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Cucumber Mountain under the Big Bamboo Creek - Yongchuan Buddha Rock Temple Song Tomb Miscellaneous Talk

I. Overview

Yongchuan is located on the north bank of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the west of Chongqing, and the five low mountain ranges of Yunwu Mountain, Bayue Mountain, Cucumber Mountain, Yingshan Mountain and Jishan Mountain are in a northeast-southwest direction, and are arranged in Sichuan characters. Yongchuan is named after "the three rivers in the urban area, shaped like the seal 'Yong' character".

Yongchuan, Xia Shang belonged to Liang Prefecture, Zhou belonged to Baguo, and Qin belonged to Ba County. Before the Tang Dynasty, it was a dependency of Jiangzhou County. In the eleventh year of the Tang Dynasty (776), Bishan County was divided into prefectures and belonged to Changzhou. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Yongchuan County belonged to Changzhou; in the fourth year of Emperor Zhenzong of Song (1001), Yongchuan County belonged to Zizhou Road; in the first year of Emperor Huizong of Song (1118), Zizhou Road was changed to Tongchuanfu Road, and Changzhou Yongchuan County was subordinate to it. The Southern Song Dynasty was the result. In the 20th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1283), Changzhou was abolished, and the jurisdiction of Yongchuan County was merged into Hezhou; by the 22nd year of the Yuan Dynasty (1285), it was transferred to Chongqing Luhe Prefecture.

The Tombs of Foyan Temple in Yongchuan belong to the Chongqing-Kunming high-speed railway underground cultural relics protection project. From July to October 2021, the Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology carried out the completion of the archaeological work of the Yongchuan section of the project, and archaeological excavations cleaned up 39 tombs of Song Ming. Song Dynasty stone chamber tombs are found in the Yongchuan Foyan Temple tomb group, burial methods include shun burial and reverse burial, the tomb room contains double chamber and single room, carving can be found in the side walls and back niches of the tomb. Ming Dynasty tombs are all stone chamber tombs, represented by the heba courtyard tomb group, single room to six rooms, single room, double room, three rooms are more, and the tomb niche is dominated by flame-shaped door frame roof. The burial items are porcelain, including pots, pots, bowls, cups, plates, etc. These tombs have added new archaeological materials to the archaeological research of tombs in the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty.

The following is a miscellaneous discussion of the Song Dynasty tombs of the Foyan Temple tomb group.

2. Geographical environment

Foyan Temple Tomb Group is located in Dazhuxi Village, Satellite Lake Street, Yongchuan District, located in the front of the triangular mountain mouth of the shallow hill, the north and south sides of the layers of paddy fields converge in its east, and then there are hills sandwiched outside, east of Dazhu Creek, west of Cucumber Mountain. The tomb group fully embodies the concept of site selection of yin houses in the Feng Shui thought of the Song Dynasty.

Cucumber Mountain under the Big Bamboo Creek - Yongchuan Buddha Rock Temple Song Tomb Miscellaneous Talk

