Cover reporter Zeng Jie and Liu Kexin from Xi'an
Located at the western end of Bailuyuan in the eastern suburbs of Xi'an, Jiangcun Tomb, about 2100 meters north of Fenghuangzui and 800 meters east of Empress Dou's mausoleum, is an important burial remain in the Baling Mausoleum area. With the confirmation of the location of the Baling Tombs, the last piece of the puzzle of the eleven imperial tombs of the Western Han Dynasty has been returned to its place. The Gangchon Tomb was able to be "corrected", and the White Deer Plain became lively again, attracting groups of citizens to come and watch.
After graduating from university, Cao Long, associate researcher of the Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute and deputy leader of the Hanling Archaeological Team, followed Mr. Jiao Nanfeng to engage in archaeological excavation work in Hanyang Mausoleum, and in 2017, he moved to Jiangcun Tomb. The two key figures of the Western Han Dynasty's "Rule of Wenjing" were more clear-faced because of the archaeological excavation projects he participated in, and he felt a sense of mission and responsibility from the archaeological work.
On December 16, the cover reporter followed Cao Long into pit 15 of the No. 1 excavation site outside the Jiangcun Tomb, and witnessed thousands of "dressed figurines", as well as some fragments of chimes and stone chimes.
For Cao Long, doing his best to protect cultural relics is the basic work, and the significance of popularizing archaeological work to the public is the duty. "The phoenix mouth that was once mistaken for a baling, does it still have historical value?" "Why don't we excavate the imperial tombs now?" The cover reporter talked to Cao Long with 10 questions, hoping to unveil the mystery of Baling archaeology for the public.
"We are just doing a technical support" "Our job is to make the data solid, scientific, and detailed", Cao Long repeatedly mentioned the significance of public archaeology to reporters in the interview. Archaeology is not digging treasure, how to maximize the protection of cultural relics, how to benefit the people of cultural heritage, how to absorb past experience, reduce or even no longer have irreparable losses, in addition to their own excavation research, every archaeological work has made him think about these issues.
Long view of the excavation site of Jiangcun Tomb No. 1 (Courtesy of Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau)
01
What results have been achieved in the archaeological work of Gangchon Tombs?
Cao Long: This archaeological work has continued since 2017, and the exploration and discovery of the "stone boundary" of the Jiangcun Tomb, the outer cemetery wall of the Jiangcun Tomb and the Tomb of Empress Dou, as well as architectural sites and pottery kilns, excavated the Jiangcun North Pottery Kiln Site, the Jiangcun Tomb Outer Hidden Pit, the Nanling Outer Hidden Pit, the Lijia Village Han Tomb, etc., unearthed more than 1,000 pieces of various pottery figurines, more than 3,000 gold, silver, copper, iron, pottery cultural relics, and achieved fruitful results.
02
How to prove that this Jiangcun tomb is the tomb of emperor Wen of Han?
Cao Long: There are four important pieces of evidence, first, after various explorations, there are no tomb remains in Fenghuangzui; second, it has a "sub" glyph-shaped tomb with four tomb passages; third, there are a large number of outer hidden pits, and the official seals and pottery figurines unearthed in the pit are very high-level funerary products; finally, the most critical evidence is that archaeologists have found a larger circle of rammed earth courtyard walls around the tombs of Empress Dou and jiangcun, forming a large mausoleum, enclosing the emperor and empress, and the Han Dynasty mausoleum is characterized by the emperor's "tongmu different caves".
03
What "black technology" was used in this archaeological excavation?
Cao Long: Today's archaeology is not only dependent on the Luoyang shovel, but also needs to use some technology, such as aerial photography. Looking back at the videos taken at high altitudes in the winter of 2017 and 2018, we can vaguely see the approximate shape of the cemetery and the mausoleum, because the soil inside and outside the burial chamber is different, and the degree of snow melting is also different. Now that we have excavated the ink script and animal bones on the clay pots and tiles, we can quickly and easily seal them on the spot. The shock-proof and anti-fall pressure gauge we see on the spot, the pressure gauge that observes the crack gap at any time, and ensures the safety of the excavation work, can be regarded as the popularization and application of high-tech in archaeology.
