Western Han Dynasty talc animal face, Hunan Provincial Museum collection
Western Han Talc Animal Face
Length 19.2cm, width 19.4cm, thickness 1.6cm
In 1978, tomb No. 56 of MaTianping, Pupu County, Hunan Province, was excavated
The face of the beast is light gray, nearly round, the eyes are rounded, the nose bridge is wide, the two eyebrows are protruding from the deformed double horns, the forehead is carved with a diamond-shaped lower oval, and there is a small person with his hands holding his head and half squatting on his knees. The lower part of the animal face is wide-mouthed fangs, the upper lip is rounded, 8 teeth are exposed, each side has a fang, no lower jaw, the entire face has 4 round holes, and the facial expression is mighty and fearsome.
Talc animal face is a special burial object excavated from the tombs of Hunan Pupu and Changde Han, the carving is very fine, mostly using through carving, relief and other techniques, showing a strong sense of three-dimensionality. The animal face is similar to the shape of the human face, and the distribution of the eyes, nose, mouth, tongue and eyebrows is very reasonable, basically designed according to the shape of the human face. When this kind of talc animal surface was unearthed, it was mostly located at the end of the deceased's head, and there were nail holes in the animal face, and some of them still had iron nails, indicating that it should have been nailed to one or two stalls of the coffin, which was used to ward off evil spirits and prevent the invasion of demons and ghosts to protect the dead. Therefore, talc beasts have certain value in studying the funerary system and local etiquette of the Han Dynasty in Hunan.
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One. The nature of talc
Talc is a common silicate mineral, the hardness is low, only 1 degree on the Mohs scale, and its specific gravity is also lighter, 2.7 to 2.8, generally milky white. The Han Dynasty was the golden age of talc carving, and a large number of Han Dynasty talc carving artworks were unearthed in archaeological excavations and surveys across the country, and Hunan was one of the provinces with the most Han Dynasty talc carvings.
Why did the Hunan region have so many talc carvings in ancient times? This may be related to the fact that Hunan has rich talc deposits. "Hunan Tongzhi Food Goods Chronicle" records: "Daozhou out of the talc". Daozhou (道州) is a county in today's Yongzhou City, Hunan. It is understood that in addition to DaoXian in Hunan, there are many counties and cities that also produce talc. Because of the low hardness of this stone, easy to process and carve, use it to make a burial utensil, is one of the most ideal materials, and talc after polishing and polishing, has a white as jade effect, so the ancients often used this stone to make a meditative vessel, as a funeral product with burial.
Two. The shape of the talc animal face
Judging from the current archaeological excavations, talc animal faces have been mostly excavated from the tombs of Pupu and Changde Han in the western Part of Hunan Province. In 1978, 46 tombs from the late Western Han Dynasty and the Xinmang period were excavated in Pupu, Hunan, and a total of 104 talc artifacts were excavated, including 14 talc animal faces. In 1973, Changde Guojiapu M1 unearthed 1 talc animal face, and in 1977, Changde Nanping M3 and M4 excavated 3 talc animal surfaces. Although the faces of these talc beasts are slightly different, they are generally similar in shape, and their expressions are exaggerated and their faces are vicious.
Talc animal surface excavated from the Western Han Tomb in Majiaping, Pupu, Hunan in 1978
Let's take a closer look at the characteristics of its plastic arts through two talc animal faces in the collection:
In 1978, the M63 of Matianping was excavated, which is 19 cm long, 20 cm wide and 1.9 cm thick. Beige in color. The animal face is square, the cheeks are raised, the bridge of the nose is raised in a semicircular tube, and the two nostrils at the lower end are also semicircular tubes. The eyes are nearly triangular, the two eyeballs are bulging out, the two eyebrows are raised, in the shape of an outer figure eight, the two eyebrows are protruding from the double pointed horns, the mouth is wide, the upper lip is transverse S-shaped, the mouth and the face are equal width, there are six teeth, each side has a canine tooth, and the whole face has 8 round holes. Facial expressions are solemn.
In 1978, tomb No. 63 of Ma Tianping in Pupu was excavated from the collection of the Hunan Provincial Museum
In 1973, Changde Guojiapu M1 was excavated. Length 26.5cm, width 20.8cm, thickness 1.7cm. Gray. The face is nearly rectangular, the bridge of the nose is protruding, the lower end has nostrils, oblong oval eyes, a sharp angle on each side of the cheek, the mouth is small and convex, there are upper and lower lips, five small teeth are exposed in the mouth, there is a complete chin, both cheeks are prominent and each has a perforation, the cheekbones evolve into a protruding and curved skeleton, and 4 round holes are located at the chin. There are three diamond-shaped protrusions on the top of the head, resembling three strands of braided hair. Facial expressions are grotesque.
In 1973, Tomb No. 1 of Guo Jiapu in Changde unearthed the Talc animal face of the Eastern Han Dynasty, which was collected by the Hunan Provincial Museum
The above two talc animal faces, the carving is very fine, using through carving, relief and other techniques, showing a strong three-dimensional sense. Through the analysis of the imprints on the talc animal face, the ancients should first draw a pattern when carving this animal face, and then paste it on the talc slab, and then carve it, the face is close to the shape of the human face, and the facial features use exaggerated techniques to make it more artistic.
Three. Talc animal face with a mask
Judging from the shape of these talc animal faces, people can't help but think of the sacrificial activities carried out to exorcise ghosts and gods, ward off evil spirits, and eliminate disasters in Najib- The mask is very similar in shape to the talc face.
