April 28,
The Shaanxi Archaeological Museum is open to the public on a trial basis,
Among them, the "Tombstone of Shangguan of Tang Zhaorong" exhibited
It was during the Wu Zetian period
The epitaph of Shangguan Wan'er, the "Prime Minister".
The epitaph records that "Princess Taiping mourns",
There are also praises such as "Long live a thousand years, the sound of pepper flowers",
It means "her character will always be praised by the court women."
Can't help but make people very curious,
Shangguan Wan'er and Princess Taiping
What is the real relationship between these two legendary women of the Tang Dynasty?
What is the background in which the epitaph was born?
Before her death, Shangguan Wan'er should have been closely related to Princess Taiping
On April 29, Li Ming, the archaeological leader of Shangguan Wan'er's tomb, was interviewed by the media in response to public curiosity about the relationship between Shangguan Wan'er and Princess Taiping.
According to Li Ming, there is no clear record of the intersection between Shangguan Zhaorong (Shangguan Wan'er) and Princess Taiping in the main history, but there is reason to infer that the two should be close.
Shangguan Wan'er's own lineage is very clear. Her grandfather was Shangguan Yi, the chancellor of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, and a famous poet of the early Tang Dynasty, whose poetic style was called 'Shangguan Ti'; her father was called Shangguan Tingzhi.
Shangguan Yi had drafted an edict for Emperor Gaozong to abolish Empress Wu, and after Wu Zetian came to power, he and Shangguan Tingzhi were killed, when Shangguan Wan'er was not yet one year old, and she and her mother were assigned to the court and entered the palace as servants.
Therefore, she came from a family of official eunuchs and grew up in the imperial palace. ”
At the age of 13, Shangguan Wan'er was promoted by Wu Zetian to a talented person, and since then she has been accompanied by a "secretary" of Wu Zetian, and Princess Taiping is the only daughter of Wu Zetian, almost the same age as Shangguan Wan'er.
Li Ming believes that the two not only know each other and have friendships, but also may hold the same position and use each other politically.
In the first year of the Shenlong Dynasty (705 AD), Shangguan Wan'er was registered as Zhaorong. According to the Tang system, Zhaorong was the second rank of the emperor's nine concubines, second only to Zhaoyi. However, Shangguan Wan'er enjoyed the same level of treatment as a female court official, not as the emperor's spouse.
Death of Shangguan Wan'er
After Wu Zetian's death, Shangguan Wan'er fell into a complex political struggle between the Li Tang imperial family and the Wu family, and died in the first year of Jing Yun (710) at the age of 47.
Regarding the cause of her death, the description in the Epitaph is: "And accompanied the Qing Ban, entrusted to the Qiankun; ”
In fact, in the Tanglong coup d'état launched by Li Longji, the king of Linzi County at that time and later Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, he became a victim of the political situation.
Li Ming believes that although Li Longji nominally joined forces with Princess Taiping during the Tang Long coup, he was also jealous of women taking power, so he took the opportunity to kill Shangguan Wan'er.
Moreover, archaeology found that Shangguan Wan'er's tomb was seriously damaged, possibly because Tang Xuanzong believed that she was a party of Princess Taiping and carried out the "official destruction of the tomb".
"I think Shangguan Wan'er is a rare female politician with certain achievements in ancient Chinese history, and she is also a famous female poet of the Tang Dynasty, and some works have been handed down.
She happened to be at the center of the political vortex during the "most dangerous" and frequent period of coups d'état in the Tang Dynasty, and at the same time it was a special era of female rule, and there were many opportunities.
If she was born in the early Tang Dynasty or the late Tang Dynasty, she may spend an ordinary life like many ordinary women, but she will not become a legend. Li Ming commented.
Shangguan Wan'er's death was certainly something that Princess Taiping did not want to see.
According to the "Epitaph", the princess "word and purpose", asked Emperor Ruizong to order the burial of Shangguan Zhaorong, and made a high evaluation of it in the zhiwen, and even had the words "Long live a thousand years, the sound of pepper flowers".
"In ancient China, 'pepper room' was often used to refer to court women, so this sentence means that her character will always be praised by court women." Li Ming said that the reason for such high-profile praise was also that Princess Taiping used it for her own use in order to win over the political forces of Shangguan Wan'er's life.
What does Shangguan Wan'er's epitaph look like?
The Tomb of Shangguan of Tang Zhaorong was excavated from August to September 2013 by the Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology in the tomb of Tang Zhaorong Shangguan excavated by the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute in Deng Village, Beidu Town, Weicheng District, Xianyang City, and was previously exhibited at the Forest of Steles Museum and the Xi'an Museum.
After the recent completion of the country's first archaeological museum, the Shaanxi Archaeological Museum, it was also the first batch of cultural relics on public display to meet the public.
Li Ming introduced that this well-preserved Tang Dynasty epitaph is not only because it records the specific information such as the lineage, experience, cause of death, and burial place of the zhi lord Shangguan Zhaorong, but also has very important historical value, and it is also a wonderful work of art, which is worth carefully viewing.
The epitaph is bluestone and square. The epitaph cover on the top surface, the seal book "Tang Dynasty Zhaorong Shangguan Inscription" is engraved in the middle of the bardo, the peony strip is engraved on the ground reduction line around the top surface and the four sides, and the four brakes have vivid images of Rui beasts; the zhishi is high and wide, 15.5 cm thick, the thin line chess grid, the yin carved canonical book 32 lines, the full line of 33 characters, a total of 982 words, the four sides in the overall beaded frame minus the ground line carved twelve zodiac signs, lined with tangled branches honeysuckle.
