In archaeology, cultural relics are a microcosm of the society at that time; in the tomb of the King of Chu in Xuzhou, a large number of luxurious lacquerware has been unearthed; although these lacquerware have decayed, experts can still imagine through the fragments how magnificent the tomb of the King of Chu was at that time; in it, experts found some details, and people saw through them: the original King of Chu had such a taste! What's going on? Let's take a look!
According to professional terms, the "spatial location" of lacquerware is a "detail" and a "microscopic scenario" of Xuhan society, reflecting the "overall macro scenario" of the society at that time - the background of the maker and user of lacquerware; in terms of geographical space, Xuzhou is dominated by plains, there are a small number of hills in central and eastern Xuzhou, and the Xuzhou Han tombs are basically concentrated in the hilly area around Xuzhou City; according to the current excavation situation, the Tombs of Xuzhou Han Tombs with lacquerware are, the Han Tombs of Shiqiao Village in Yangzhuang Township, Xuzhou, the Han Tombs of Xuzhou Lion Mountain, and the Han Tombs of Xuzhou Houloushan , Xuzhou Kuishan Township Hanshan Village Han Tomb, Xuzhou North Dongshan Han Tomb... These Han tombs are spatially geographically distributed in the hills and highlands of the four directions, and are mainly based on the tombs of the Chu kings, so it can be seen that lacquerware is an indispensable living vessel for the emperors of the Han Dynasty; therefore, the "material system" of lacquerware is first related to the life situation, institutional culture and ideological characteristics of the King of Chu; because during the Han Dynasty, the feudal state "system is the same as the central government", especially the important feudal state of the Chu State, all the regulations of the King of Chu are exactly the same as the imperial court; so it can be said that the Xu Han lacquerware reflects the macro life situation of the ruling class of the Han Dynasty. Institutional culture and ideological characteristics.
On the other hand, the "type and material" of lacquerware is also a detail in the theory of "situational archaeology"; the type is the model form followed in the manufacture of utensils, and the material is the texture material used according to the needs of the manufacture of utensils, which together reflect the formal ideas and material concepts promoted by the maker of the utensils and their users, and also highlight the "ritual identity" of the use of lacquerware.
In terms of vessel type, Xuzhou Han tomb lacquerware modeling mainly includes imitation animal images, imitation copper pottery and adapted to life utensils, etc., imitation animal images such as the lacquer zun excavated from Xuzhou Shiqiao Village, or the foot hoof shape and bear shape; imitation copper pottery such as Xuzhou northern suburbs of Dustpan Mountain No. 5 Han Tomb, excavated lacquer painting pottery Ding-type bronze, Xuzhou Black Mountain Head Western Han Liu Shen tomb excavated relics clay lacquer plate; adapt to the use of lacquerware, Xuzhou City Gushan West Han Tomb unearthed cylindrical lacquer eyebrow pencils.
As one of the "microscopic details", the material of lacquerware can not only reflect the "macroscopic social situation"; from this aspect, we can also see the life taste of the king and queen of Chu; how to understand this?
Xuzhou Han tomb lacquerware production materials in addition to the lacquer, mainly wood, bone, jade, copper, gold, silver, agate, turquoise and fibers, etc.; from the excavated lacquerware, Xu Han lacquerware is mostly wood and other metal objects and stone mixtures, such as Xuzhou DongdianZi Western Han Tomb unearthed lacquer pencil hard wood, with iron core, external paint; Xuzhou Shiqiao Village unearthed lacquer head is wooden, inlaid materials such as gold and silver, agate, turquoise, etc.; Xuzhou Shiqiao Village unearthed lacquer case foot and case fence are wood, decorative materials are copper The lacquerware in the tomb of King Chu of Lion Mountain in the eastern suburbs of Xuzhou is copper, wood and other substances, as well as silk fabrics, etc.; more inlaid with jade pieces and silver buckles.
From the above examples, we can not only see that the ruling class such as the King of Chu did their utmost luxury in their lives; we can also see their aesthetic ideas of advocating gold, silver and jade.
In addition, the King of Chu in the Han Dynasty also attached great importance to "innovation" and "sense of design"; this was particularly prominent in the production of lacquerware; for example, lacquerware production materials in addition to traditional wood, but also boldly used bone, fiber, lacquer cloth, etc.; such as Xuzhou Black Mountain Head Western Han Liu Shen tomb excavated relics a pair of six Bo chess, its overall application of large lacquer, the edge decoration and the central box and chess pieces, are bone; and then such as Xuzhou City Dagushan No. 2 Han Tomb, unearthed lacquerware are tires, "silk" that is, linen, is a fiber material, the production method is to mix the silk and mud, After drying and molding, paint is then brushed; also, a lacquer bag was excavated from the tomb of Liu Zhi of The Shanxi Han in Cuiping, Xuzhou City, which is made of cloth; that is, after special treatment, the cloth is painted; because the lacquerware has the advantages of good texture, beauty, and long storage time; so the lacquer cloth was very popular at that time!
On the whole, the shape and material of Xu Han lacquerware together reflect the formal aesthetic concept of the King of Chu, highlighting their preference for luxury, the pursuit of novel ideas and artistic taste.
[References: "Xuzhou Lacquerware Examination", "Cultural Relics", "Two Han Civilization"]