Many epitaph inscriptions from the Eastern Tsin were composed for the northern nobility preparing to move to chiang-nan. The epitaphs are brief, orecording only the surnane, titles, time of death and burial, details of the family of the deceased, as well as the direction which the tomb faced. Some inscriptions on rocks or bricks, even included a line reading "the stone (brick) inscription serves as a marker" with no further details of the deceased. Others are even simpler. Most epitaphs were executed on brick in characteristically crude script, hastily finished by craftsmen as marks of identification for those returning to visit the ancestral graves in the north. Epitaphs of the Western Tsin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, however, are considerably more refined in terms of form, con-tent, and style. Many exceptional calligraphers hailed from the literati community of the Eastern Tsin in the north, two of the more representative figures being Wang Hsi-chih and Wang Hsien-chih. The two calligraphers created an innovative style based on ancient calligraphy, one that would not have been popularized during their time. With the discovery of epitaph inscriptions of the Wang and Hsieh families, many scholars have argued that the Preface to Lan-t'ing Pavilion (Lan-t'ing hsu) can not be attributed to Wang Hsi-chih. These scholars repeatedly cite Eastern Tsin inscriptions as evidence that the clerical style of calligraphy (li-shu) must be a determining characteristic of Wang Hsi-chih's work, hence the Preface to Lan-t'ing Pavilion could not date to Wang Hsi-chih's time. This line of reasoning is faulty as the works of craftsmen can not serve as standard to evaluate the innovative calligraphy of Wang Hsi-chih.