Introduction: What are muzhiming?; Simple records of interment; Entombed stele inscriptions; Early standard muzhiming : the case of Liu Dai; Essential characteristics and distinctive features of muzhiming; The structure of this book -- The social functions of early medieval muzhiming -- The religious functions of entombed epigraphy -- Mortuary epigraphy moves underground -- Entombed epigraphy in an era of political instability -- Historiographical biography and commemorative biography -- The rise of muzhiming as a literary genre -- Conclusion -- Appendix A: Entombed epitaphs from the western Jin and eastern Jin dynasties -- Appendix B: Northern Wei entombed epitaphs prior to 494 CE.