Abstract:

This paper examines Wu Tong’s (d. 597) entombed epitaph inscription (muzhiming墓誌銘), unearthed near Luoyang in 2008. Defying genre conventions of muzhiming, the epitaph merges a biographical account with a tomb-quelling text derived from a template in Zhen’gao 真誥 (Declarations of the Perfected), compiled by Tao Hongjing 陶弘景 (456–536). While the primary purpose of tomb-quelling texts is to safeguard the deceased, this muzhiming conveys a broader cosmological vision. The oracular pronouncement documents burial divinations and prophesies the tomb’s future excavation, reimagining the tomb not as an eternal resting place but as a deliberate site for rebirth and reclamation. This aspiration for immortality is underscored by hexagrams, heavenly stems, and cryptic symbols carved onto the epitaph stone itself. These features reflect a ritualized effort to assert control over both corporeal remains and posthumous destiny. By situating Wu Tong’s muzhiming within the broader contexts of burial divinations, Daoist practices, and medieval Chinese attitudes toward death and rebirth, this paper reveals how such inscriptions served as active tools for the posthumous continuation of Daoist cultivation and identity transformation. Wu Tong’s muzhiming is a rare artifact that challenges conventional definitions of muzhiming as a genre and contributes to discussions on the intersections of religious belief, material culture, and the construction of selfhood in early medieval China.