▲ Ma Xiaoling of Ningxia Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology gave a lecture on "Li Xian, a great general of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and his Silk Road Treasures from Archaeological Discoveries"
introduction
The "Jinglun Lecture Hall" of the China Silk Museum invited Ma Xiaoling, associate researcher of the Ningxia Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, to introduce the "Tomb of Li Xian of the Thorn History of Wonju" during the northern anniversary. The keynote speaker took the title of "Li Xian, the Great General of the Northern Zhou Dynasty from Archaeological Discoveries, and His Silk Road Treasures", which corresponded to the unit of "The History of the Thorns of Wonju" in the special exhibition "The Silk Road Years - Small People in the Great Era", and introduced this legendary figure who had been a horse warrior all his life. Southern Ningxia was an important area of the Western Wei "Guanlong Clique" and later Northern Zhou, and after the 1980s, the tombs of Northern Zhou elite figures Yuwen Meng (565), Li Xian (569), and Tian Hong (575) were discovered. As a pillar general in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Li Xian had long controlled the power of the Silk Road fortress in Dunhuang, and found luxury goods from Central Asia, West Asia, and even the distant European continent in his tomb, which was of great value for studying the history of this period, cultural exchanges between China and the West, and ethnic relations.
First, Guyuan overview
Guyuan is located in the south of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River, surrounded by Gansu Province on three sides, southeast and west. Since ancient times, Guyuan has been a multi-ethnic transportation and military necessity. The Book of Poetry Xiaoya June is a poem that records and praises the victory of the "Yin Jifu" in the Northern Expedition ordered by King Xuan of Zhou, and it mentions: "Thin harvest of the fox, as for The Great Plain", scholars generally believe that the Great Plain is guyuan in southern Ningxia and the area around Qingyang and Pingliang in gansu in the east. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Guyuan was active with ethnic minorities such as Yiqu and Wushi. By the time of Emperor Mu of Qin, the Chronicle of the Xiongnu records that "in the north of Qi, Liangshan, Jing, and Qi, there were Yiqu, Dali, Wushi, and Shuyan Zhirong." In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu set up another Anding Commandery in the northwest of Beidi County, and the county ruled Gaoping. In the second year of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the town of Gaoping was established, and in the fifth year of Zhengguang (524), it was changed to Wonju. During the Han and Tang dynasties, it was successively called Gaoping and Wonju. The opening of the Silk Road and the influx of nomadic peoples from the north became a military and transportation center in the northwest region. In the Yuan Dynasty, Kaicheng Road, Prefecture, and Prefecture were established as the King of Anxi, and the King of Anxi had two palaces, one in Xi'an and the other in Guyuan. During the Reign of the Ming Dynasty, nine important military towns were successively established along the Great Wall defense line on the northern border, which were important fronts for defensive battles against the remnants of the Mongols. Guyuan Town is one of the famous nine-sided towns.
▲ Map of Guyuan
2. Archaeological discoveries of Li Xian's tomb
(1) Tomb shape system
In the southern suburbs of Guyuan, there is a flat and open mound, its southwest side is backed by The White Horse Mountain, and the southeast is flowing through the tributaries of the Qingshui River. In the Tang Dynasty epitaph, this place is called "Baidayuan", indicating that it has been an ideal burial place since ancient times.
In 1983, the tomb of Li Xian was discovered, the tomb sat facing north and south, and adopted a long slope tomb with multiple patio cave chambers, which consisted of a tomb passage, a patio, a cave, a Yongdao, and a burial chamber. Starting from the sloped tomb passage of about 42 meters long and about 1.5 meters wide, three patios are opened in turn to open the yongdao sealing bricks, and enter the square earthen cave burial chamber of 14 meters underground, with a length of 3.85 meters from north to south and 4 meters wide from east to west.
The tomb was excavated in the early years, and during the excavation, the "Great Zhou Pillar State General Hexi Cemetery Inscription" and the "Wei Dynasty Li Junjun Inscription" epitaph stone were cleared from Hou YongDao, which proved that the owner of the tomb was Li Xian, the assassin of Yuanzhou during the Western Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties, and his wife Wu Hui, the Great Wall Junjun, who were buried together in the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the fourth year (569). The chronicle recounts the main deeds of the tomb owner, Li Xian X, his grandfather, and his life. The other is the epitaph of Wu Hui, the owner of the female tomb, and wu was buried here for the second time after his death. In an inconspicuous place in the northwest corner of the burial chamber, "gilded gold and silver pots" and "glass bowls" were found.
