Age: Late Pingcheng period of the Northern Wei Dynasty, most likely during the Taihe period (477-489)
Name: Compound petal six-petal lotus pattern double-headed human face beast coffin ornament
Specific function: coffin door pin or coffin nail
Material: Copper gilded
Specifications: Diameter 6cm, height 2.7cm, raised round nipple nail diameter 3cm
The front of the utensil is convex round nipple nail-shaped, the upper yin is carved with a double-headed human-faced beast, six petals around the nipple nail lotus petals for a week, heavy layered double petals, the leaf end is pointed and slightly upturned, the lotus petal is fat and wide, the bulge is upright, the petal root is straight and slightly retracted, there is no gap between the roots of the lotus petal, the front is gilded, the solid casting, there are iron core marks in the back, which should be left after the iron nail is broken.
Such patterns are mostly found in many material and cultural relics of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which are described as follows:
Wadang
Lotus pattern tile began to prevail in the Northern Wei, its lotus pattern is roughly divided into two types of compound petals and single petals, the academic community according to the classification analysis of the early and late excavations of architectural sites in different periods, mostly believe that the Northern Wei lotus pattern tile stage evolution and change characteristics are: the number of lotus petals from less to more; The petals change from compound petals to single petals, wide petals to narrow petals, and beware of the transformation from the convex round nipple nails surrounded by small beads to the lotus canopy, that is, the entire lotus pattern evolves from the wider multi-petal treasure lotus to the narrower and narrower single-petal lotus, and the image of the lotus gradually develops from a relatively large image to an abstraction. (1) The lotus pattern of the artifacts in this article undoubtedly belongs to the early lotus pattern, which was popular in the later period of the Pingcheng Era of the Northern Wei Dynasty and the early Luoyang Era of the Northern Wei Dynasty, around the first year of the Northern Wei Dynasty (466) to the second year of the Jingming Dynasty (501). （2）
Northern Wei heavy layered double petal treasure decorated lotus pattern tile
Grotto trims
Lotus pattern in the Yungang Grottoes can be described as ubiquitous, or for the edges, or for the tuanlian, etc., and the lotus fringing similar to the artifacts discussed in this article, such as the seventh cave and the tenth cave, and the seventh cave of the tuanlian lotus petals although the seven petals, the central bulge is not as high as the artifacts discussed in this article, but the overall style of the two is more similar. The seventh cave was excavated in the early years of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the tenth cave was built in the eighth year of Taihe (484) by the pet castrated Erqing (Wang Yu) and presided over by Bi in the thirteenth year (489). （3）
Lotus trim in the seventh cave of Yungang Grottoes
The Seventh Cave of the Yungang Grottoes
Lotus trim in the tenth cave of Yungang Grottoes
Doorpin
The tomb of Song Shaozu unearthed stone rafters, yungang grottoes tenth cave front room north wall middle of the lintel each has five lotus pattern door hairpins, Yungang grottoes tenth cave back room south wall of the middle department lintel on the five lotus flower metamorphosis door hairpins. The two lotus-patterned door hairpins, whether they are decorated with lotus petals or the round breast nail ornaments with towering and raised in the center, are very similar to the utensils discussed in this article, and the "lotus flowers + Buddhas" of the lotus flower-incarnated door hairpins and the "lotus flowers + two-headed human-faced beasts" discussed in this article are the artistic expressions of "lotus flowers + Buddhas or auspicious rui", and the ages of the two should be comparable. Song Shaozu was buried in the first year of Taihe (477) as "Youzhou Assassin History, Duke of Dunhuang". (4) The construction date of the tenth cave of the Yungang Grottoes will not be repeated in the above table.
Song Shaozu tomb stone rafter lotus pattern door hairpin
The gate in the middle of the north wall of the front room of the tenth cave of the Yungang Grottoes
The lotus flower metamorphosis door in the middle of the south wall of the back room of the tenth cave of yungang grottoes and close-ups
Coffin ornaments
Ningxia Guyuan Northern Wei lacquer coffin tomb, Datong Lake Northeast Wei No. 1 tomb have unearthed lotus pattern coffin (nail) ornaments, the former unearthed nine pieces, copper, the edge of a week is lotus petal shape, the middle bulge is hemispherical, carved on a small dragon, diameter 4.2 cm, (5) from the picture viewed as a six-petal compound petal lotus pattern, due to heavy rust, the carved dragon pattern has been obscured, and it is not known whether the dragon pattern is cast or carved; the latter is a lotus flower metaplasia model, bronze gilded silver, diameter 5.7 cm, the middle is a semi-relief lotus flower metaplasia image, ten petals of the lotus pattern, the periphery opens two holes , iron nails and etching marks remain in the hole. (6) Both are artistic expressions of "Lotus Life + Buddha or Xiangrui", and the age should be similar to the artifacts discussed in this article. The owner of the Guyuan Northern Wei Lacquer Coffin Tomb was buried in the thirteenth year of Taihe (489) as "the envoy, the general of Zhenxi, and the general Of Gaoping Town, Feng Shigong", (7) the tomb of Wei No. 1 in the northeast of Datong Lake was buried at the latest when it was during the Taihe period of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the tomb owner "was a noble and nobleman in the Pingcheng area". (8) It is worth noting that according to the excavation data and the picture view, both are molded and cast non-solid copper.
