The reporter learned from the Hunan Provincial Museum on the 24th that recently, the Hunan Provincial Museum for the first time systematically cleared the unstructured textiles unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb, and the latest discovery was that the Diamond Pattern Qi unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb had woven characters, etc., filling the research gap in related fields.
On the 21st, the Hunan Provincial Museum completed the systematic inventory of cultural relics excavated from the Mawangdui Han Tomb, and orderly numbered all the cultural relics that were not recorded in the warehouse, and cleared out more than 21,000 pieces of the collection. Among them, there are more than 19,000 textile libraries and more than 1,700 lacquered wood libraries.
This is Yu Yanjiao (right) guiding the staff to clear the cultural relics excavated from the Mawangdui Han Tomb. Courtesy of Hunan Provincial Museum
Dong Xianyan, deputy research librarian of the Hunan Provincial Museum, who has long been engaged in the protection, restoration and research of ancient textile cultural relics, said that due to the large number of silk fabrics excavated earlier, the fragments of broken pieces and the "silk bricks" formed by a large pile of textiles adhered to and piled up have not been graded and recorded, and are only preserved as data and cultural relics. In this clearance, experts archived fragments with information, certain characteristics and significance.
"The purpose of clearing the treasury is to better protect and preserve cultural relics." Yu Yanjiao, director of the Mawangdui Han Tomb and Collection Research and Exhibition Center of the Hunan Provincial Museum, said that writing was found in the fragments of Lingwenqi during the qingku. "This is the first time that the diamond pattern qi excavated from the Mawangdui Han Tomb has woven characters, which is a typical seal and reflects the superb textile weaving skills of the early Han Dynasty."
This is a yellow-brown bird diamond pattern excavated from the Mawangdui Han Tomb "embroidery by the clouds". Courtesy of Hunan Provincial Museum
In addition, experts found new patterns of silk fabrics in the qingku, enriching the understanding of tomb cultural relics. Yu Yanjiao said that in the longevity embroidery, it was originally thought that there was only a dragon pattern, and this time the phoenix pattern was found. Mawangdui phoenix bird pattern is the standard image of the phoenix bird in the early Han Dynasty, inheriting the Chu style of phoenix bird, implying beauty, auspiciousness and longevity, which is in line with the Han Dynasty's desire for immortality and feathering and ascension.
This is the silk field "longevity embroidery" excavated from the Mawangdui Han Tomb. Courtesy of Hunan Provincial Museum
Experts from the Hunan Provincial Museum also further studied the only "feather appliqué silk" excavated in China that uses feathers as coffin decorations during the clearance process. "Ancient documents have recorded the use of paintings to make coffins, but the use of feathers as coffins is the only one found so far." Dong Xianyan said that there may be 3 to 4 kinds of feathers in the shape analysis, but due to the strong carbonization, it is difficult to determine which kind of animal the feathers belong to.
This is a feather appliqué silk excavated from the Mawangdui Han Tomb. Courtesy of Hunan Provincial Museum
Excavated from 1972 to 1974, the Mawangdui Han Tomb is the tomb of the three families of the Western Han Dynasty Changsha State Minister and The Yuanhou Licang family, and more than 3,000 precious cultural relics have been unearthed, including more than 700 exquisite lacquerware with intricate craftsmanship, more than 500 pieces of finely woven silk clothing, etc., which is one of the world's major archaeological discoveries in the 20th century. Among them, the remains of "Mrs. Xin Chai" excavated from Tomb No. 1 are the longest-preserved wet corpses found in the world.
Reporters: Zhang Yujie, Sun Yi
Editors: Leng Yanyan, Luan Ruohui