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Turpan wooden figurines in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Turpan mud figurines Figurines excavated from Astana and Hahezhuo in Turpan City, Xinjiang, China. Located about 40 kilometers southeast of Turpan City, at the southern foot of Flame Mountain and north of the Ancient City of Gaochang, Astana and Hahezhuo is the tomb group of nobles and residents of the ancient city of Gaochang. From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, the ancient tomb group suffered from russian, British, German, French and Japanese people's many illegal excavations, some tomb figurines and cultural relics scattered abroad From 1959 to 1975, Chinese cultural relics archaeologists excavated and cleaned 456 tombs in the ancient tomb group, and together with documents, silk paintings, etc. a large number of groups of figurines were unearthed, the era was from the Western Jin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, and now the Xinjiang Museum, the Turpan Cultural Relics Depository and the Xinjiang Archaeological Research Institute.
Gaochang Ancient Kingdom
The theme and style of the Turpan mud figurines can be divided into three periods: the first period, which is the Stage of the Jin Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties (3rd to early 6th century AD), that is, the Western Jin Dynasty Tuntian Restoration of The Pengji Colonel to Gaochang County. The figurines are mostly wooden and rarely made of mud. The subject matter is people, pigs, cattle, ox carts, horses, camels, monsters, birds, etc. The wooden figurines are structured with tenons and rivets, and the techniques are simple and rough, and most of them are not colorful, but they can express the appearance, clothing and identity of the Hu and Han ethnic groups. The second period is from the middle of the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the early Tang Dynasty (6th to mid-7th centuries AD), that is, the gaochang dynasty. Wooden figurines coexist with clay figurines, and grass figurines appear. In addition to the theme of the first issue, wooden ducks, wooden pigs are reduced, and various honor guards appear. The wooden figurines are painted and the production tends to be refined. The third period is from the Sheng Tang Dynasty to the Middle Tang Dynasty (mid-7th century to mid-8th century AD), that is, the Tang Xizhou stage. In addition to painted wooden figurines, painted clay figurines appear in large numbers, as well as wooden bone painted silk figurines and very few face figurines. Themes include groups of honor guards, music and dance, polo, working women, and tall kings, samurai, tomb beasts, zodiac signs, horse-leading people leading camels, horses, camels, etc. The 2nd to 3rd period is the peak of Turpan mud figurine art, of which the most exquisite excavations of the Asta Zhang clan tomb group are the most exquisite. The theme and placement of the figurines, such as the honor guard figurines placed in the niches on the south side of the tomb, are basically the same as in the mainland.
Painted clay sculpture of the first town tomb beast
Painted clay sculpture town tomb beast
Figurines are the form of martyrs, and they can serve as slaves and guards for their masters. Chickens and porpoises can be served, and dogs and horses can be hunted. Figurines are not only servicers after the death of the master, but also musical and dance figurines and haiyou figurines for the entertainment of the master after death. In ancient times, most of the good people used dwarfs as gnomes, so "Huainanzi" said: "The dwarfs are troubled, and the lord of the people is prepared for pleasure." The earliest figurines were filled with living people and live animals, which was a period of barbaric and cruel history of slave society, and later replaced by wood, mud, pottery and other figurines.
Painted Heavenly King Stepping Ghost Wooden Figurines of the Tang Dynasty
Dancing figurines
(Pig) chicken head figurine
The figurines excavated from the Turpan tombs include human figurines, wooden plaques, cows, horses, camels, pigs, and duck figurines, and there are samurai figurines, equestrian figurines, honor guards, camel groom figurines, labor figurines, music and dance figurines, waiter teasing figurines, etc., and animal figurines also include town tomb figurines, zodiac figurines, etc. Numerous funerary figurines are an important part of the treasure house of continental sculpture art, and it reflects the true face of social life in the Turpan Basin at that time with its broad cultural background. In particular, the rich and diverse artistic varieties such as acrobatics, solo dances, horse dances, lion dances, song and dance dramas, puppet plays performed by the figurines in the excavated figurines have reproduced the colorful and complicated performing arts stages of the ancient western regions, and also provided us with valuable image materials and vivid material evidence for our study of ancient art in the western regions.