Coffin ornaments excavated from the Northern Wei lacquer coffin tomb in Guyuan, Ningxia
The coffin decoration and line drawing excavated from the Wei No. 1 Tomb in the northeast of Datong Lake
In summary, it can be seen that in the context of the popularity of lotus patterns in the second half of the 5th century of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the age of the artifacts discussed in this article is likely to be around the Time of the Taihe Period of the Northern Wei Dynasty (477-489), according to the characteristics of the artifacts themselves, it can be named "compound petal six-petal lotus pattern double-headed human-faced beast coffin ornament", and the function may be coffin nail hat ornament or coffin door hairpin.
The image of the multi-headed human-faced beast was first seen in the Portrait Stone of the Eastern Han Dynasty (In the general article of the Bengong General Issue: Good you emperor!). The image of the two-headed human-faced beast, which is more similar to this article, is most similar to the one in the Xuzhou Portrait Stone Museum, which is undoubtedly the same as the emperor, originally as the Han Dynasty Wei Xiangrui, and later became the theme of the Taoist deity, and was integrated into Buddhist mythology during the Northern Dynasty. It is likely to have been given a new connotation to Buddhism, and given the function of the artifacts discussed in this article as burial utensils, it is likely to be the protector of the sacred beast that guides the tomb owner to the Buddha's kingdom.
It is worth noting that the two-headed human-faced beast human face hair (crown) style on the artifact appeared in the Dunhuang murals at the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, such as the hair (crown) style of the 248 Cave Flying Mural, which also provides another support for the age of the artifact.
In addition, as mentioned above, it is known that the tomb owners of such artifacts excavated from the tombs are all high-ranking officials and nobles of the Northern Wei Dynasty, or are generals of the town capital or are assassins, but the diameter of the coffins excavated from the Feng Shi Cemetery is only 4.2 cm, and although the diameter of the Wei No. 1 Tomb in the northeast of Datong Lake is close to the diameter of the artifacts discussed in this article, the diameter is slightly smaller than that of the artifacts discussed in this article, but it is far less thick and heavy, and the gilded silver rather than gilded, the grade of the instruments discussed in this article can be seen.
In the Pingcheng period of Northern Wei (398-494), nearly a hundred years later, in the early Pingcheng era, the rulers of Northern Wei were still busy with the situation of the division of the northern masses in the late Sixteen Kingdoms, and only 22 tribal wars were launched during the reign of Emperor Daowu; in the middle of the Pingcheng era, he tried to solve the "brother-in-law and brother" tradition of the tribal era with the system of "prince supervision of the state", and finally completed the war to unify the north during the Taiwu Emperor Taiyan period (435-440), which laid a stable foundation for the prosperity of Northern Wei. In the late Pingcheng period, although the Chang clan gained power and the Feng clan interfered in the government, the Northern Wei social economy gradually prospered through reform, the culture became more and more integrated, and Buddhism developed unprecedentedly, especially during the reign of Empress Feng and the Ling Dynasty (9), only under such social soil will it give birth to many of the above-mentioned unified, thick and exquisite material cultural heritage.
Huang Anling portrait of Huang Anling in TengXian County, Emperor Duniang, provided a picture
In the first year (122) of the Western Hukou of Fujian County, the portrait of the stone man Emperor Du Niang provided a picture
Dunhuang Western Wei 249 Cave Dong Pi Zhi and Xiu Ji (Emperor of Ren) Du Niang provided a picture
The image of the two-headed human-faced beast in the Xuzhou Portrait Stone Museum
The headdress style of the Flying Sky Mural in Cave 248 of Dunhuang around the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty
Reference quotes:
(1) (2): "Study on the Wadang and Other Tiles in Luoyang City, Northern Wei"; "Staging and Research on the Wadang Excavated from Luoyang City in Han Wei";
(2:) (9): The Pingcheng Period of the Northern Wei Dynasty
(3): The discovery and research of "The Reconstruction of the Great Grotto Temple Stele in Daikin Nishikyo-Kyo-kyeong-kō-San":Discuss some issues related to the Unoka Grottoes with Professor Toshio Nagahiro of Japan
(4): Briefing on the Excavation of the Tomb of Shaozu of the Northern Wei Dynasty and Song Dynasties in Datong City
(5): "The Discovery of the Lacquer Coffin of the Northern Wei Tomb in Guyuan"
(6) (8): Tomb No. 1 of Wei in the Northeast of Datong Lake
(7): "Guangzhai Zhongyuan: The Evolution of Tomb Culture and Society from Tuoba to Northern Wei"
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