of a tomb, to mourn ancestors, to praise the deceased, and to comfort the living. Through the promotion of the famous scholars, the epitaph has become popularized since the Middle Tang Dynasty. Over the past 1000 years, the writing style of epitaphs has been significantly upgraded, and the epitaph has turned out to be a valuable asset of traditional Chinese literature. Structured into three sections of “題”、“序”and“銘”the Middle Tang epitaph was written in comprehensive ways for people from all works of life. As the biography of the deceased (of the top-ranking officials and/or of low social status), the epitaph can offer necessary information for scholars and researchers to re-evaluate the societal conditions and human affairs back at that time. For that reason, the epitaph will not only help to fill in any missing information from the history, but also help to represent the reality of the Tang Dynasty. Now as part of the funeral customs in Chinese culture, the epitaph can be regarded as significant resources, from which Chinese people can find answer keys to such issues as ways of facing the death, approaching cycle of life in nature, and assessing life values of the Chinese.
The changes and innovations of the epitaph's in the Mid-Tang Dynasty that can be regarded as one of the achievements of the ancient prose movement. No essay style or writing skills have verified the necessity and practicality of reviving the ancient prose. Although historical literature and epitaph are slightly different in nature, they can complement each other. Culturally, the epitaph embodies the Chinese people who blamed death, faced death with a sense of cautious pursuit, and reflected the life course and life value of relatives and friends.