In 1957, in Dengzhou, Henan, in the middle of winter, the villagers did not care to rest and prepared to build a water canal while the farmers were idle. I didn't think that under the canal was the "fairy world", so that even experts sighed: the wisdom of the ancients can not be underestimated.
At that time, dozens of villagers in Xuzhuang, Dengzhou, were preparing to dig a canal around the field, and only then did they dig a prototype with a hoe, and found that the soil on a certain piece of land seemed a little strange: the villagers used their hands to open the soil, but found that it was a brick, and it was an ancient brick with a carved pattern.
Could it be a brick that the ancients happened to leave behind? With such doubts, the villagers continued to dig down and around for a while, only to find that it was a continuous patch of ancient bricks. Such a discovery made the villagers dare not continue to work, and hurriedly reported it to the county cultural relics protection department.
Soon, the archaeological team came to investigate near the canal, and sure enough, they found an ancient tomb, and although the scale was not large, it was quite exquisite from the external structure. However, as soon as the archaeological team entered the burial chamber, everyone's faces were full of disappointment. It turned out that the tomb was actually visited by tomb thieves one after another, and the burial items inside had already been hollowed out.
However, the biggest difference between tomb robbery and archaeology is that tomb robbery only cares about whether it can be sold, while archaeology will try to find any clues about history. Although the tomb has been stolen many times, the portrait tiles on the tomb wall have been preserved intact. After the experts cleaned up and calculated, these portrait bricks reached about 90,000 pieces, and most of them are still colorful under the erosion of time, depicting a wonderful "fairy world" for future generations.
These portrait bricks are about 38 centimeters long, about 19 centimeters wide, and 6 centimeters thick, and the error between tens of thousands of portrait bricks is extremely small. According to the analysis of experts, the inscriptions and story content on these portrait bricks should be from the Southern Dynasty period, so this ancient tomb has become the only Southern Dynasty colored brick tomb found in the Central Plains.
These tens of thousands of portrait bricks can actually be divided into three categories, the first type is actually the classic theme of the ancient feudal dynasty, that is, the story of filial piety, such as the famous "Guo Ju Burier" and other stories (of course, it is not desirable from today's point of view); the second type is the battlefield theme, such as the "War Horse Portrait Brick" in it depicts two war horses, one of which is a white horse with black armor, and the other is pink, with a beautiful walking posture. So, what about the third category?
The third type of theme is the most peculiar of them, that is, the portrait brick of the "fairy tale". According to the analysis of experts, it depicts many myths and stories that are only recorded today, covering Taoist culture and Buddhist culture:
For example, the portrait brick depicts the famous "Prince Qiao", and there is also a saying that it is Believed to be Ji Jin, the son of King Ling of Zhou. When he was young, this man was talented and clever, and his music was comparable to the sound of nature, which attracted birds and animals to listen. Later, he met the Immortal Fuqiu Gong by chance, went to Song Mountain to practice, and eventually ascended to heaven to become an immortal.
For example, the portrait brick also depicts the four ancient gods such as Xuanwu, Qinglong, and White Tiger, and the posture is different from the image of the present and future generations, reflecting the change in the ancient people's understanding of the image of the gods.
These exquisitely made portrait tiles fully reflect the people's views on life, the world and even ghosts and gods during the Southern Dynasty period, and are rare historical materials.
Unfortunately, because all the burial items in the tomb were stolen, not even the epitaph was left, so that the identity of the owner of the tomb is still an unsolved mystery. However, judging from the scale and exquisiteness of the portrait bricks, the owner of this tomb is likely to be a military general of the Southern Dynasty, and the official title will not be too low.
Today, these exquisite portrait bricks are arranged as national treasures for exhibition at the National Museum of China, the Henan Museum and the Dengzhou Museum, telling the world about the unique cultural characteristics of the Southern Dynasty.