▲ Guyuan southern suburbs of the land
▲ Location map of Li Xian's tomb, Yuwen Tai's tomb, Tian Hong's tomb and Shi family's tomb
(2) Tomb cultural relics
1. Painted clay figurines
Li Xian's tomb contains pottery, gold and silver, copper and iron, jade, glass, various color beads and other burial items. With painted pottery figurines as the bulk, more than 200 semi-molded painted pottery figurines were cleared from the Yongdao and the tomb chamber, including town tomb beasts, town tomb warriors, armored riding figurines, horse riding female officer figurines, blowing riding figurines, equestrian figurines, cage crown figurines, literary officials figurines, military officer figurines, hood figurines, Hu figurines, and female attendant figurines, reflecting the huge lineup of travel honor guards. Models of pottery livestock, pottery stoves, and wells have also been unearthed, which show the characteristics of the Northern Wei figurines in guanzhong from the perspective of the style of pottery figurines. According to the classification of northern dynasty pottery figurines, it generally includes four groups of contents: town tomb beast figurines, travel ceremonial guards, servant dance music, and kitchen utensils. Li Xian's tomb is basically available.
▲ Li Xian's tomb figurine array
2. Gilded gold and silver pot
Li Xian's tomb unearthed many imported products imported from Central Asia and West Asia. In the tomb is a gilded gold and silver pot, which is quite eye-catching. The decorative style of gold and silverware of the Sassanid Dynasty is followed. Although part of the Sassanid metalwork system, this high-hoop foot, streamlined handle vessel is typical of the Greek and Roman style. It is generally believed to have been made in the Bactrian region of Central Asia and is a product of the influence of Hellenism on the Bactrian region. The image of a Hu man with a high nose and deep eyes and a soft crown on his head cast at the top of the handle of the pot is considered by some scholars to be different from the image of the Sassanid Persians and belongs to the Bactrian people of Central Asia.
Three groups of six figures are pounded on the belly of the pot, which is thought to depict the famous story of the "Parris Judge" in Homer's Epic: the woman in Group B is Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and the young man standing in front of her is Paris holding a golden apple; Group C shows Parris kidnapping the beautiful woman Helen; Group A may be a scene where Helen returns to her husband Menelaus.
▲ Gilded gold and silver pot
▲ The parris judge story of Homer's Epic on the belly of the pot
3. Embossed decorative glass bowl
The convex decorative glass bowl found in Li Xian's tomb belongs to the travertine glass and is a typical Sassanid product. Since the late 1950s, a large number of such bowls and fragments have been excavated from ancient tombs in the Iranian plateau of Gilan Province. Fragments of glassware have also been excavated from the Okinoshima Shrine site in Japan and the kami-Kamo Shrine site in Kyoto. Todai-ji Temple, an imperial temple in the Nara period, still preserves Sassanid glassware, which is generally believed to have been donated by the Tang government or came through the Maritime Silk Road. The glass bowl of Li Xian's tomb has a clear chronology, which has a measuring effect on judging the age of such glass products.
▲ Convex nails decorate glass bowls
4. Iron knife
Li Xian's silver iron knife before his death, the existing length of 86 cm, due to the damage at the handle of the knife, it is speculated that the original length is close to 1 meter, which is the only well-preserved iron knife in the Northern Dynasty tomb seen so far. The shape of the knife is different from the "Ring Head Long Sword Style Sword Method" popular in the Central Plains before the Southern and Northern Dynasties. On one side of the sheath there are two vertical attachment ears, and there are protrusions on the ears. The knife belt was first fixed, and then two short knife belts were hung on the belt, this hanging knife method was first seen in Turkey in the 5th century AD, and then spread west through the Sassanid Dynasty to Europe, and east to China and Japan. Before the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Central Plains was popular with the Sword Sword Method. The material of the sword is wood, bone, metal or jade, fixed to the outside of the sheath, with rectangular perforations, used to penetrate the belt. The long knife excavated from Li Xian's tomb is a simple ring head, which is different from the numerous forms of instrument knives in the literature, and is speculated to have come from Central Asia or West Asia.
▲ Lee Hyun's sabre
▲ The Central Plains Sword Technique
5. Gold ring
A gemstone gold ring was unearthed from the coffin of Li Xian's wife Wu Hui, and a nude figure holding a curved garland was carved on the ring. In the middle of a Sassanid silver bowl in the Collection of the Franklin Museum in the United States, there is a nude goddess with a dancing garland, similar to the figure on the surface of this ring, and is presumed to come from the same motif. A similar motif comes from the Sassanid region, indicating that the gold ring was an imported product imported from Central Asia or the Sassanid region.
▲ Sapphire gold ring excavated from the tomb of Li Xian's wife Wu Hui
6. Tomb frescoes
Li Xian's tomb because of the relationship between theft and water, the preservation of frescoes is not good, the original tomb each building unit should be painted with murals, which is the common point of the large-scale tombs of the Northern Dynasty, Sui and Tang Dynasties found in Guyuan Nanyuan. Tombs in the Chang'an area generally make a ground battle layer when painting murals, then paint them with white and gray surfaces, and then paint murals on them. However, most of the tombs in the Guyuan area only flatten the wall, then paint the gray surface, and then paint murals on it, so it is often easy to fall off.