There are many records about the land in many historical documents in ancient China. According to the "Complete Book of Ancient and Modern Events", there was a ritual sacrifice at the time of the feast. The Zhou Dynasty also set up a special official to be responsible for the sacrifice activities of the Wu, such as Gao Cheng's "Chronicle of Things" records: "The state official Fang Xiangshi led the Baili Suo Room to drive out the epidemic in order to drive it away, and then the beginning of the expulsion was also." "The masks that accompany the sacrifice are also colorful and have a long history. In some places, many ancient mask objects and images have been excavated and found, such as the relief stone carved human face excavated from Daxi in Wushan, Sichuan, the stone carved human face excavated from the Mandarin Duck Pond in Yongchang, Gansu, the ceramic sculpture relief human face unearthed in Chaijiaping, Gansu, and the jade carved human face unearthed in Gangshang Village, Tengxian County, Shandong Province, which are representatives of ancient masks.
The mask originated from the ancient Central Plains sacrifice and is a ritual to exorcise evil spirits. Its shape often varies according to the different characters, and through the decoration and change of the facial features of the mask, it shows the fierceness, viciousness, mighty, deep, treacherous, funny, kind, kind and kind character of the character. According to the Zhou Li. The Xia Guan records: "Fang Xiang's palm is covered with bear skin, golden four eyes, Xuan Yi Zhu Pei, holding a spear and raising a shield, handsome and obedient, and driving away the epidemic in the sorcerer room." During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, when the wind of sacrifice was prevalent, in order to obtain a strong effect in the sacrifice, Fang Xiangshi, who presided over the sacrifice, wore a "golden four-eyed" mask. In addition, in the Hanzhong region of Shaanxi Province, a number of Shang Dynasty bronze masks have been found, which are ghost faces, with oval faces, fierce faces, and holes in the eyes for dancers to peek at. The ears are pierced, the nose is pierced, and the facial features are similar to the human face, which is obviously a mask matched by the wizard jumping god. This bronze mask, with a vicious and fearsome image, was used to expel evil spirits and plagues, and was also used in ancient times to charge into battle to frighten the enemy. This batch of talc beasts is very similar in appearance to such masks, but also has long horns, big eyes, open mouth, teeth, vicious faces, and exaggerated expressions. Therefore, from the perspective of shape, the origin of talc animal surface has a certain relationship with the surface.
Tomb No. 64 daxi in Wushan, Sichuan Province, excavated a relief stone carved human face
In 1959, the relief stone carved human face excavated from the tomb of No. 64 Daxi in Wushan, Sichuan Province, is 6 cm high, 3.6 cm wide and 1 cm thick, with a simple and simple shape, an oval plane, a cyan texture of the material, and a delicate texture. The face is centered in the shape of a square face, and the contour of the melon seed is circled by a negative engraving. With two circles out of the eyes, the pupils are like beans, the bridge of the nose is vertical and short, the mouth shape is exaggerated as if it is tongue-extended, and there are no ears. Because the shape of the face shrinks into the overall shape, it is reminiscent of the appearance of a baby in a baby. The top of the shape has two oval perforations for wear, which adds to the decorative beauty. It belongs to the late Daxi culture relics dating from 6000 to 5000 years ago.
Tomb No. 50 of Mandarin Duck Pond in Yongchang County, Gansu Province, excavated a stone carving inlaid with human face
Stone carved human face Majiayao culture horse factory type (4000 years ago) Yongchang County Mandarin Duck Pond excavated height 3.9 cm, width 2.6 cm, thickness 0.8 cm. The stone carvings are made of white dolomite with brown spots, oval in shape, with a perforation in the upper part, and the preparation method is to first carve a shallow groove, and then set with bone ornaments, the eye circles are inlaid with white bone rings, the eyes are black eyeballs, and the nose and mouth are inlaid with bone rings of different sizes.
Gansu Tianshui Chaijiaping unearthed ceramic relief human face
In 1967, the ceramic sculpture of human face excavated from Tianshui Chaijiaping was 25.5 cm high and 16 cm wide, fine clay red pottery, the plastic worker was quite delicate, there was a raised hair on the forehead, the eyebrow arch was clear, the earlobe was perforated, and the mouth was opened to speak.
Four. The use of talc animal faces
According to the analysis of the excavation of talc animal surfaces, some were excavated at one end of the coffin in the tomb pit, and some were excavated on both sides of the coffin chamber. Tombs with talc animal faces unearthed are generally larger in scale and are also very rich in burial items. In general, only one talc animal face has been excavated from a tomb, but two pieces have been excavated at the same time. In addition, some parts of the talc surface, such as the eyebrows, face, jaws and the sides of the nose or the corners of the mouth, have some small circular perforations, and some of them have rusted iron nails in the perforations at the time of excavation. From the above situation analysis, the talc animal face was originally nailed to one or two gears of the coffin, and its purpose was to ward off evil spirits and prevent demons and ghosts from invading the coffin to protect the dead and the undead.
The purpose of burying the town tomb beast is to protect the owner of the tomb from being infringed by ghosts and gods, and this custom is very popular in the Chu tombs of the Spring and Autumn Warring States, such as Danyang, Jiangling, Hunan, Changsha, Changde and other places in Hubei Province, where various forms of town tomb beasts are unearthed. Chu-style town tomb beast has antlers on the top of its head, its face and eyes bulge, or its mouth is long, and its appearance is grotesque, this kind of town tomb beast is buried in the tomb, and its purpose is to protect the soul of the tomb owner from being invaded by ghosts and gods. The black-ground painted coffin excavated from Tomb No. 1 of Mawangdui in Changsha has an appearance of more than 100 strange and fantastic gods and beasts of different shapes, which is intended to protect the dead and drive away evil spirits. Therefore, the talc animal faces excavated from the late Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty in Pupu, Changde and other places should also be a continuation of the chu heritage.