Local geographical environment of the Yongchuan Foyan Temple tomb group

The term "feng shui" is generally believed to originate from the Jin Dynasty Guo Pu's "Burial Classic", which says: "The qi is scattered by the wind, and the boundary water is stopped." The ancients gathered to make it not disperse, and the action was stopped, so it was called feng shui. The "Burial Sutra" also says: "A person receives his parents, the skeleton is breathed, and the remains are shaded." "Feng Shui is through the selection and collocation of mountain shape and water potential to form a systematic closure theory. The ultimate purpose of feng shui is to be at peace with the gods and grandchildren, and on the one hand is an expression of the Confucian cultural idea of filial piety, and on the other hand, it is the practical utilitarian nature of the "theory of the shadow of the body". By selecting feng shui treasures to gather vitality, the purpose of "the theory of the shadow of the body" is achieved, and it has always run through the feng shui theory of the Song to the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The Song Dynasty was the heyday of feng shui theory, the Feng Shui sect and the Li Qi sect were eventually formed in the Song Dynasty, and the two schools of theory of form law and li qi in the Ming and Qing dynasties continued to deepen and summarize and penetrate and radiate each other. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Shanji and Xu Shanshu wrote in the "Preface to the Instructions for the Sons of Geography": "There are no less than dozens of kinds of books on the public opinion of Kan, all of which are complex and contradictory, and they will compromise their hearts and minds, and they will return to their key points, and the situation is located in one family, with the dragon's den sand and water as four examples, compiled into a book, simple and clear, which is quite convenient for the exploration of those who are cautious and final." Zhao Yi of the Qing Dynasty pointed out in the "Examination of the Yu Cong": "The law of the house began in Minzhong, and to the Song Dynasty, the king of the Song Dynasty, who was born in the xinggua, the yang direction of the Yang mountain, the yin direction of the yin mountain, and the pure five-star bagua to determine the principle of sheng ke. The Law of Jiangxi, which originated from Yang Junsong, Zeng Wendi, Lai Dayou, and Xie Ziyi in Ganzhong Province, is to say that the Lord is in the situation, and the origin of the beginning, that is, its end, in the directional position, refers specifically to the matching of the sand and water of the Dragon's Den. The two theories are prevalent, while the Gan theory is superior. ”

The Foyan Temple tomb group pays attention to the selection of mountain shapes, the hills on both sides are protected, and the left and right waters converge into the Dazhu Creek, which should be the embodiment of the Kanyu site selection of the Feng Shui Situation School. According to the feng shui situation school theory, the site selection consideration of the foyan temple tomb group should be to include cucumber mountain and big bamboo creek in its overall feng shui situation, which is for the cucumber mountain under and next to the big bamboo creek.

Cucumber Mountain under the Big Bamboo Creek - Yongchuan Buddha Rock Temple Song Tomb Miscellaneous Talk

Schematic map of the location of the Foyan Temple tomb group

Cucumber Mountain is one of the five mountains of Yongchuan, the five mountains become the word "Chuan", cucumber mountain in Yongchuan can not be said to be unimportant. The Great Bamboo Creek is also quite famous in Yongchuan, and the Guangxu "Yongchuan County Chronicle" records the eight views of Yongchuan, one of which is "Night Rain in Zhuxi". Zhuxi is a large bamboo creek located in the south of Yongchuan City, the creek river is green and bamboo bushes, the posture is fragile, and the scenery is beautiful. Although on a sunny day in the morning, there are also rain marks dripping between the bamboo, hence the name "Bamboo Creek Night Rain". The Ming Dynasty Yongchuan County Ling Zhang Shizhao, the teaching Zhu Hua, and the Qing Dynasty Yongchuan poet Li Tianying all wrote poems. Zhu Huashi said: "The first line of the stream is meandering, and the green bamboo by the stream is planted by the clouds." The dry rhymes into the wind, and the sound of waterfalls comes from the rain. Ke dreamed of becoming a prince, and groaned and chased away The River. More pitiful beach se fishing boat stable, the night half of the cloak from the back. ”

According to the theory of feng shui, the tomb group of Foyan Temple is located under the cucumber mountain and next to the big bamboo stream, and the mountains and rivers are protected, which is conducive to realizing the expectations of the tomb owner's deity and grandchildren.

Cucumber Mountain under the Big Bamboo Creek - Yongchuan Buddha Rock Temple Song Tomb Miscellaneous Talk

Panoramic view of the excavation area of the Foyan Temple Tomb Group

3. Stone carvings of Song tombs

The stone carvings of the Song tombs of Foyan Temple are found on the side and back walls of the tombs. The basement space is constructed with stone-carved columns, fangs, foreheads, beams, bucket arches, finches, humps, etc. into imitation wood structures. The left and right walls of the space are accompanied by waiters, and the back wall has a screen chair seat, indicating that the tomb owner's afterlife is still enshrined.

