In the Lijiashan Bronze Museum in Yunnan, there is a special type of cultural relics - shellfish containers, which can be regarded as the "piggy bank" of modern people. In the second large-scale archaeological excavation of Lijiashan, the copper shell vessel excavated from tomb No. 69 is one of the typical representatives of such artifacts. It has a peculiar shape, exquisite ornamentation, exquisite craftsmanship, and is very ancient Dian style. Especially on the lid with a diameter of less than 30 centimeters, there are 35 human sculptures alone, and there are altar pillars, etc., which truly reproduce the scene of sowing sacrifices at that time, and such a grand scale of three-dimensional sculptures is amazing. This special "piggy bank" is not only a symbol of wealth and power, but also carries the function of sacrifice and "history book".
Typical representation of funerary artifacts
Following the first official archaeological excavation of Lijiashan from January to May 1972, the second large-scale excavation was carried out from December 1991 to April 1992, and the excavation cleaned up 58 tombs and excavated nearly 3,000 cultural relics (sets), which was rated as one of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in China in 1992. In 2001, the Lijiashan Ancient Tomb Group was announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit.
The large-scale tombs of the second archaeological excavation of Lijiashan have a history after the implementation of the county system in Yunnan. During this period, the great slave-owning nobles of the Dian still had a very high social and economic status. In their tombs, the burial utensils are still mainly composed of traditional Cultural Artifacts of the Dian Ethnic Group composed of copper shell vessels. Today, the copper shell vessel of the sowing sacrifice scene in the collection of the Lijiashan Bronze Museum in Yunnan is a representative burial vessel.
This bronze shell vessel of the sowing sacrifice scene has a height of 40 cm and a lid diameter of 28.8 cm. The decorative layout of the utensils is the same as that of ordinary shell containers, with several parts: the foot, the body, the ear, and the lid. Among them, the body is brass drum shaped, the drum surface is covered, there are 4 semi-circular ears at the carcass waist, 3 flat feet at the bottom, and the carcass waist part is decorated with feather rowing pattern, dance pattern, string pattern, triangle tooth pattern and concentric circle pattern. On the cover of the vessel, which is known as the "art stage", there are as many as 35 "performers" and sculptures of animals such as horses, which are vivid.
The copper shell vessel is an exquisite work of art photographed by Shenyang
Among the 35 "performers", the most eye-catching is a gilded woman who rides on her shoulders, with a silver bun on her head, a serious look, and two people in front and behind each pole, who has a different status, and she is obviously the host of this event. Two men on horseback opened the road in front of you, and one man held a long-handled umbrella in his hands to shade him. The entourage consisted of shovelers, basket bearers, seed bags, and stick holders, and some characters were greeted with a respectful look. There are also some "foreigners" who watch the ceremony, such as Kunming people with braided hair, tall men wearing tights and pants...
From the figure sculpture of this artifact, it can be seen that the inhabitants of the ancient Dian Kingdom are a national community composed of multiple ethnic groups, including both indigenous peoples and foreign nationalities; from the perspective of the social status of various ethnic groups in the Dian Kingdom, there are also juche ethnic groups and non-juche ethnic groups. In the society at that time, the ruling clique of the Dian Kingdom headed by the King of Dian and his relatives was the representative of the main ethnic group of the ancient Dian State, and the Kunming people were only the "ethnic minorities" under the King of Dian at that time.
Every character on the shell container comes to life
The scene of the Dian people sowing seeds and sacrifice is truly reproduced
This copper shell vessel in the scene of sowing sacrifice has a trumpet-shaped altar pillar in the middle of the lid, which intuitively expresses the faith form of the Dian people, and it is also the embodiment of this shell storage vessel as a religious memorial function.
The "sacrificial pillar" activity is an ancient custom of several ethnic minorities in Yunnan, whether it is a copper pillar or an iron pillar, or a wooden pillar, its religious meaning is to sacrifice the god of the land (ceres) in order to pray for a good agricultural harvest and the prosperity of the six animals. This copper shell vessel of the sowing sacrifice scene shows the ceremony of "nationality in the field", which truly reproduces a sowing sacrifice activity related to agriculture of the Dian people, showing a peaceful and civilized scene.
The main part of this copper shell vessel in this sowing sacrifice scene is a copper drum, which belongs to the more standard shizhai mountain-shaped copper drum. As we all know, the copper drum was born earlier than the shell vessel, and it was not only an important musical instrument for the ancient southern ethnic minorities, but also its ceremonial function was self-evident. Judging from the use of this artifact, it has evolved from a percussion instrument to an instrument for storing wealth, and it also participated in the sacrificial activities as a shell vessel, indicating that the bronze drum was used as a shell vessel, and its social status in the ancient Dian state should be extraordinary.
