A tense and fierce battle between tigers, sheep and donkeys appears on a bronze plaque "Sheep Bites Donkey's Tail" in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Museum, with tigers occupying nearly half of the plaques.
In the middle, a donkey is running with its head down, and a tiger on the left bites the back of its neck, and the tiger's claws support the donkey's back, intending to throw down the donkey. The situation was already very critical, but I saw that the tail of the donkey was bitten by a panhorn sheep on the right side, and the tail was almost broken. Or because it is difficult to support, the donkey body is obviously pressed down, and it is difficult to escape. The composition of the plaque is peculiar, the carving is complex, the wrong gold lines of the sheep's head and the donkey's body are clearly visible, and the curly and stretched lines show the vitality and muscular strength of the three animals to the fullest.
Bronze plaque of "Sheep Bites Donkey's Tail". (Courtesy of Ningxia Museum)
This "Sheep Bites Donkey Tail" bronze plaque is rectangular, 11.4 cm long, 5.3 cm wide and 0.4 cm thick, with a flat round grommet in the left side and a double wear on the back, which is a product of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and was excavated from 1972 to 1983 in Guanma lake Han Tomb in Wuzhong City, Ningxia.
Before the introduction of the lion to China, the tiger was the most ferocious animal people had ever seen at that time, a symbol of strength, and a beast that warded off evil spirits and could give the wearer power and honor. According to historical records, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the nomadic peoples in the north of the mainland continued to move inward to the Yellow River Valley, whether it was the land of Guanzhong or the grassland outside Guanwai, the worship of tigers was equally eager, and people used the image of the tiger to create accessories, cars and horses to decorate, highlighting their status.
According to Li Jinzeng, director of the Ningxia Museum, in fact, the tiger worship of the northern nomads can be traced back to earlier, and the cultural relics accessories excavated by archaeology are very extensive in animal fighting themes such as "tiger eating donkey", "tiger eating sheep" and "tiger eating deer", although in the process of historical development, influenced by the culture of the Central Plains, the shape of the card ornaments is more decent in external performance, but the totem worship of the tiger in the inner spirit has continued.
"At that time, people were willing to make tigers into decorations to decorate themselves, and they definitely hoped to have the spirit of the tiger, the strength of the tiger, the prestige of the tiger, and hoped to dominate the party like the tiger." Li Jinzeng said, "Now folk worship of tigers also abounds, such as wearing tiger shoes and tiger hats. ”
According to the excavation data of the Ningxia Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, in addition to tigers, sheep and donkeys, domestic animal models such as horses, chickens and dogs have also been excavated from the Han Tomb of Guanma Lake, showing the types of livestock raised by people, and also showing that the animal husbandry economy that existed at that time was very developed in Ningxia.
Li Jinzeng said that the northern nomads have always been fierce, and their bronze culture is also in the same vein. The ancestors of different eras like to artistically express the animal life state and the fighting scene, but the more regular the shape of the instrument is, the free and lively atmosphere is reduced, which shows that the nomadic characteristics of the ancestors living in Ningxia have weakened, and the characteristics of the farming culture in the Central Plains have gradually improved.
Reporter: Xie Jianwen
Editors: Li Zhengyan, Luan Ruohui