Foyan Temple's single-room Song Tomb No. 2 and Tomb No. 3 are adjacent, and their shape structure and decorative content are similar, which should be a variation of the Song Dynasty husband and wife burial tomb. "Dongpo Zhilin" records that "shiyun, yu is different room, death is the same cave, ancient and modern burials are one room, dushu people are buried in the same grave, in between the passage, the height is not as high as the eyebrows can not tolerate people." The two tombs are adjacent to each other without apertures, and the two doors and roller shutter doors are decorated through the adjacent side walls, revealing the extension and continuation of the space of the two tombs.

Cucumber Mountain under the Big Bamboo Creek - Yongchuan Buddha Rock Temple Song Tomb Miscellaneous Talk

Foyan Temple Inverted Tomb of Song (Left to Right: Tomb No. 3 - Tomb No. 2 - Tomb No. 1)

The common themes such as doors, windows, and screens in song tombs decorated with imitation wood structures give people a hint of space extension, and the song tombs often symbolize the four gods in the tomb space. Although the actual space of the tomb is claustrophobic, the remoteness of the underground space of the tomb owner and the ease of the undead are expressed through the decoration in the tomb room.

Cucumber Mountain under the Big Bamboo Creek - Yongchuan Buddha Rock Temple Song Tomb Miscellaneous Talk

The left wall of Tomb No. 2 of the Foyan Temple Tomb Group imitates a wooden structure and attendants

The content of the stone carvings of the Song Tombs of Foyan Temple is generally simple, and there are no themes such as four gods, flowers and plants, and the scenes of secular life are pervasive. Waiters or crossed hands, or holding objects in both hands, or hands hanging over the abdomen, outlining the image of respectful service; screens, back chairs, roller blinds, curtains, curtain curtains, etc. are common household elements in daily life. This decorative style of secular life is closely related to the cultural atmosphere of the Song Dynasty' popularization, secularization and human culture. The economic and cultural development of the Song Dynasty reached another peak of China's feudal society, the rise of the civic class, and the common people received more attention from society and cared about the value of "people" themselves. Under the funerary concept of "death is like life", the decorative content of secular life has become one of the important decorative themes of Song tombs.

Cucumber Mountain under the Big Bamboo Creek - Yongchuan Buddha Rock Temple Song Tomb Miscellaneous Talk

Foyan Temple Tomb Group No. 2 Tomb Left Wall Attendant

Cucumber Mountain under the Big Bamboo Creek - Yongchuan Buddha Rock Temple Song Tomb Miscellaneous Talk

The back niche of No. 3 tomb of the Foyan Temple Tomb Group is decorated

4. The Song tomb is buried backwards

One of Wu Jing's views on the southern Song tombs is: in the area from Dazhou in the east to Dazhou, west to Leshan, south to Zunyi, and north to Guangyuan, the imitation wood structure portrait stone tomb is roughly centered on the line from Dazu to Chongqing, and the reason for its formation is that when the people who migrated south to this place, they may take advantage of the local mountainous and stone-like natural conditions to combine the cultural factors of the original imitation wood structure brick carving mural tomb with the local stone chamber tomb and stone carving tradition, so that a large number of imitation wood structure portrait stone tombs in the southern Song Dynasty were popular in the area. We observe the archaeological findings of the existing Song tombs in Chongqing, and the song dynasty stone chamber tombs in the Changzhou area of the Song Dynasty such as Yongchuan, Dazu and Rongchang are characterized by rich stone carving themes and rich tomb types. And Yongchuan seems to be more unique. If the Yongchuan Gaodongzi Song Tomb is still the northern immigrants who integrated the octagonal spire structure of their ancestral tombs with the local stone carved cliff tomb system, then the Yongchuan Poplar Bay Song Tomb is a perfect fusion of the cliff tomb and the imitation wood structure stone chamber tomb in the region. If the three-room Song tomb in the Yongchuan Dalugou Wuji Cemetery is only different from the common two-chamber, single-room structure, then there is more place worth exploring the phenomenon of the reverse burial of the Song tombs of the Foyan Temple Tomb Group.