Sowing sacrifice scene copper shell vessel (partial) Courtesy of Yunnan Lijiashan Bronze Museum
A symbol of wealth and power
This bronze shell vessel for the sowing sacrifice scene is from Tomb 69. The burial utensils excavated from the tomb are mainly tools and decorations, and in the several large-scale artifacts excavated that show the identity and status of the tomb owner, the host and the central position are all women, so experts basically agree that the no. 69 genus of female tombs. Archaeological studies have shown that the figure on the lid of the shell vessel is often related to the activities of the tomb owner before his death, and the gilded woman on the lid of the shell vessel should be a portrayal of the tomb owner's image before he died.
In the tombs of the ancient Dian Kingdom, there were few female tombs and even fewer female high-class tombs. Judging from the specifications and shape of the artifacts excavated from this tomb and the entire tomb, with the number and exquisiteness of the burial utensils and the status of the tomb owner reflected in the bronzes, this woman is at least of the aristocratic level.
This artifact also shows that the ancient Dian state shell vessels were excavated in large tombs, which were treasure chests used by the king and nobles of Dian to hold sea shells and treasures, and were also unique artifacts in the ancient Dian bronzes. Especially since the Western Han Dynasty, a large number of real-life scenes have appeared on the shell vessel, which is not only a microcosm of the life of the ancient Dian people, but also a symbol of the power of the Dian king and nobles.
In the center of the lid is the altar pillar Shenyang Photograph
Carry the function of "history book"
So far, the earliest shellfish storage vessels in Yunnan have been excavated in Lijiashan, Jiangchuan, and archaeological studies have shown that the dating is in the Warring States. The emergence of shellfish containers is based on the extensive use of sea shells, and the existence of a large number of sea shells in the tomb sites of the Yunnan Kingdom is a historical necessity for the development of the social commodity economy in the Dian Kingdom to a certain stage. From a broader perspective, economic and trade exchanges between Yunnan and the surrounding areas have been carried out for a long time, and the sea shells unearthed in the ancient Dian Kingdom may reflect the function of "international currency" to a greater extent.
Where did the sea shells come from during the ancient Dian Dynasty? According to expert research, the inland areas of the mainland do not produce sea shells, and the sea shells unearthed in Yunnan are all foreign products, produced in the Indian Ocean and the western and northwest pacific oceans, etc. The sea shells are transported to Yunnan from the southern Silk Road.
At the same time, the shell vessel is a typical representative of the bronze art of the Yunnan Kingdom, and the large-scale three-dimensional sculpture on the lid represents the highest achievement of the Yunnan bronze lost wax method casting. In the case of this copper shell vessel in the sowing sacrifice scene of Tomb No. 69, the body and the lid are cast separately, and the lid can be moved. In terms of technology, the body adopts the conforming method, that is, the casting process known as the Tao Fan method in later generations, there are casting marks in the abdomen, bottom, foot and other parts, the pattern parts of the Fan and Fan are misplaced, and the abdomen and bottom have more regularly arranged gaskets. The three-dimensional sculpture on the lid adopts the lost wax method, also known as the wax removal method, the wax extraction method or the wax removal method, that is, the people, animals, etc. on the cover are molded with wax, the mud is applied to the model, and the casting is assembled one by one on the cover. In order not to fall off the statue, the root of the statue has a convex mortise, drills out the mortise according to the layout, and then welds and reinforces it after riveting, which reflects the artistic style and casting skills of the ancestors of the Yunnan Kingdom.
Sowing sacrifice scene copper shell vessel Courtesy of Yunnan Lijiashan Bronze Museum
Speaking of which, China's lost-wax technique appeared later, but at the latest in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period or earlier. In the late Spring and Autumn period, the lost wax method has been widely used. During the Warring States period, the scope of application of the lost wax method expanded, and the technology became more mature. In the Han Dynasty, the castings of the lost wax method were mostly practical utensils, and the shell container was one of the representative works of the lost wax method in this period.
Shell containers are not only the highest representatives of ancient Dian bronze art, but also the most important cultural carrier of the social history of the Dian kingdom. More than 2,000 years ago, the State of Dian was in a stage of social development similar to the "Miscellaneous Chieftains" or "Fang Kingdom", the Dian people did not have a systematic and mature text to record history, and the shell container carried the function of the "history book" in a sense, through the intuitive and sensual three-dimensional sculpture group portrait, reproducing the vivid scene of the social history of the State of Dian, which is the most real and reliable material for posterity to study the civilization of the ancient State of Dian. At the same time, the owner of the shell vessel is either rich or expensive, and the group sculptures on the lid mainly reflect the activities of the princes and nobles of the Dian Dynasty, which are vivid reproductions of the superstructure of the Dian state society, carrying the most core and critical part of the ancient Dian bronze culture.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened Dian, the shell vessel culture gradually declined in Yunnan, and the late Western Han Dynasty quickly disappeared into the clouds of history. However, as a unique artifact of the ancient Dian State, the shell vessel has its presence in the history of the Ancient Dian State from the Warring States period to the early Eastern Han Dynasty. It can be said that the culture of shell storage is consistent with the history of the ancient Dian kingdom.
Source: People's Daily client Yunnan Channel, Yuxi Daily
Editor-in-charge Luo Qiuxu
Proofreading Julie
Editor Li Rong