Tang wood carving top pole upside down figurine
1. Acrobatics
The top pole inverted wooden figurines excavated from Tomb No. 336 of Astana, that is, the Xizhou period of the Tang Dynasty, show us the style of western acrobatic art at that time with the wooden pole on the head and the difficult movement of the one-armed upside-down boy on the pole.
The art of carrying people on top poles has a long history, and was popular in the Central Plains as early as the Han Dynasty. Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, there have been frequent cultural exchanges between the Central Plains and the Western Regions, especially in the Turpan region, which has always been dominated by Han Chinese, and has also established kingdoms ruled by Han Chinese. Here in the Tang Dynasty tomb unearthed upside-down wooden figurines and tendon fighting figurines and other acrobatic performance objects, it is difficult to say who influenced whom in the Central Plains and the Western Regions, this kind of acrobatic art that prevailed in the Central Plains, but also prevailed in the Turpan Basin of the Tang Dynasty Xizhou, which is the best proof of the mutual exchange, complementarity, integration, innovation and common development of the two arts.
Painted clay sculpture of a male figurine dancing horse
2. Horse dance
The horse dancing clay figurine unearthed from astana No. 336 base is white, the body is hollow, and the limbs are exposed like human feet. Riders wear black heads, green coats, and either dance with both hands or hold the reins in one hand and whip with the other.
The performance of this horse dance, the limbs under the belly of the horse, should be the legs and feet of the two performers. According to Wu Zhen's article "Five Cases of Teasing Figurines from Tomb 336 in Astana", it may be two or three people performing. If there are three people, except for one who is riding on a horse, and the other two who are hiding in the horse's body, as shown in the figurine. If performed by two people, a hole is pierced in the horse's back, and the former person's upper body is exposed, and the lower body is placed in the horse's belly, exposing the legs as the horse's front legs. The latter. An invisible horse's belly, with both arms attached to the former's waist, so that you can dance and jump freely. From this, it can be considered that the possibility of the duo performing is very large.
The western region is rich in good horses, and this horse dance game is very popular in the folk. According to records, every January, the Kamezi Kingdom will hold a bullfighting and horse-camel performance for seven consecutive days to watch its victory or defeat. In the court of the Tang Dynasty, horse dance performances also appeared, but they were no longer performed by people dressing up, but by well-trained horses.
The white horse dancing clay figurines unearthed from the Turpanji burial are performed by people dressing up, which is completely different from the real horse high-altitude performance in the Central Plains. However, the Western Regions are the origin of "Tianma" and "Western Pole Horses", and the Western Domain Horse has always been loved by the Emperors of the Central Plains. These "hissing Qingyun" and "Tengkunlun" Tianma were used to "fight horses" in Guizi, and there were horse dance performances in Wusun, and after being transported to the Central Plains Dynasty, in addition to being used for military purposes, some were also selected to be domesticated as dancing horses, which is very natural. The "horse dance" in the western region and the "horse dance" in the Central Plains have a certain internal connection, and there are different forms of expression, and the two are between similarity and dissimilarity. The connection and difference between the records of the Central Plains classics and the horse dancing figurines unearthed in Turpan are another empirical evidence of the mutual influence and innovative development of the cultures of the two places.
Painted clay sculpture lion dance figurines
3. Lion Dance
The lion dance clay figurines unearthed from the astana tomb in Turpan were dressed up by two people. The head and body of the lion are a complete shell, the appearance is pressed with grates to cut out the whole body, the lion's head is high, and the limbs are exposed under the body, obviously the legs and feet of the two actors. This "woolen" lion dance clay figurine is a lion dance that simulates folk performances, which is roughly the same as the traditional lion dance in mainland China, which has been passed down to this day.
Lion dance flourished in the western region, and after it was introduced to the Central Plains, the "lion langs" who first performed lion dances in the Tang capital Chang'an were all Guizi people. Lion and lion dances were undoubtedly introduced to the Central Plains through the Western Regions. The description of the basic form of the lion dance performed in the Central Plains in the historical texts is basically consistent with the costume and performance method of the lion dance clay figurines unearthed in Turpan. The prevalence of the Central Plains 45 is the result of the influence of the 14th Five-Year Plan of the Western Regions, and the excavation of lion dance clay figurines in Turpan is a footnote to the identification and echo of an art form in the Central Plains and the Western Regions.