According to the theory of the Feng Shui Situation School, the tomb should be backed by mountains and water, and there are said to be post-Xuanwu Mountain, former Suzaku Water, and Left and Right Green Dragon White Tiger Sand Mountain. Inverted burial is the tomb door and tomb road facing the mountain, the back wall of the tomb is facing the end of the mountain, and the rear of the tomb is open. Why the phenomenon of song tombs in the Foyan Temple tomb group appeared, the Song tombs found in Anhui, Zhejiang, and Fujian may give us some enlightenment. Anqing Taihu Luowan Song Tomb, Anqing Huaining Qingshuzui Song Tomb, Wuhu Fanchang Pictographic Mountain Song Tomb, Zhejiang Lanxi County and Fujian Province Shun County Song Tomb have a small number of reverse burial phenomenon found. For example, the location of the Qingshuzui Song Tomb in Huaining still has the legend of "reverse burial", and the reverse burial means "backward hair" and "official arrival" and other auspicious intentions.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Guizhou Gelao people also had the phenomenon of backward burial, known as "Huilong Xiang", which means that after the death of the old ancestor, from the top of the mountain to the sky, and to look back at its barren grass and grass, commonly known as the tomb of the Laolao people as "upside down burial grave".

During the excavation of the Foyan Temple tomb group, we also learned that a local Taoist priest (a local Feng Shui Mr. Who looks at the Yin House and the Yang House) buried the tomb backwards when he buried his mother, and the neighbors were quite surprised. At the same time, when we examine the Surrounding and even the Song Tombs in the Yongchuan area, the reverse burial is only an isolated case. On the whole, the burial of the Foyan Temple tomb group cannot yet form a large-scale burial custom of a specific ethnic group in the local area, and it should be considered in depth from the perspective of feng shui, and the specific considerations need to be further studied.

Resources:

[1] (Jin) Guo Pu: "Burial Classic", Hubei Chongshu Bureau, Qing Guangxu Three Years (1877) Official Engraving.

[2] (Ming) Xu Shanji, (Ming) Xu Shanshu: Instructions for the Son of Geography, Hohhot: Inner Mongolia People's Publishing House, 2011.

[3] (Qing) Zhao Yi, Luan Baoqun, Lü Zongli Dian School: "Yu Cong Kao", volume 34, Hebei People's Publishing House, 1990 edition.

[4] (Qing) Xu Zengyin and Wu Ruoming: "Yongchuan County Chronicle", "Chinese Local History Integration: Sichuan Prefecture Chronicle 42", Chengdu: Bashu Book Society, 1992.

[5] Wu Jing, "Research on Song Dynasty Tombs in southern China", Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, July 2015.

[6] Yan Qiyan, "Types and Characteristics of Ethnic Tombs in Guizhou in the Qing Dynasty", Guizhou Ethnic Studies, No. 1, 2010.

[7] Zhou Bei: "Feng Shui Research in the Song Dynasty", Shanghai: Master's Thesis of Shanghai Normal University, 2003.

[8] Chongqing Institute of Cultural Heritage: Chongqing Archaeology, 2012 Annual Report.

[9] Chongqing Institute of Cultural Heritage: Chongqing Archaeology, 2014 Annual Report.

[10] Deng Xiaonan, Yang Lihua, Wang Lianqi, et al., Song: Ten Aspects of Elegant Aesthetics, Beijing: Life, Reading, and Xinzhi Sanlian Bookstore, 2021.

[11] Song Bo, Long Yuanxin/Wen, Wang Guomei/Tu, "Dragon Cave Chaoxia is still there, Jianshan Cliff Cave Reminiscences of Daqian", Source: Yongchuan Network.

[12] Ding Cuiping: "Research on Song Dynasty Tombs in Anhui Region", Master's Thesis of Anhui University, 2016.

[13] Huaining County Cultural Relics Management Institute: "Briefing on the Cleaning of the Qingshuzui Song Tomb in Huaining County", Cultural Relics Research, 2007, No. 15.

About author:Chen Dong, Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Associate Researcher of Wenbo.

Contributor: Chen Dong

Editor-in-charge: Dong Yongjia

Editor: Liu Wei

Review: Lin Bizhong

Reprinted from: Chongqing Archaeology

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