In 1959, an ancient tomb was found in Zhongbao Village in the western suburbs of Shaanxi Province, and a strangely shaped Tang Sancai was unearthed in this ancient tomb. The main body of this Tang Sancai is a handsome camel, there are 8 people on the camel, these people sit around the cushion on the hunchback with songs and dances, and are holding a "concert" on the hunchback, experts named this Tang Sancai "Tang Sancai Camel Carrying Figurine". So far, there are only two Tang Sancai of the same type on the mainland, one in the National Museum and the other in the Shaanxi History Museum, which are genuine "national treasure-level" cultural relics. Today we introduce this Tang Sancai camel figurine collected by the Shaanxi History Museum.
tumulus
In 1959, a farmer in Zhongbao Village, on the western outskirts of Xi'an, wanted to build a new house. In that era, the villagers in the same village helped each other in the neighborhood, harmony and friendship, and most of the people who had any big things and small feelings would come to help. After the preparations for building the house were ready, the villagers and relatives came to help dig the foundation. No one ever thought that this excavation project had unearthed a rare treasure.
When the foundation was dug more than a meter into the ground, an earthen cave suddenly appeared in the ground. Because Xi'an is a historical city, Xibao Village is on the outskirts of the old Chang'an City, so there are often ancient tombs here, and seeing the strange earthen cave underground, the villagers who helped could not help but have a question in their minds: "Is this an ancient tomb?" "A few bold villagers went down to the earthen cave and dug with a shovel, and found that there were pottery fragments under the soil, and no one dared to move again when they saw this situation, so they immediately reported the matter to the cultural management office.
Experts arrived at the scene after the ancient tomb was investigated, found that this is a typical Tang Dynasty tomb, because the tomb has collapsed and the tomb is full of silt, experts can not judge what specifications of the tomb is for a while, and then the Cultural Relics Bureau decided to carry out rescue excavation of this ancient tomb.
During the excavation, archaeologists found that this was a Tang Dynasty earthen cave tomb, the direction was sitting south and facing north, the burial chamber was 3.5 meters long and 2.2 meters wide, and it was a small rectangular tomb. Because the tomb has been excavated by thieves a long time ago, and the tomb robbers have stolen most of the burial items in the tomb, experts have not found any information in the tomb that can prove the identity of the owner of the tomb. Fortunately, due to the water of this ancient tomb, the second half of the burial chamber collapsed at 80 centimeters, and some of the burial items survived, including a treasure of the world, which is the protagonist of this article - Tang Sancai camel carrying figurines.
Tang Sancai camels carry music figurines
Tang Sancai is a kind of porcelain unique to the Tang Dynasty, which is very common in ancient tombs in the Tang Dynasty, but most of the Tang Sancai excavated from Tang tombs are horses, people or practical utensils, and tang sancai of this type like camel carrying music figurines is extremely rare.
Tang Sancai camels carrying le figurines are 58 cm high, 43 cm long, and camels are 48 cm high. The camel, which was brownish yellow, stood on all fours, its head held high on a rectangular pedestal pedal, and the camel opened its neck as if it were singing with joy.
On the hunchback is a circular mat with lace, the edges of the mat are blue, and a platform is built with a blanket on top of the mat. On the platform sat 7 male music figurines, these 7 male music figurines facing the audience, each holding a different instrument in the performance of the vigorous, these 7 male music figurines held by the instruments are the sheng, the lute, the pipa, the flute, the clapping board, the row of strings.
In the center of the platform is a plump woman, her face is plump, combed and bundy, she is wearing a long skirt with blue flowers on a white background, her head is slightly raised, her right hand is on her chest, her left arm is drooping, and she is singing and dancing under the accompaniment of music. The whole Tang Sancai camel carrying figurine is like a "concert" on a hunchback. Tang Sancai camel carrying figurines show the hunchback "concert" of the Hu people in the Tang Dynasty in the form of pottery figurines in front of the world, which is really unique.
Tang
Tang Sancai is a kind of low-temperature glazed pottery process unique to the Tang Dynasty on the mainland, the main feature of this pottery is that there are three main colors of green, yellow and blue, and people call the pottery produced by this process "Tang Sancai".
This Tang Sancai camel figurine adopted the most advanced "glaze method" at that time in the production process, which was to first make the vessel type, and then use a spoon and other containers to slowly hang the pre-adjusted glaze juice from around the utensils during the firing process. Because the "slip glaze method" is uncertain in the direction of the flow of glaze juice when making Tang Sancai, and it is difficult to master, this process requires craftsmen to have superb skills. It is precisely because of the complicated process of this "slipping glaze method", so the texture of the three-colored glass produced is particularly strong, and the colored glaze made by this process is mixed with each other and integrated, which can present a unique artistic effect, which is also the subtlety of this Tang Sancai pottery figurine.
Tang Sancai camel figurines are exquisitely conceived and exquisitely crafted, and the whole work integrates artistic creation and life realism, which is a work of art that can reflect the real living conditions of the people of the Tang Dynasty.
"Concert" on hunchback
Many people have seen Tang Sancai's camel carrying music figurines and thought that this Tang Sancai was just a work of art, how could a camel carry a band and hold a "concert" on it?
In fact, this is the real acrobatics of the Tang Dynasty. According to historical records, during the Tang Dynasty, Hu (I suspect it was Indian) juggling had already been introduced to the mainland through the Silk Road and was liked by Chinese. This exotic style of music and dance made the Tang Dynasty people refreshed, and the Hu people, who were able to sing and dance, showed their music and dance on the stage of Chang'an, expressing their praise for the prosperity of the Taiping Dynasty and their expectations for a better life with songs and dances. Look at the 7 male figurines on the hunchback, they play the instrument skillfully, the expression is intoxicated; the dancing beauty is graceful and graceful, she sings gently in the middle of the band; the camel is slowly moving forward, and they present a wonderful "concert" for people on this small stage.
Can a camel really carry such a small band around? Yes, you must not underestimate the camel, a Bactrian camel can move 500 kilograms of cargo camel, so it is completely achievable to install a platform on top of the camel and carry out a tour "concert".
epilogue
Tang Sancai camel figurine glaze color is bright, bright and coordinated, is the best of Tang Sancai pottery. So far, only two Pieces of Tang Sancai Camel Carrying Music Figurines have been found on the mainland, and the one introduced in this article is one of them, and the other Tang Sancai Camel Carrying Figurine is also from Xi'an, which was found in the Tomb of Xianyu Tingjie in the western suburbs of Xi'an, but this Tang Sancai Camel Carrying Music Figurine is carrying 5 Hu men, which is 3 people less than the one introduced in this article, and it is currently collected in the National Museum.
This 8-person camel-carrying figurine unearthed in Zhongbao Village, a western suburb of Xi'an, reproduces for us the wonderful grand situation of the humpback band and the "concert" on the humpback on the ancient Silk Road, which is the crystallization of cultural exchanges between China and the West, and it provides rare physical information for experts to study the music and dance of the Tang Dynasty and the exchange of Chinese and Western cultures on the Silk Road. At present, the Tang Sancai camel figurines are collected in the Shaanxi History Museum, which is a national first-class cultural relic and one of the "treasures of the town hall" of the Shaanxi History Museum. In August 2013, Tang Sancai camel figurines were listed in the "Catalogue of the Third Batch of Cultural Relics Prohibited from Exporting for Exhibition", which shows how precious this cultural relic is.