Colorful clay sculptures wearing masks dance figurines
Colorful clay sculpture of large-faced dancing figurines
Fourth, large noodles
The "big face" dancing clay figurines unearthed from the astana tomb, the face of the beard, the beard, the rhinoplasty, the angry eyes, the open mouth whistling. Wear a narrow-sleeved white green battle dress, pedal leather boots, squat on the left leg, and extend the right leg obliquely to the right for lunge. The arms are suspended to the sides, the right arm is obliquely extended to the right, the left arm is bent slightly downwards, and the original object in the hand no longer exists. Judging from the appearance and dance posture, this figurine should be the "big face" in the Tang Dynasty trick music.
"Big face" is also known as "substitute face", that is, the mask trick, there are also face makeup instead of masks, this "big face" dance figurine is to paint the face without wearing a mask. Wearing a face mask or drawing a face mask can make the face hideous and majestic, mainly to show the bravery of the character, in order to increase the deterrent and strengthen the dramatic effect.
The Tang Dynasty's "big face" drama is as described in the "Jiaofang Record": The King of Northern Qilan Ling, Chang Gong, who fought bravely but was beautiful like a woman, felt that he was not enough to deter the enemy, so he put on a fierce wooden mask to meet the enemy during the battle, so he broke the Zhou army. In order to praise his great wisdom and courage, posterity will dance with a large face.
"Big Noodles" were passed down from the Western Regions to the Central Plains. However, as far as Xizhou in the Tang Dynasty, a place where the Han regime ruled and the Han population was absolutely dominant, it must also be influenced by the prevalence of "big noodles" in the Central Plains, and combined with the strong local characteristics of the locality, the "big noodles" dance was created and performed, forming a local art species, and leaving a valuable relic of the large face clay figurines as an empirical evidence for future generations when discussing the performing arts.
Painted "Stepping Lady" clay figurines
5. Hopson
Tomb No. 336 of Astana unearthed two clay figurines of a man and a woman, and the male figurines have not been published, and it is difficult to see their appearance. According to Mr. Wu Zhen's account, the male figurine wears a thick white (the color has fallen off) to the robe, the left hand is like a support staff, and the right arm is naturally forward, and the steps are staggered. The face of this figurine was originally painted red, with black whiskers and sideburns, drunken eyes and hazy eyes, and the face was puffy, as if it was caused by long-term rewards. The figurine hood is long, the skirt is hanging down tightly around the neck, the upper body is naked and painted flesh colored, the lower part is a long green skirt, and the left arm is exposed, indicating that the skirt is broken. Her right foot tends forward, her left arm swings back, her right arm flexes forward, and her whole body swings from her waist. Although the figurine wears women's clothing, the facial expression is witty, the lips are slightly convex, and it is concealed by a short beard, showing that the male plays the female role, that is, the "fake woman". Mr. Wu Zhen performed the Tang Dynasty "Hopson" play "Ta Shaking Lady" for this group of clay figurines.
Regarding the "Ta Shak niang", according to Cui Lingqin's "Jiaofang Record" as follows: "Ta Sha Niang, there are people in Northern Qi with the surname Su, Bao Nose, Shi Bu Shi, and self-proclaimed Lang Zhong. Alcoholics and alcoholics, every time they are drunk, they beat their wives, and the wives complain to the neighbors. When people get it: the husband wears the woman's clothes, Xu Bu enters, and sings. With each fold, the bystanders shouted in unison and the clouds: 'Shake and come, step on the pain of the mother, and come.' "With its steps and songs, it is shaken; For its unjust, so it is bitter; His husband, on the other hand, made a fight, thinking that he was laughing. ”
As early as the Han Dynasty, there were "women relatively superior", King ChenLiu of Wei made Xiaoyou a "demon woman of Jiangdong", The Southern Qi Eastern Emperor "blew a song and made a daughter", and the Tang Dynasty was more popular in the form of "making fake women", all of which were men dressed as women. When Tang Gaozu made more than 500 people dressed in women's skirts to fill the loose music and dance team, it was a large-scale "men dressed as women". Turpan has always been a Han inhabited area, and in the Xizhou period of the Tang Dynasty, when the Han culture was flourishing, the song and dance figurines of men dressed as women in tombs were the Central Plains Han customs of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, which was completely in line with the actual social situation of Xizhou at that time.
