The practice of carving the titles of government officials onto the walls of government offices originated during the Tang and Song Dynasties. Generally, descriptive texts were carved next to the titles. This practice was referred to as YA (Ting Bi Ji; wall writings) in the Tang Dynasty and as (Ti Ming; inscribing one's name) in the Song Dynasty. In past research, these texts have been valuable for scholars studying the history of political systems. The present study applied the perspective of emerging bureaucratic and cultural events to understand and examine how these historic Chinese bureaucrats constructed their collective history in the governmental regime between the golden age of the Tang Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty. Government officials in the golden age of the Tang Dynasty eagerly promoted the practice of Ting Bi Ji, which eventually became a trend. The earliest Ting Bi Ji texts documented changes of government position, with the seeming permanency of the inscription reassuring the jobholder with respect to his career prospects. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the hereditary status of officials from wealthy families began to wane. Therefore, officials started establishing the culture of (Wo Cao Chun Qiu; creating a name for oneself), highlighting the attitude of Tang Dynasty nobles toward their careers and positions. The establishment of such culture can be deemed as the Tang Dynasty nobles' cultural response to their political statuses no longer being guaranteed. Significant changes can be observed between the Ting Bi Ji content of the two dynasties. Officials in the Tang Dynasty participated in such activities primarily to praise their political accomplishments, with the practice of Ting Bi Ji creating unique political milestones. During the mid- to late-Tang Dynasty, only a portion of the Ting Bi Ji texts were exhortations regarding political gains and losses, which denoted the underlying ideology. Changes that were more substantial occurred after the mid- Northern Song Dynasty. Numerous officers of lower social status began serving the government. These officials avoided discussing current political statuses. Their refusal to comment on contemporary political affairs was aimed at criticizing the boasting and exaggeration that the practice of Ting Bi Ji encouraged. These officials' conception of Ti Ming also underwent considerable change. Ti Ming was subsequently considered a method for creating local history that reflected public opinion regarding the officials' political actions. Thus, the practice of Ti Ming is endowed with considerable political ideology and historical consciousness.
