桐城派主宰清代文壇，欲研究清代文學不可不知桐城派；姚鼐是桐城派文學理論的集大成者，欲治桐城派不可不知姚鼐；墓誌碑銘是姚鼐文集的最大宗，欲了解姚鼐不可不探討他的墓誌銘作品。 墓誌銘的起源由於各學者認知不同，至今未有公論；在使用性質上，墓誌銘是喪葬儀式的禮器，墓碑、墓碣、墓表等都屬於墓誌銘的一種。魏晉南北朝時，由於刻碑顯名的風氣日盛，實行碑禁制度，遂使得埋藏幽壙的墓誌銘數量得以成長。墓誌銘的文體固定，寫法也較一致，大抵要記錄墓主一生大節，並舉引德行事蹟加以稱述，蓋銘之本意乃「稱美不稱惡」，所以墓誌銘最為人詬病之處也在於此，有「諛墓」之虞，是它的藝術限制。 姚鼐墓誌銘作品體例嚴謹，嚴守撰述者的分際，務使墓主和後世子孫同感榮顯，但不虛言溢美。身處在考據風氣興盛的乾嘉時期，姚鼐雖不反對考據漢學，主張「義理、考據、文章」三者兼用而不可廢，但一生以發揚程朱學說為己任，重視躬行實踐，強調個人應視道德的體踐為生命之終極目標，所以對於一些較為極端激烈的道德行為，如割股療親、守貞殉夫等，基本上都採取贊成的態度，在道德問題上，寧可「過中」也不要「不及」。無形中，提高了道德標準，而透過墓誌銘的書寫，加以宣傳頌揚，以期達到明道義、維風俗的目的。 Tongcheng School is the main trend in Qing dynasty so you have to recognize it for understanding the literature of Qing Dynasty. You want to know Tongcheng School and you must know Yao Nai first. Because Yao Nai is the leader of Tongcheng School. Epitaph is the most important part in Yao Nai's Collected Works. So everyone wishes for knowing Yao Nai's world, he/she has to research Epitaph. Epitaph originates from scholars’ different ideas, and nobody integrates them so far. But Epitaph which is in burial rite is an access of the died world including Tombstone ,Mujie, Tomb of the table. The trend that names are shown on tombstones were popular in Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties. Therefore, the government passed the law to forbid using tombstone. The style and the writing of Epitaph are fixed. The main ideas of Epitaph were about the lives of the dead and they took the deeds of the dead for example. Everybody criticized that the content of Epitaph always covered up the faults and just commended the dead, which was the limit of art. The style of Yao Nai's works was rigorous and was never excessive praise. But he made the dead and his/her descendants feel the glory. Yao Nai lived in Qianlong period of prevalent textual culture. He did not object the Textual Sinology but he claimed that Argumentation, Textual and Essay, the three factors, must be used in Epitaph. He thought that promoting Neo-theory was his whole -life responsibility and performing morality was his goal. Besides, he approved of extremely intense moral behaviors such as cutting leg for their parents and killing themselves for their dead husbands. He would rather exceed the moral limit than meet less. In order to reach the aim of knowing morality and maintaining custom naturally, he stressed that strict virtue standard was important by writing and promoting Epitaph.