Tang Zhaorong Shangguan's epitaph
In Li Ming's view, from many aspects such as stone, carving, calligraphy, and patterns, it can be regarded as the superior work of high-grade epitaphs in the late Tang Dynasty.
"Among the six or seven hundred epitaphs of the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute, The Epitaph of Shangguan Wan'er can be said to be more famous, because the Zhi Lord is a well-known historical celebrity, and this face-to-face impact and feeling is more direct."
The national treasure-level cultural relics group was unveiled
From April 28 to July 31, the newly built Shaanxi Archaeological Museum will be opened to the public on a trial basis.
On the first day of the trial operation of the Shaanxi Archaeological Museum, many netizens have gone to punch the clock, and some netizens said that "it is indeed extraordinary" and "this is the paradise of archaeologists".
What precious cultural relics are on display at the Shaanxi Archaeological Museum?
In addition to the epitaph of Shangguan Wan'er, the Shaanxi Archaeological Museum also exhibited 5215 cultural relics such as the first epitaph of Yan Zhenqing Shudan excavated through archaeological excavations, and the earliest male cream cosmetics found in China, of which more than 90% of the precious cultural relics were first seen with the public.
Just next to the exhibition cabinet of Shangguan Wan'er's epitaph, The "Luo Wanshun Epitaph" handwritten by Yan Zhenqing is also a precious and rare Tang Dynasty cultural relic.
Yan Zhenqing's book "Luo Wanshun's Epitaph" (partial) (Source: Culture and Art Newspaper)
Written by Yan Zhenqing at the age of 39, The Epitaph of Luo Wanshun provides a precious physical illustration for the study of his early calligraphy style, which can be called the artistic "ceiling" of the "epitaph world".
A small bronze jar excavated from the Spring and Autumn Ruiguo Ruins in Liujiawa, with residues of water, calcium carbonate and animal oil, is the earliest male cream cosmetics found in China.
Bronze jar (Source: Shaanxi Tv News)
More than 20 stone carved human heads have been excavated from the Shi'an site, which is the first time to be found in China.
Stone carved human head (Source: Shaanxi Tv News)
The astrological map at the top of the Han Dynasty brick chamber mural tomb in the canal tree trench beside the Yangqiao Bridge in Jingbian is the first twenty-eight star map with four elements of star shape, star number, image and inscription found in mainland archaeology, and it can be seen that there are seven stars of the Big Dipper, Fuxi, Nuwa, Niulang Weaver Girl, etc.
Twenty-eight stars at the top of the tomb (Source: Shaanxi Television News)
A complete set of musical figurines excavated from the tomb of Lady Hou of Xiling County of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the musical figurines are all sitting on the ground, playing instruments intently, holding musical instruments in order of sheng, vertical basket, drum, flute, qin, ser, Ruan Xian, this is the first time in the tomb of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Guanzhong found vertical basket.
Music Figurines Group (Source: Shaanxi Television News)
In addition, the Shaanxi Archaeological Museum also has Zhou Dynasty wooden figurines obtained in complete form by pouring gypsum liquid, Tang Dynasty camel figurines that are still resident after thousands of years of true beauty, and Western Zhou Dynasty chema pits and Yuan Dynasty mural tombs that were completely moved into the museum after being "packed" as a whole.
In addition, there are many precious cultural relics such as stone carvings and jade from the Shi'an ruins, bronzes from the Western Zhou Dynasty, and pottery figurines in the Tomb Area of the Han Dynasty Emperor Baling.
Can I visit?
Many netizens said that they "want to see it" and "want to open their eyes", and asked when the museum will open? How do I buy tickets? The Tour Guide is here!
Opening hours
It will be open to the public on a trial basis from April 28 to July 31, 2022.
Opening hours: 09:00-17:00 (ticket exchange time: 9:00-12:00 13:00-16:00) 16:20 Closes at 16:20, closed on Wednesdays (except statutory holidays).
How to book tickets
During the trial operation of the Shaanxi Archaeological Museum, the tickets are free, and the online real-name reservation reservation is implemented.
Offline bookings are not accepted for the time being, and online real-name reservations need to be made 5 days in advance (including the same day) through the "Archaeology Shaanxi" WeChat public account, with a daily limit of 1500 people.
Visitors who have successfully made an appointment must come to visit with the reservation QR code, the original valid ID card, and a 48-hour negative nucleic acid test certificate.
Reservation channel: "Archaeology Shaanxi" WeChat public account
Epidemic prevention policy
Visitors from high- and medium-risk areas and cities (including a 14-day residence history) will not be accepted.
Visitors must hold the Shaanxi One Code Pass (green code), the communication big data itinerary card (green), their valid identity documents (original) and a 48-hour negative nucleic acid test certificate and temperature measurement before entering.
5215 artifacts
Outlining the "genetic map" of Chinese culture,
I believe that with the continuous excavation of archaeologists,
These artifacts will bring us more surprises!
What is your impression of Shangguan Wan'er and Princess Taiping?
Source/CCTV Network Integrated Nandu News, Shaanxi Tv News, People's Network
Editor-in-Charge/Pastoral Yellow Butterfly
Review/Zhifei
Producer/Xi Shujun
Quality content to watch anytime!