The dragon jumps to the gate of heaven to welcome the new year, and the tiger lies in the phoenix and has another spring.
This year is the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese lunar calendar, and at the Yingtianmen Ruins Museum in Luoyang, a "Picture Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Tiger Cultural Relics" spanning 6,000 years has attracted many citizens and tourists.
According to archaeological findings, at least during the Yangshao culture period, the image of the tiger appeared in large quantities on various utensils. According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the brothers of Shendi Yulei specialize in catching demons and ghosts, and they carry a fierce tiger by their side, which is good at devouring all kinds of ghosts, so the ancients placed stone tigers in front of the mausoleum, hoping that they could protect the dead from ghosts. Today, let's follow our lens and take a look at the "tiger" elements on the Shinto of many "celebrity" tombs in this exhibition!
Huo went to the sick tomb stone carving Fu Hu
The tiger is 84 cm high, 200 cm long and 60 cm wide. The craftsmen chose irregular wavy undulating stone materials, using the rough natural surface of the stones, using the shape of lines and body twists to vividly express the fierce and untamed "tiger nature".
Tang Gaozu Li Yuan presented the stone tiger
In the mausoleum of Li Yuan, the ancestor of Tang Gaozu, a pair of stone tigers were once placed outside the four shrines, standing on a rectangular base, about 2 meters high, about 1 meter wide, and about 2.5 meters long. Shi Hu was tall, walking slowly forward, with a low head, bulging cheeks, teeth exposed, and eyes fixed.
Wu Zetian's mother, Yang Shunling Shihu
On August 2, 670, in the first year of emperor Gaozong's reign (670), Yang Shi died, and Wu Zetian became empress, participated in political affairs, and posthumously named Yang shi the princess of Taiyuan, calling Yang's tomb "Taiyuan Princess Garden Bed" or "Taiyuan Princess Tomb". In front of the tomb sealed in the shape of a bucket, there are 1 stone stele, 1 pair of stone pillars, 2 pairs of stone tigers, 2 pairs of stone sheep, and 1 pair of stone people, a total of 13 stone carvings.
Shunling Stone Tiger is located on both sides of Yang's Tomb Road, and there are four existing tigers, which are listed on both sides of the tomb road, the west side of the stone tiger face east tail west, the east side of the stone tiger face west tail east (obtained from archaeological excavations in 2006, after restoration). The Shunling stone tiger carving is between the tiger and the lion, with a height of 1.55 meters, a length of 1.45 meters and a width of 0.7 meters. The front legs are upright, the hind legs are bent, and the left front leg of the northern stone tiger is damaged, and the stone seat is buried in the ground. The stone tiger carvings are vivid and majestic, inheriting the stone carving tradition of the Southern Dynasty, but the shape is more realistic and the style is closer to realism.
Shangguan Wan'er's epitaph side stone tiger
At the end of August 2013, archaeologists excavated a Tang Dynasty tomb in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, and unearthed the epitaph of Shangguan Wan'er. Epitaph cover and zhishi four sides of the subtracted ground line carved peony, honeysuckle, rui beast, zodiac sign, this tiger is the tiger in the twelve zodiac signs engraved in the epitaph, beautiful shape, fine engraving, in the Tang Dynasty epitaph line carved decorative pattern is a rare superior work.
Zhao Kuangyin Yongchang Mausoleum Stone Tiger
Yongchang Mausoleum is a Song tomb with well-preserved ground remains. Between the south gate of the cemetery and the milk platform is Shinto, the distance between the east and west of Shinto is 45 meters, and various stone elephants are symmetrically arranged, from south to north, there are 1 pair of Huabiao, stone elephant and elephant tamer, Bird of Luck, and Horned End, 2 pairs of stone horses and horse control officials, stone tigers, and stone sheep, 3 pairs of "domain envoys", and 4 pairs of Wen and Wuchen. There are stone lions outside the four gates of the cemetery, warriors in the north of the stone lions in the south gate, and palace people in front of the mausoleum platform inside the south gate. Shihu is 1.7 meters high, 1.3 meters long and 0.55 meters wide. The body is huge, the carving is meticulous, and the shape is realistic.
Bao Zheng tomb stone tiger
Bao Zheng's tomb is located on the ridge of Houquangou Village, Zhitian Town, Gongyi City, and there are still 5 stone elephants on both sides of the Shinto Shrine in front of the tomb. This stone tiger is one of them. (Luo Bao Rong Media Luoyang Network reporter Wang Ruoxin text/photo/video correspondent Zhang Xian)