a: Mi Fei put forward that the phrase "stone carving can't be learned" can be found in "Famous sayings of Haiyue". The original words are: "Stone carving can't be learned, but it's not your own book since you wrote it, so you must look at it in its original form, which is interesting. For example, in Yan Zhenqing, every time the furniture is engraved, it will be changed according to the owner's intention, causing great distortion. " The meaning is very clear, that is, once the ink is carved, it will be distorted. In fact, it is true. No matter how skillful the engraver is, there will be some losses in the shape and meaning of the ink when he engraves the stone, not to mention the subtle changes of the ink color and dryness of the ink, which is extremely difficult to express. Therefore, Mi Fei's view that "it is interesting to view the original works" is correct.

If we draw the conclusion that "stone carving can't be learned" and take an exclusive attitude towards stone carving calligraphy, it will be one-sided, so we should make a concrete analysis on this issue. Many original books in ancient China, especially the works of some famous calligraphers, have long been lost, and it is only thanks to stone carvings that they can be preserved to this day, which should be the achievements of stone carvings. Compared with stone inscriptions, the number of authentic works in the existing world is far less than that of stone carvings. Moreover, there was no photographic printing in ancient times, and the ink of famous calligraphers was rarely collected in ordinary scholars' homes. They all learned calligraphy from rubbings of famous inscriptions of past dynasties. If it was "impossible to learn stone carvings", they would have nothing to learn. Even a few families who collect ancient ink have to learn the rubbings of ancient stone carvings because of the limited ink. I am afraid that some people have a large collection of ancient ink, and they have never heard of anyone who refused to learn ancient stone inscriptions. In fact, even Mi Fei, who put forward that "stone carving should not be learned", has learned a lot of stone carving calligraphy, such as Liu Gongquan's Diamond Sutra, Liu Kuanbei in Han Dynasty, Zuizhuzhi in Qin Dynasty and Shi Guwen. It can be said that countless calligraphers, everyone, have studied rubbings.

Stone carvings retain a large number of precious ancient calligraphy materials, which we must make use of when learning calligraphy. It is wrong to refuse to study. Even if everyone can get a photocopy of the ancient calligraphy ink now, we can't ignore the engraving when studying. Without learning the engraving, the information will be far from enough. Many people have weighed the advantages and disadvantages according to the fact that there is distortion and rich information in the engraved tablet, and put forward the method of learning both the inked tablet and the engraved tablet: for example, learn the European books Jiuchenggong, Huangfu Tablet and Huadu Temple, and learn from the ink photocopies Dream, Bo Shang, Hans Zhang and Thousand-Character Works. Qin Li Bei and Ma Gu Xian Tan Ji, which learn Yan characters, should refer to the Ink of the Confession Book, and the printed version of the learning script, The Book of Competing for Seats, can refer to the ink version of the Manuscript for Sacrificing a Nephew. Learning the official script of Han tablet can refer to Han bamboo slips; Learning from Wei Bei can refer to the writings of the Northern Wei Dynasty and the ink on Gaochang's tomb table; Learning small script in Jin and Tang Dynasties can refer to the writing ink of the Six Dynasties and Tang Dynasties. This kind of writing brush strokes based on ink is a correct learning method to correct the mistakes in writing brush strokes of inscriptions. This method is especially useful for beginners of calligraphy.

There are still some people who, when learning inscriptions calligraphy, don't want to pursue the original appearance of the untitled brushwork at all, but concentrate on pursuing the special effects of writing, knife carving and weathering and wear in inscriptions calligraphy, thinking that they are rich in "epigraphy interest" and creating new brushwork in order to express this "epigraphy interest" line, which is another way to learn inscriptions calligraphy. It is opposite to Mi Fei's idea that "stone carving can't be learned". Many calligraphers of epigraphy in Qing Dynasty adopted this creative learning method and made contributions to the development of calligraphy art in China. Learning by this method requires a certain basic skill of calligraphy, which is generally not suitable for beginners.