We pull back the time to the Lop Nur area of Xinjiang in 1995, when an archaeological team was conducting a new round of scientific investigation of the Yingpan site, although there were occasional new discoveries in the process, but the excavated cultural relics and newly discovered things did not surprise scientists much, it can be said that everything was under control and expected.
Just when everyone has a normal heart, some experts found a colored coffin in the ancient tomb group, which aroused everyone's curiosity, it turned out that in the tomb of the tomb landmark M15, there was a rather gorgeous and exquisite coffin, which was painted with wonderful patterns on both sides, and there were many styles, such as flowers, vases, branches, leaves and so on.
Judging from the shape of the leaves and flowers, there is a distinctly exotic atmosphere, not only that, but in the front and rear baffle positions of the coffin, there are also golden birds and toads and other animals, which are vivid, lifelike and particularly dazzling, and the most important thing is that the coffin is quite well preserved. So the question is, what's in it? Who is the owner of the coffin?
Image: Stills of the ornate and exquisite coffin found by the crowd
First, amazing archaeological discoveries
1. "Yingpan Beauty Man" appears
The archaeological team immediately made a decision to excavate and analyze the coffin in detail, they first carefully opened the lid of the coffin, and then they saw more than anyone could imagine. Inside, there was a male corpse about 1.8 meters long, dressed in a short robe with yellow stripes and red backgrounds, with a gold belt tied around his waist, and wearing locked embroidered pants and gold stockings on his legs.
Of course, this is not the most critical, to the surprise of everyone present, his face is wearing a mask with particularly strange facial features, on which are carved two beards, looking at ease, and seems to be smiling at the corner of the mouth. If this hadn't been a scientific expedition, everyone might have thought the man was just asleep as usual.
After further testing and research by scientists, it can be basically judged that the man in the gorgeous coffin is about 25 years old, the body type is relatively tall and slender, the height before death should be more than 1.8 meters, the body is relatively strong and plump, and it is a heroic and heroic man.
Considering that he was excavated in the Yingpan site and his shape was so amazing, the academic community directly called him "Yingpan Beautiful Man", and once this news was published, it aroused widespread concern from all walks of life.
Image: Screenshot of the mask profile of "Yingpan Beauty Man"
2. The national treasure short robe is well-known at home and abroad
In order to confirm the identity of the man, experts almost found the tomb to the sky, but unfortunately has not found the relevant epitaph, can only be through the clothes worn by the man and other clues in the Yingpan site, and then infer the approximate date is between the Han Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty in China, as for the true identity of the "Yingpan Beautiful Man", it has become a mystery.
In addition, no other funerary items have been found in this ancient tomb, but the gorgeous clothes worn by the man are of great value after identification, belonging to the national treasure level of cultural relics, and each piece can be described as valuable.
If you want to say which one is the most precious, it must be the largest yellow striped red background short robe on the "Yingpan Beautiful Man", if you are interested in archaeology and have read relevant books and materials, you have heard of the "Red Earth on the Human-Beast Tree Pattern Robe", which is it.
Image: Screenshot of a short robe wearing a yellow stripe and red background
Although the academic community has always been in an untestable state of the man's true identity, after analyzing the clothes, it is generally believed that it should be made in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, which has a history of more than 1,800 years, although it has been baptized by the years, but from the appearance, it is still dazzling and gorgeous.
Except for a little decay on the back, this short robe is well preserved elsewhere, which shows that the ancients more than a thousand years ago have mastered the superb weaving process.
What is even more rare is that from the subtle texture of this short robe, it also has a clear Western ancient Greek art style, which is a work of art that integrates Eastern and Western cultures, and its preciousness is self-evident.
Although decades have passed since its excavation, the "Red Earth on The Human-Beast Tree Pattern Robe" is still one of the representatives of the "Chinese National Treasure", which will be exhibited many times a year at home and abroad.
Image: Screenshot of the subtle texture of the robe
Second, an investigation of the background of the ancient tomb
1. Inference of the identity of the owner of the tomb
Among the other personal belongings of the "Yingpan Beauty Man", the texture and texture of the pants and socks are also quite elaborate, and according to the existing historical analysis, it can be found that in that era, there were not many people who could have this kind of clothing, so it can be inferred that the identity of the owner of the tomb is either rich or expensive.
Combined with the Western Style at that time, when someone was buried, they would wear a mask, which was all custom-made, the facial features of the mask and the five features of the tomb owner were often very similar, and the mask of the "Yingpan Beautiful Man" had two obvious mustaches on it, which directly proved that its high probability was a Westerner, and the mask was also very western style beauty, which made people reverie.
I don't know if you have noticed that in the tomb robbery novel "Ghost Blowing Lights", which has triggered a wave of literature and film and television in recent years, the protagonist of the cover of "Jingjie Ancient City" is the "Beautiful Man of Yingpan" found in Lop Nur in Xinjiang.
Image: Stills of the Westerners
2. The background of the big times
For most non-history and archaeology enthusiasts, the name "Yingpan" should be quite unfamiliar, in fact, in history, this is the famous Loulan Ancient City to the Western Regions of a must-pass place, strategic location is very important.
According to the "Biography of the Western Regions" in the Book of Han, the ancient Yingpan is the "Mountain Kingdom", which belongs to one of the "Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions" defined by the Central Plains Dynasty, and is also known as Loulan and Jingjie.
According to the historical records, the scale of this "mountain country" is actually not large, according to the traditional algorithm of the Central Plains, that is, more than four hundred households and less than five hundred households, converted into the total population, it is also five thousand people, and the size of a village and town we have now is almost the same.
The capital of the "Mountain Kingdom" is in a place called Moshan City, which is rich in iron ore, and the quality is excellent, and it is well-known in the world, and many merchants from the East and the West are willing to travel long distances here to buy and sell materials.
Photo: Stills of people who come to Trade in Moshan City
Compared with the powerful and vast Han Dynasty, the "mountain country" is simply insignificant, but by virtue of its natural excellent geographical location and rich products, it has also made outstanding contributions to the development of the ancient "Silk Road".
In other words, the small "mountain country" has also left a magnificent chapter in the history of mankind that is extremely rich in the beauty of the western region.
Article author: Dahui
The entire graphic was produced by the team of the Big Cafe Say History Studio!