Wang Shao is a historical figure who is rumored in the Book of Sui and the History of the North. During the Sui Dynasty, the official zhi and governor Shi, was knighted as the Duke of Xiangcheng. He successively assisted Emperor Sui and his younger brother Yang Jun, the Prince of Qin, and was the "iron rod" of Emperor Wen of Sui.
From November 2019 to May 2020, the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology excavated a complete Sui Dynasty family cemetery in Dizhang Street, Airport New Town, Xixian New District, which is the tomb of Wang Shao.
"Shaanxi's First Six New Archaeological Discoveries" Revealed, please see the third article, "The Tomb of the Sui Wang Shao Family on the Hongdu Plain"
In order to cooperate with the capital construction, the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute conducted archaeological excavations on the Airport New City in Xixian New Area. Known as the "Hongduyuan" during the Sui and Tang dynasties, this area was a high-ranking aristocratic cemetery.
M1 Wang Shao Tomb Panorama (North-South)
The location of the Wang Shao Family Cemetery is about 23 kilometers away from Daxing City, the capital of the Sui Dynasty. Due to the certain rules of several tomb sub-bureaus, archaeologists judged it to be a family cemetery. Before excavation, archaeologists believed that the cemetery should have a demarcation ditch, so they explored the perimeter of the tomb.
Li Ming, a researcher at the Provincial Archaeological Research Institute: "Sure enough, a ditch was found. Then the entire plane of this ditch is a square, 147.7 meters long from north to south, 138.5 meters wide from east to west, and there is a section of south-facing protrusion in the middle of the south ditch, simulating the entrance to the cemetery. There are 7 tombs distributed in this ditch. ”
M1 Tomb of Wang Shao (West-East)
The area formed by the encirclement of the ditch is called the Mega Domain, with an area of 21,360 square meters, which is the largest and most completely preserved Mega Domain seen in the Sui Dynasty. Afterwards, the staff excavated 7 tombs in the ditch. Tombs 7, 6 and 3 are related to the three generations of grandchildren, and no epitaphs have been unearthed in Tombs 2 and 5. Tomb No. 4 is the joint tomb of Wang Hong, who died at the age of 11, and his spouse Duan Concubine. According to the epitaph, Wang Hong's grandfather was Wang Shao.
M6 Tomb of Wang Xian unearthed on horseback blowing figurines
Wang Shao is a recorded figure in the history books, Tomb No. 1 is the largest and highest level of the cemetery, with 7 patios, and once had a sealed soil, with a total length of 65.5 meters from north to south. Archaeologists comprehensively determined that the owner of Tomb No. 1 was Wang Shao.
Li Ming, a researcher at the Provincial Archaeological Research Institute: "Our determination of the owner of Tomb No. 1 is due to the following factors. First, in the entire family cemetery, Tomb No. 1 is the largest tomb, and Wang Shao is the largest and most well-known person in the entire Wang family, who is legendary in the Book of Sui and the History of the North, and is a historical figure. ”
Airport New City Sui Wang Shao Family Cemetery
Although Tomb No. 1 was mutilated due to theft, combined with the information learned before, as well as several epitaphs unearthed in this cemetery, including the content of the epitaph, the material of the epitaph, the handwriting of The Book Dan and other information, it was determined that the owner of Tomb No. 1 was indeed Wang Shao.
Li Ming: "Wang Shao is rumored in the Book of Sui and the History of the North, and has made many military achievements in the Northern Zhou dynasty to the Sui. His official position in the Sui Dynasty was Shi Shi, the Governor of Xiangcheng, which was a very high official position. His most important merit was to assist Yang Guang, the King of Jin, who later became the Sui Emperor and his younger brother Yang Jun the Prince of Qin. ”
Distribution map of the Sui Wangshao family cemetery
The discovery and excavation of the Wang Shao Family Cemetery corrected the erroneous information recorded by the members of the Wang Shao Family in some of the history books. At the same time, the Wang Shao Family Cemetery is the largest and most complete preserved family cemetery in the Sui Dynasty.
Li Ming: "The Tomb of King Shao of Sui is the first and only Sui Dynasty tomb with 7 patios found so far, which refreshes our understanding of high-grade tombs in the Sui Dynasty. According to the epitaph of Wang Hong (owner of Tomb No. 4), his maternal grandfather was the Great General, Gongbu Shangshu, and Anping Gong, which is also known as The Designer of Sui Daxing City, Yuwen Kai. It shows the efforts of the Guanlong Group since the Northern Dynasty to vigorously compete for their family status and maintain the influence of the family. ”
Tomb of Wang Shao unearthed pottery chicken M1:60
Zhang Jianlin, former vice president of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology and distinguished professor of Northwest University, said that from the excavation of the tomb of the Wang Shao family, there are at least 4 generations of grandchildren, and the excavated cultural relics are also well preserved, which is an important discovery of the archaeology of Sui tombs in recent years.
Zhang Jianlin: "Now xianyang international airport, on this piece of Hongduyuan, from the 1950s to the present, there are thousands of tombs found by archaeology. The discovery of the Wang Shao family cemetery fully reflects the process of building the tomb at that time. In addition, although there are not too many excavated cultural relics, the combination is still relatively complete, and the characteristics of the era are also very obvious. It provides a very important example for our study of the burial customs of sui dynasty family cemeteries. ”
Partially around the ditch
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Editor-in-charge: Wu Wei
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Edit: Tuo Ziyun
Reprinted from: Listen to Shaanxi
Original title: The story of revealing the remains of cultural relics (3) | the tomb of the Sui Wang Shao family on the Hongdu Plain