What kind of story is hidden in this tomb of Ding Feng in Nanjing's Shogunate Mountain?
Let's hear how our experts interpret it.
Brick floor vouchers
Soul bottle
"Ding Fengxue in the Snow Short Soldier"
The Battle of Dongxing has made a legendary life
1
The Tomb of the Ding Feng Family is located at the southern foot of Shogun Mountain on the northern outskirts of Nanjing. There are four tombs, all of which are distributed side by side in a north-south direction and east-west direction. One of the tombs unearthed brick coupons, which clearly stated that the owner of the tomb was Ding Feng, a famous general of Eastern Wu.
Ding Feng was ranked among the "Twelve Tiger Ministers of Eastern Wu", and his life almost ran through the entire history of Eastern Wu, and it is speculated that his life expectancy was seventy or eighty years old. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Ding Feng successively served as a subordinate of General Sun Wu such as Gan Ning, Lu Xun, and Pan Zhang, and although Xiao was brave and good at war, resourceful, and resolute, he only survived to the position of deputy general. It was not until Sun Liang succeeded to the throne that Ding Feng was promoted to champion general and ushered in the highlight of his life in the subsequent Battle of Dongxing. In the 108th edition of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is written: "When the Eastern Wu Pingbei general Ding Feng was in the cold and heavy snow, he ordered the generals and the troops to take off their armor, remove their helmets, and do not use long guns and euphorbia, but only carry short knives, to meet the Wei soldiers, so that the Wei soldiers were light enemies, and finally killed the Wei soldiers by surprise and won a great victory. This is the story of "Ding Fengxue's short soldiers in the Three Kingdoms period".
After the Wu army defeated the unprepared and light enemy of the Wei army in one fell swoop, with the outstanding performance of the Battle of Dongxing, Ding Feng gradually gained heavy use, and in the subsequent war with the State of Wei, he still played his brave and martial side, and his official position was also promoted all the way to the position of general of the left. Later, when Sun Xiu wanted to kill the powerful minister Sun Qi, Zhang Bu suggested conspiring with Ding Feng. In 259 AD, Sun Qiang went to participate in the Wax Festival (the third day after the winter solstice to worship the Hundred Gods, also known as the end of the year), and was hunted and killed by Ding Feng and Zhang Bu, who had been waiting for a long time. As a great hero in this matter, Ding Feng not only replaced Sun Qi as a great general and a protector of the left and right, but also became Sun Xiu's confidant. After Sun Hao succeeded to the throne, Ding Feng was given the title of Right Grand Sima and Left Army Division, and in his later years he became Sun Wu's highest-ranking general. However, after that, he became more and more arrogant, and he made no further achievements in the war, especially after the Jin Dynasty Wei, in the Jin War, many times without success. Ding Fengli, sun quan, Sun Liang, Sun Xiu, and Sun Hao, the four monarchs of the state of Wu, commanded the army for life to fight against the northern regime, and maintained one of the three parts of the kingdom of Wu, and personally witnessed the rise and fall of the three kingdoms in the shadow of the sword and light.
During the Three Kingdoms period, military bands had already appeared
The image of the pottery figurines is a Hu person
02
Riding horses and advocating honor guards
Although the four tombs have been stolen, more cultural relics have been unearthed. One of the glazed pottery equestrian figurines, although they have been broken, can still be seen from it or drumming or blowing the flute.
Experts speculate that this is a group of horseback-riding and trumpeting honor guards. Riding a horse is a form of band in ancient times. Due to the frequent changes of political power during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the accounts of advocacy, in addition to documentary records, are mostly found in excavated murals.
Zhou Baohua, deputy research librarian of our institute, said that riding and advocating this form of honor guard is not found in many in the country, and it has been presented in the form of murals before. That is to say, as early as the Three Kingdoms period, it is likely that military bands have appeared in China.
Equestrian figurines in the form of Hu people
The "Book of Jin and Lezhi" records that in the Han Dynasty, there was the music of short flutes and songs, and its songs included "Zhu Lu" and other songs, which were listed in the propaganda and multi-order battle fronts. This record clearly shows that music performances have appeared in the army as early as the Han Dynasty. It can be seen that this equestrian band is a military band.
The 16 pottery figurines found this time are very exquisite and vivid in detail. Some pottery figurines wear a small round crown on their heads, put their hands together in front of their mouths, and hold an arrow row of pipes, playing, and the musicians look ahead, and seem to be following the band through the crowd. Drummers are certainly indispensable in equestrian bands. Some clay figurines have their hands together in front of their chests, one holding a small hammer and the other holding a tambourine, and they are passionately beating the tambourine. Experts found that the image of this group of pottery figurines seems to be something special. Zhou Mengyuan, a librarian of our hospital, said that the eyes of the pottery figurines are very large and deep, and there is a circle of beards around the mouth, which is the image of the Hu people.
It can be seen that during the Three Kingdoms period, even the State of Wu, which is located in the southeast, was able to maintain close cultural exchanges and integration with the northwest region.
Hundreds of years ahead of the West
The earliest stirrup image in Chinese history appeared
03
Equestrian figurines
Experts took a keen interest in one of the 16 figurines when they sorted out and restored them. This clay figurine wears a small round crown on its head, and the left side of the takahashi saddle has a triangular structure. After repeated confirmations, experts concluded that the triangular structure was a stirrup used by the ancients, which shocked the experts. They realized that this discovery would change the perception of stirrup history. It is likely to be the earliest stirrup image found in Chinese history.
Stirrups of terracotta figurines
Gong Juping, a research librarian of our institute, said that stirrups are a hot spot in worldwide research, and stirrups are convenient for better driving of horses, while freeing the rider's hands. Therefore, stirrups are an epoch-making invention in military history. Before the advent of stirrups, the knight's legs were straddled on either side of the saddle, and there was nothing to support on his feet, so the knight often had to go through a long and arduous training to learn riding techniques. The appearance of stirrups made it easier for the knight to sit firmly in the saddle and easier to control the horse, so that he could free his hands and make various movements on the horse.
In 1955, in the second-year tomb of Yongning in the Western Jin Dynasty in Changsha, Hunan Province, the earliest stirrup image of the time was unearthed, which caused a great sensation, and this ceramic figurine was also preserved in the National Museum. This time, the archaeological team found stirrup images in Nanjing in the age of the Three Kingdoms period, obviously earlier than the Western Jin Dynasty. That is to say, experts found the earliest stirrup image in China in Ding Feng's tomb.
But this stirrup is different from the stirrups of later generations, the horse only has stirrups on the left side, and the rider's feet are not in the stirrups. "So, this stirrup may be a facility that is easy to get on, and it doesn't play a role in riding, called a single stirrup." Gong Juping explained. The appearance of stirrups is epoch-making, and as far as archaeology is concerned, stirrups appeared in China during the Three Kingdoms period, hundreds of years ahead of the Western world.