Cao Long
04
After the archaeological excavation of the Gangchon Tomb, how to strengthen the security work at the site?
Cao Long: Previously, the cultural relics management department and the local public security department have set up monitoring facilities to strengthen the safety inspection of field cultural relics. After the release of this news, the public security department, together with the relevant street office police stations, held a joint meeting in the archaeological team at the first time to study and make arrangements for the further strengthening and upgrading of cultural relics safety equipment and facilities and patrol patrols.
05
Does the Gangchon Tomb now have a process of extracting cultural relics and repairing them?
Cao Long: Yes, the Jiangcun Tomb has been excavated for 5 years, and some cultural relics have been restored, and some relics of organic matter cleaning, such as lacquerware and painted things, have been packaged and packaged to our cultural relics protection base for protection.
06
Baling unearthed a gear that resembles a rutted wheel, similar to the bronze sun wheel of Sanxingdui, are they related?
Cao Long: As an archaeologist, we don't casually associate two cultural relics. The development of culture in each region is diverse, and from the perspective of people, you can think of what others can think of, and you cannot do "pan-communication theory". I've seen people in the circle of friends compare them together, but in fact, their shape is very different, you can joke, but there is no need to be far-fetched. If there really is a connection, I can only say that they all show the superb level of handicraft and smelting of the ancient working people in our country.
Unearthed terracotta figurines
07
Why did Emperor Wen of Han finally choose Baling in Bailuyuan?
Cao Long: At present, many scholars have different views, but the more unified views are roughly divided into these, first of all, Han Gaozu and Lü Hou were buried together in Changling, Empress Bo was not an empress, and Emperor Wen of Han, who was very respectful of filial piety to his mother, chose the site for the funeral of Empress Bo in order to properly solve the funeral site of Empress Bo; secondly, Teacher Ma Yongyi researched that the site selection of the Western Han Emperor's mausoleum was related to the military defense of the Guanzhong region and guarded the main road of communication; finally, Emperor Wen of Han was the younger son, rarely with Liu Bang, and there may be some emotional factors.
08
Will we excavate Baling in the future?
Cao Long: What we are currently excavating is the outer pit of the Jiangcun Tomb, and there will be no excavation in the core area of Baling. Most of the archaeological excavation work is carried out passively, partly because the lives of our descendants may interfere with the remains of the past, including economic construction, the destruction of natural factors, and the excavation of criminals; the other part of the excavation is for the subject excavation of academic research. Most of us are trying to excavate a small area to solve many and important academic problems. The lesson of excavating the Dingling Tombs of the Ming Dynasty is very painful, on the one hand, the protection of cultural relics is not enough, on the other hand, it has experienced some turmoil, and some cultural relics have been irreparably damaged. After the excavation of Dingling Tomb, the archaeological community has an unwritten rule to "stop excavating all imperial tombs", so the Gangchon Tomb as an imperial tomb will not be excavated at present.
09
How will Baling be protected, displayed and utilized in the future?
Cao Long: In the future, the tombs of the Western Han Emperors, including Baling, will continue to be included in the State Administration of Cultural Heritage's "14th Five-Year Plan for the Protection and Utilization of Large Sites", and their archaeological research, protection and inheritance will be further developed. We also want to take the excavation results as an opportunity to improve the environment around the Jiangcun Tomb, the Southern Tomb of Empress Bo and the Mausoleum of Empress Dou, on the one hand, to strengthen security and technical defense, on the other hand, to set up some cultural landscapes and promote the construction of archaeological site parks. This is a systematic work, scientific and detailed archaeological data is the foundation, and the task of archaeologists is to do our data well and accurately.
10
The Phoenix Mouth is now judged not to be a bully, is there any value?
Cao Long: I think that the Phoenix Mouth, as the location of the Thousand Years of Baling, can now be viewed as a cultural landscape point, and there is a necessity to exist, because the mountain type itself is relatively good, and the Phoenix Mouth is more majestic from the banks of the Bahe River. In addition, there are many Qing Dynasty inscriptions, which can still be visited as a cultural landscape.