In the capital city of the Central Plains, the Xicheng people sang Hopson as a female and a male as a student, reproducing the original performance form of the Western Regions on the Central Plains stage; in the Turpan region of the Western Regions, it was the Men who dressed as women to play the Han Chinese Hopson "Stepping On the Mother", and transmitted a form of "husband wearing lady's clothes" and different stages for men and women when the Central Plains performed this play to the frontier Xizhou. This cultural phenomenon of mutual exchange and mutual penetration has a long history and is still of practical significance.
Painted clay wood tire eunuch figurines
6. Puppets
The tomb of the male couple in Asta has unearthed a number of wooden figurines, all of which are painted dolls in silk clothes, that is, various wooden figures of the Puppet Play of the Tang Dynasty.
These "carved wood for play" puppets, both men and women's heads are carved in wood, painted faces, chests glued with wooden strips under the neck, twisted into arms with paper, and wearing brocade silk skirts. Among them, there are male puppets wearing black crowns, yellow silk clothes, tuned belts, white pants and black leather boots, "funny jokes" in expressions, crooked mouths, flying eyebrows, laughing and mocking, and the clown image is vivid Obviously, they are puppets who are performing song and dance.
Blacks teased the figurines
Housework figurines
The above-mentioned excavated figurines and sculptures all have distinct Han cultural characteristics. This is because, since the Western Han Dynasty set up a lieutenant in Gaochangbi, through Gaochang County, Gaochangguo and the Tang Dynasty Xizhou period for more than 800 years, the Turpan Basin was basically under the control of the Han regime, and the Han population accounted for the absolute majority, so han cultural concepts and cultural arts and etiquette customs inevitably became the mainstream of culture in this region. Figurines and sculptures unearthed in Turpan, such as the upside-down wooden figurines of the top pole, the clay figurines of the white horse dance, the clay figurines of the lion dance, the clay figurines of the large-faced dancing, the clay figurines of the stepping lady and the silk puppets, etc., can be found in the Tang Dynasty literature, and there are corresponding Central Plains art forms compared with these figurines and sculptures, so as to sort out the clues of interconnection and mutual influence. These large numbers of Tang tomb figurines and sculptures, as well as the cultural characteristics of the Central Plains han Dynasty, provide rich and valuable materials and materials for the study of the funerary history, art history, cultural history and even the study of history, archaeology, sociology and frontier science in the history of mainland sculpture.
Resources:
Xinjiang Youth Publishing House, Wang Rong, "Echoes of Western Culture"
Xinjiang Education Publishing House, Concise Reader of Local History of Xinjiang
Baidu Encyclopedia
Baidu Images
Interesting articles from past issues:
Old Fan Man talks about the Western Regions: The Statue of Fuxi Nuwa - Ancient Gao Changguo Surprises the Human Genetic Code
Old Fan Man talks about the Western Regions: the spread of Central Plains culture in the Western Regions
1300 years ago, Bu Tianshou, a primary school student in the Western Regions of Tang Dynasty, opened his school with oil poems
Xinjiang Tuvan fur skis, why is Altay the origin of human skiing?
Box or dumplings? Gu Ailing's favorites, from the Winter Olympics to the Silk Road Gaochang
"Furnace Street", "Cheshi Lane", "Nianzi Ditch", "Water Mill Ditch", Urumqi those place names with industry color
Construction began on the seventh day of the first lunar month, and it is said that the "Gongfu City" in Urumqi 80 years ago
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the god of wealth was greeted, and it was said that urumqi was the "god of wealth building" in that year
Culture run Xinjiang Dawu City, ergong or ergong?
Culture runs the city of Dawu in Xinjiang, and the history of Tuntian is seen from the place name of Urumqi
Culture runs Xinjiang Dawu City, tourist attractions - Urumqi those ditches
Author's introduction: Xiyu Lao Fan, a post-80s western culture enthusiast, a senior historical researcher in the middle school entrance examination, focuses on Xinjiang's historical and cultural writing and the history education of the middle school entrance examination, and believes that helping others is to help yourself.