introduction
"Chew the five colors of the Lingzhi, Xiangsheng Nine Tips." "Touching the Fish and Asking How Much Is the Lotus Root Silk" summarizes the whole body of a person into nine tricks. Usually everyone will use the seven tricks to describe a person's angry state, but for the nine tricks do not necessarily know what is, not that the nine tricks do not exist, in fact, in ancient times, the ancients needed to block the nine tricks when burying concubines, so the common eyes, ears, mouth, nose and anus are eight of them, where is the last trick?
01
In ancient times, the funerals of dignitaries and nobles were very luxurious, not only reflected in the pomp and circumstance of their funerals, but also in the handling of remains. The human body has two ears, two nostrils, two eyes, one mouth, one anus, one front yin nine tricks, in order to avoid the leakage of the essence of the corpse, they will block the nine tricks of the corpse.
The stopper used in this process is not an ordinary wooden stopper. It is a jade vessel with antiseptic function in legend, so the plugs used by these palace nobles are also jade plugs.
▲ Ancient corpse protection map
In addition to preventing the leakage of human essence, there is another more important reason. The ancients would soak the body with mercury once before people were buried, and the nine tricks of the human body were likely to introduce mercury into the internal organs of the body, resulting in damage to the body, so it was essential to plug the plug. But the ordinary plug can not achieve the effect of waterproof silver leakage,
So Yu Sai became the best choice. In addition to having to use the jade plug to seal the nine tricks, they are also very particular about the use of the jade plug.
▲General jade plug illustration
First of all, each jade plug has its own exclusive name, in addition, each jade plug must be a prescribed shape, once it is not a prescribed shape, the craftsman must explain the matter.
Otherwise don't think about living anymore. The name of the jade plug about these nine tricks is also interesting, the mouth is called jade, and the eye is called 瞑目,
The ear is called earplugs, the nose is called nasal plugs, and the anus is called plugs.
02
Behind the specialized names, these specialized jade plugs also have special shapes. Most of the shape of the jade is the shape of a cicada, which still depends on the characteristics of the cicada itself. Cicadas are originally larvae living underground, and after a period of growth, they break out of the soil, and then molt and exchange for new life. And the cicada's eating habits are relatively simple,
Usually only drink dew. So putting a cicada in the mouth of the deceased means that although the person has died, it is not really dead.
▲Cicada jade in the mouth
Representing that in another world, he is still a person of high moral character, and he can also be rejuvenated through transformation. As for the jade grip in his hand, although it was not within the Nine Tips, it was also a very important existence. In the eyes of the ancients, people can not die empty-handed, so they have a lot of funerary goods, in addition, they also need to hold things in their hands.
The jade grip in the hand is mostly in the shape of a pig, because the pig represents wealth and can be perfectly integrated with the human hand.
▲ Holding jade in the shape of a pig
In addition to these two more special jade plugs, most of the jade plugs in other places are in the usual shape and do not have a very special place, but it is worth mentioning the front vulva plugs of men and women, one is cylindrical and the other is triangular. This difference was also found in the tomb of Liu Bei's ancestor Liu Sheng. When the tomb of Liu Sheng and his wife was unearthed, there were many precious treasures,
These expensive things also reflect liu Sheng's luxurious life on the other hand, and even death does not forget to bring these belongings into the ground.
03
This excavation also unearthed two sets of nine-trick plugs. Judging from the jade plugs of the two couples, the jade plugs of the mouth, ears, eyes and nose are roughly the same shape, the only difference is that the genital covers of the two of them, the genital cover on Liu Sheng's body is cylindrical, which is made of jade qun.
Women, on the other hand, are of the triangular gui type. According to the ancient definition of Gui and Chun, they are actually one of the six Rui, representing beautiful things.
▲ Jade plug excavated from Liu Sheng's tomb
However, since they are all beautiful things, why there are different shapes, which is surprising. Judging from the appearance of these two, the men are barrel-shaped and nothing special, while the women's are obviously triangular shapes, which makes everyone think. In ancient times, the triangle represented the meaning of the growth and germination of all things, and at this time it was used on the female body,
Does this mean that women are the spirits of all things and can promote the growth of all things? Further, this is actually an illustration of women's reproductive ability.
▲ Stills of ancient women in TV series
They pinned their hopes for the future of the family's incense on the woman, and although the person had died, they could pray that these dead people would bless the living and reproduce more offspring. You know, in ancient China, it has always been its highest wish to have children and grandchildren and enjoy the happiness of the world, and in the seven sins prescribed for women,
There is also one called childlessness. If she has not been able to produce offspring when she marries into her in-laws' family, then the woman is not far from being abandoned.
epilogue
No matter what the shape of the jade plug is, this is actually the custom of the ancient people, and now people can only feel it as a cultural influence, which is also because the modern land is relatively tense, and most of the deceased people can only turn into a pot of ashes and be buried in a place the size of a palm. In addition to the restrictions of land, the price of cemeteries is also a matter of consideration. Therefore, as a modern person, it is good to be buried well, who dares to ask for such an exquisite funeral.
Resources:
"Touch the fish and ask how much the lotus root has silk"