Description:
This epitaph begins impressively with the six-generation pedigree of the tomb occupant, but ends pathetically with his lack of official success. He entered officialdom through his marriage into the imperial clan, without which he, like most of his peers, could probably not have afforded a resting-place. In lieu of pedigree as in previous times, career became the magnet for friendship and marriage during the Sung dynasty (960-1279).