In 1985, in Qinglongshan Town, Naiman Banner, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, during a reservoir construction operation, an underground structure suspected of an ancient tomb was discovered.
Archaeologists rushed to the site, and through protective archaeological excavations, confirmed that this was a joint burial tomb of Princess Chen Guo and Xiao Shaojie of the Liao Dynasty, buried in the seventh year of Liao Kaitai (1018 AD).
At the time of the excavation, the princess and the horse wore gold masks on their heads and lay on the coffin
This thousand-year-old tomb, because it has never been found by the tomb robbers, has been well preserved, and a large number of precious burial utensils have been unearthed, of which more than 300 jades made of jade, agate, crystal and other materials alone have reached more than 300 pieces. These important cultural relics provide extremely important evidence for the study of the history of the Liao State.
Golden Mask
The types and specifications of more than 2,000 precious cultural relics are also in line with the princess status of the owner of the tomb. And among all these cultural relics, one that has successfully attracted the attention of experts is a jade handle silver cone, which is it.
Experts disagree about the role of the awl – first of all, it is a piece of jade, and if it is just an ornament, it does not have to be made into an awl with some danger. If it is a ceremonial vessel, then what about the awl used to pray and make wishes? As for weapons and self-defenses, they are even more untenable, does this princess still need to defend herself? Going to war is even more impossible.
After speculating about the life of the Liao Dynasty and turning out the comparison of the Liao Dynasty literature, the experts gradually unified their opinions: this may be the thorn goose cone mentioned in the Liao literature.
Liao Dynasty jade group pendant excavated from the tomb
The main population of the Liao State was mainly nomadic, so after the establishment of the country, the nobles also maintained the habit of hunting. So every season of the year except summer, the emperor would take the lead in going out, setting up camps (Nutuk-ba in Khitan language), and then holding different hunting activities: catching geese and geese in the spring, named spring water; shooting deer in the autumn, named Autumn Mountain; and breaking the river ice hook fish in the winter.
In the "Liao Shi Ying Wei Zhi", when describing the spring bowl, there is such a record:
The Spring Bowl is known as the Duck River (in the waters of the Moon Bubble in present-day Da'an, Jilin Province). ...... Whenever the emperor arrived, the attendants wore dark green clothes, each with a hammer, an eagle food vessel, and a thorn goose cone, and stood in a five-seven-step row around the luo. ...... Where there are geese, flags are raised, flags are reported, and drums are sounded in the distance. The geese are frightened, and the left and right sides are all raised. Wufang Qing entered the Haidong Qinghu and asked the emperor to let it go. The goose fell, and the power was not added. The nearest neighbor raises a cone to spin goose and takes the brain to feed the harrier. Savers are rewarded with silver and silk. The emperor was given the head of the goose to recommend the temple, and the courtiers each offered wine and fruit, held up music, and paid each other a congratulatory message.
Crane pecking goose with ring Yuan Dynasty
Collection of the National Museum of China
Dozens of guards who raise eagles, also known as Haidongqing, hold thorn goose cones, and the two are separated by several meters, forming a circle to search for the swans, and once the swans are found, they raise small flags to inform everyone.
The goose was then startled by the sound of a drum, and the emperor immediately released the eagle to shoot down the swan. But in the fight, because of the size of the swan, the swan will gradually have the upper hand, then everyone will rush up, stab the swan with the thorn goose cone, save Hai Dongqing, and then take the goose brain to reward Hai Dongqing.
The White Jade Boy held the Liao Dynasty
The emperor would reward the first person who saved Hai Dongqing with money and silk cloth, and after getting the head goose hunted this spring, the emperor used it for sacrifice and feast, and the courtiers and the emperor exchanged blessings for the coming year and drank wine.
This passage describes the situation of the green eagle catching the swan in Haidong with great sound and color, and the use of the thorn goose cone is also very clear. Coincidentally, in the "LiaoShi, Geography, Nanjing Dao, And Yin County", there is also a paragraph of the same description:
"Yanfangdian square hundreds of miles, spring geese gathered, Xia Duo Lingqi. The lord of the country hunted in spring, and the guards were all dressed in dark green, each holding a hammer, an eagle food, a thorn goose cone, and a water column, five or seven steps apart. The upper wind beat the drum, the frightened goose was slightly off the water, and the lord of the country personally let Hai Dongqing capture it. The goose fell, and the fear of the hawk was invincible, and the person in the column stabbed the goose with a cone and rushed to feed the bird in its brain. The winner of the goose is rewarded with silver silk. ”
Jade carved spring water buckle JinDai
Collection of the Guanfu Museum
Different from the "LiaoShi Yingwei Zhi", this passage prominently depicts the delicate scene of Hai Dongqing fighting with a swan, and Hai Dongqing is not as physically inferior as a swan, which is very vivid. The Ming Dynasty Yin Kai's "Eagle Striking the Swan" reproduced the picture of the Liao people hunting geese in spring water with a paintbrush.
"Eagle Striking Swan Diagram" Ming Dynasty Yin Kai painting
Collection of Nanjing Museum
This kind of thorn goose cone, later also unearthed other materials, other documents also mentioned that the Liao royal family generally uses jade handle silver cone and jade handle gold cone, occasionally copper cone unearthed, from the tomb specifications can also be seen, should be some ministers.
The material of a small thorn goose cone may be different, but hunting swans is a spring wild music shared by the Liao Dynasty, and fortunately, there are cultural relics and documents that corroborate each other, and it is more vivid when people imagine the activities of the ancients.