In 1969, members of Wuwei Fresh Commune dug a war tunnel in the south of Leitai, and in the dim tunnel, they dug a hard brick wall. After that, people dug up the brick wall and a black hole was revealed. When the people climbed in, they were stunned, and it turned out that it was a burial chamber made of green bricks. The burial chamber is neatly arranged with copper people, copper carts, copper horses, etc., next to which there is a coffin bed, which contains two human bones, and several clay pots are stacked at the foot of the bones.
The tomb is 40 meters long, interconnected by multiple chambers, and the tomb door is east-west, in an east-west direction. On the walls on both sides of the sloped earthen tomb road there are arrays of vermilion floral patterns in simple and rough strokes. After that, the staff carefully registered the cultural relics and transferred them all to the Temple of Literature.
Soon, the Gansu Provincial Department of Culture immediately sent experts from the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology to Wuwei to investigate. On the side wall of the burial chamber, archaeologists found a robbery hole. But something strange happened, and there were obvious patch marks on the hole.
On the right side of the tomb passage, there is a well-preserved ancient well. Its bricklaying method is a unique "human" glyph masonry method, which is rare in Chinese archaeological discoveries. What the role of the ancient well is is still an unsolved mystery.
The tomb is composed of multiple burial chambers, divided into three main burial chambers of the front, middle and rear, and the front chamber is composed of left and right ear chambers, which are symmetrical to each other. Those early caves were located on the left wall of the middle chamber of the tomb and on top of the back chamber.
Of course, although the tomb has been stolen many times, more than 230 precious artifacts have been unearthed, one of which is the famous copper galloping horse.
Copper galloping horse, also known as "horse ta fei yan", "horse super dragon sparrow", pass height 34. 5cm, length 45cm, width 10. 1 cm, weight 7. 15 kg. The whole body is cast in bronze and has a green bronze color. Its image is healthy and handsome, the horse is high and hissing, the legs and hooves are light, galloping forward, three feet in the air, and one foot on the dragon finches. The whole work is exquisite, and it can really be described as a "dragon colt". The sculptor doesn't even forget to paint a few strokes for the little dragon bird under the horse's hoof: the bird spreads its wings and looks back, looking at it with astonishment.
Copper galloping horses are bronze crafts produced under the influence of the Shangma customs of Han Dynasty society. Horses were an important means of transportation, military equipment, and agricultural animal power in Han Dynasty society. The Han Dynasty government gave horses "oral origins", and horses were deified and praised on various occasions, and even Emperor Wu of han wrote "Heavenly Horse Song". In the Han Dynasty, the custom of burial with carriages and horses was very popular, and people regarded horses as a symbol of wealth.
One of the common themes on tomb murals and portrait stones and portrait bricks in the Han Dynasty is the "carriage and horse travel honor guard" and "travel map".
Who made such a chic copper galloping horse? Who is the owner of this tomb?
After analysis, researchers from the Gansu Provincial Museum concluded:
1. The age of Leitai Tomb should be the end of the Western Han Dynasty.
2. Among the bronze figurines excavated from the tomb, 4 female maids are engraved with the three characters of "Zhang Shi Nu" on the back, 8 male figurines are engraved with the three words "Zhang Shi Nu", and archaeologists also found a six-character inscription of "Zhang Jia Nu Zi Yi Zong" at the bottom of a pottery bowl. From this, it is inferred that the owner of the tomb should be surnamed "Zhang". According to the analysis of other inscriptions excavated from the Leitai Tomb, archaeologists learned that the owner of the tomb was canonized as a "general" four times before his death, and also served as the Taishou of Wuwei County, the head of the four counties in Hexi, and repeatedly enjoyed the body of "more than two thousand stones".
In addition, the copper excavated from the Leitai Tomb was immediately clearly engraved with the words "Mrs. Zhang Junqian" and "Mrs. Zhang Junhou". In the Han Dynasty, only the wives of princes could be called "ladies". This shows that the identity of the tomb owner should be a prince.
In the "Liangzhou Fuzhi Preparation" written by the Qing Dynasty Zhang Shu, the only prince who served as a Taishou in Wuwei during the Eastern Han Dynasty was Zhang Jiang. Zhang Jiang was a native of Jizhou in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and was later given the title of Marquis of Nanyang. According to the Tongzhi and the Bronze Galloping Horse inscription, it is learned that Zhang Jiang was serving as a general on the left horse and the governor of Zhangye County. Liangzhou was a military fortress, and the Qiang people attacking Liangzhou had to pass through the Zhangye Gorge, where Zhangjiang was stationed. Because of his many military achievements, he was awarded the title of "Broken Qiang General", which is in line with the silver seal "Broken Qiang General" excavated from the ancient tomb.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liangzhou Zhangye was rich in copper, and Liangzhou's smelting technology was also relatively developed. In 60 AD, after Zhang Jiang was made a marquis by Wuwei Taishou, in order to thank emperor Ming for his kindness and kindness, he was inspired by the generals of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty Ma Yuan to present the "famous horse style one copper horse method", and decided to offer copper horse tribute to Emperor Ming, which was later a copper galloping horse. However, the Copper Galloping Horse was destroyed when Dong Zhuo attacked the capital. But no one thought that Zhang Jiang had made two sets of copper galloping horses, one for Emperor Ming, one for self-preservation and appreciation, and he was buried with him after his death. This set of vivid and majestic bronze carriages and horse honor guards has reproduced for us the travel scene of "car rudder, horse Xiaoxiao" in ancient times.
Later, the copper galloping horse was collected in the Gansu Provincial Museum and became the treasure of the town hall.