墓誌是記錄一個人一生的重要事蹟，有助於了解當事人的生命歷程，及認識當時社會乃至政治、經濟的重要基礎。本文以二件宋代的墓誌資料為例，說明傳記資料的史料價值及其限制。其一是〈宋故樊氏夫人墓誌銘〉，從墓誌中不僅知道她的才能、婚姻狀況、在家中的角色，更能看到四明高氏家族發展的軌跡，而樊氏對四明高氏家族的起家，扮演著重要角色，此一資料對了解高氏家族早期的發展狀況有所助益。另一件是「孟邦雄墓誌」，孟邦雄是一個在亂世中崛起的地方豪傑，藉由此墓誌，有助於瞭解他的生平事蹟，及宋金戰區地方勢力滋長、彼此間的關係、在政權交替之中的角色等多方面的變化，在研究上具有很高的史料價值。 　　但從這二份資料也反映了墓誌呈現的一些共通現象，其中以隱惡揚善、誇大事實、或理想化的現象，最為明顯。以這兩件墓誌而言，對樊氏的才幹和婦德的部分，則兼有撰者美化或理想化的描述。而孟邦雄的部份，由於可資印證的相關記載較多，因此，墓誌中所記隱諱或不實之處，容易彰顯：如孟邦雄的政績與死節，固然有部分事實，但也不免有誇大的成份；對邦雄死事過程的記載即與史實相違，隱匿掘永安陵一事更為明顯。

An epitaph record’s the significant events of a person’s life. It is helpful for the understanding of the person’s life, the society, political and economic structures at that time. The article cites two epitaphs of the Song Dynasty as examples to describe the historical value and limitation of biographies. The first example is “Song Gu Fan Shi Fu Ren Mu Zhi Ming” (The Epitaph of Lady Fan of the Song Dynasty), from which one is not only able to learn about her talent, marriage and the role that she played in the family but also to trace the development of the Gao Fmaily of si Ming, in which Lady Fan played an important role. The content is therefore helpful ofr the understanding of the early development of the Gao Family. The other example is “Meng Bang Xiong Mu Zhi” (The Epitaph of Meng Bang Siong). Meng Bang Xiong was a local hero in a chaotic era. Through the epitaph one is able to acquire knowledge of the events in his life, the growth of local powers in the Song Jin warzone and the relationship between these powers, and the changes of roles in the transfer of political power epitaphs thus are indeed valuable in historical researches. However, these tow pieces of information have revealed some common phenomena especially the manifestation of good deeds and concealment of bad ones, exaggeration of the truth and the idealization of the fact. As for Lady Fan’s ability and morality, the epitaph as glamorized and idealized both. Since there are more attested records of Meng Bang Xiong, ambiguities or untruths in the epitaph can be easily disclosed. For instance, even though Meng’s political achievement and death recorded in the epitaph are inevitably exaggerated. Its description of Meng’s death violates the recorded history, and the attempt to withhold the fact of the excavation of Yong An Ling is especially obvious.