Compared with Sui and Tang Dynasties, the variant and vulgar characters were reduced, and the use of characters tended to be unified during the Song Dynasty. However, there are a lot of folk characters in the stone inscriptions of the Song Dynasty, which are valuable materials for studying the history of Chinese characters. Nonetheless, the folk characters in the stone inscriptions of the Song Dynasty have not been given enough attention in academia and so far only limited studies have touched on this topic. This article first expounds the research value of variant characters on stone inscriptions in the Song Dynasty, and defines the concept of variant characters on stone inscriptions in the Song Dynasty. Then, in the form of illustration, it studies 10 examples of variant characters in stone inscriptions in the Song Dynasty, with a table of variant characters on stone inscriptions in the Song Dynasty, in order to provide reference for the study of medieval characters and the development history of Chinese characters.

• 和艷芳(湖北師範大學文學院) | Yanfang HE