Li Xian's tomb is a single-chamber earthen cave tomb with a long slope tomb with three patios, and the content of the tomb murals is mainly composed of guards wearing large-mouth hakama pleated clothes, hand-held or shoulder-bound ring-headed ritual knives. A very important content in the Northern Wei Yiwei is that the doorman stands with a sword, and Li Xian's tomb Dao Yiwei follows the old system of the Northern Wei. The gate towers are painted above all three crossings. The first two-storey gatehouse painted by the first hole, and the second and third through the hole painted single-storey gatehouse, all have bucket arches. The burial chamber is painted with murals of the fans and attendants of the regiment and the trick music. The discovery of late Northern Dynasty tomb murals helps to understand the origins of Sui and Tang tomb murals. The painting of the tomb of Li Xian, the painting of the gate tower above the entrance of the cave, and the layout of the tomb room dominated by maids and tricks were all inherited by the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
In 560, when Emperor Ming of Zhou was dying, he said: "If you need for funerals, you should be frugal, and you should serve the times, and do not make them decorated with gold and jade." If the courtesy cannot be quenched, all the tiles are ordered... On the day of burial, choose a barren place, because the terrain is a grave, do not seal the tree. Before his death, Emperor Wu of Zhou also issued an edict advocating thin burial: "Funeral materials must be used sparingly and in accordance with etiquette, and the tomb is not a grave, and the canon has been passed since ancient times." It can be seen that the Northern Zhou Emperor advocated the concept of "thin burial".
▲ One of the tomb ritual guards
▲ Tomb Ritual Guardian Figure No. 2
▲ Tomb Road Yi Wei Tu No. 3
▲ The picture of the attendant holding a fan in the tomb
▲ Part of the figure of the attendant holding a fan in the tomb
▲ Tomb Trick Diagram
3. Li Xian and his subordinates
Li Xian (李贤), courtesy name Xianhe , a native of Gaoping, Yuanzhou , was an important political figure in the Northern Zhou Dynasty , and has biographies in the Northern Zhou Dynasty , the Book of Zhou , and the Book of Sui.
The Biography of Zhou Shu Li Xian records: "Zi Xianhe, its predecessor Longxi Chengji Ren also"; the Biography of Beishi Li Xian records: "Since yun Longxi Chengji renye, after the Han riding capital WeiLing." The tomb was lost to the Xiongnu, and the descendants lived in Northern Di. Later, he moved south with Wei and later returned to Pan and Long. ”
Li Xian's epitaph states that his person was "originally surnamed Li, and the Han generals also followed the mausoleum." The 10th Ancestor returned to... The Overseer of Wei Shengdi Qi Sheng Guangyuan, who had the whole world, led the countries to decide to support the proposal, chiseled stones to open the way, South Yue Yin Mountain, did his best to claw his hands, lived in a humerus, and built a country and supported it, because he thought that he was a clan. ”
Regarding Li Xian's family history, the above "Book of Zhou", "History of the North" and the epitaph all say that he was a descendant of the Han general Li Ling. This is not the case. Li Xian's ancestral name was "Qidi Gui", and in the history books, there are Xianbei people with similar names, such as the Sui Shu Yuwen Shu Biography: "The People of Wuchuan In Dai County." His original surname was Broken Wild Head, and he belonged to Xianbei Qiandougui, and later from his lord was Yuwen Shi"; "Book of Zhou Wen Emperor Ji": "The ninth to Hou Dougui, destroyed by Murong Huang, his son Ling Shiyan." ”
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was not uncommon for xianbei people to climb the famous door with surnames. Because after the Han surrendered Li Ling to the Xiongnu, there were wives who remained with the Xiongnu, so there were many followers. "Song Shu Suo Yu Biography": "Suo Tou Yu surnamed Tuoba Shi, its ancestor Li Ling, also after the Han general Li Ling, ling descended to the Xiongnu, there are hundreds of thousands, each with its own name, Suo Tou is also one." "Southern Qi Shu Wei Yu Biography": "Wei Yu, the Xiongnu species also." The surname is Toba. ...... In the beginning, the Xiongnu woman's name was Tuoba, and her wife Li Ling, Hu custom took her mother as her surname, so she was after Li Ling." It can be seen that Li Xian's distant ancestor was a humble person and had nothing to do with Li Ling.
Li Xian knew the way of loyalty and filial piety since childhood, and after losing his father at the age of fourteen, he took on the responsibility of raising his younger siblings. Legend has it that he once met an old man with white hair on his travels and said to him, "I am eighty years old, and I have met many people, and there is no one like you." In the future, you will certainly be a shepherd or a shepherd, and you hope to work hard to encourage you. ”
In the fifth year of Wei Zhengguang (524), the chieftain "Hu Chen" of Gaoping Town and the general Xianbei "Wan Qian Ugly Slave" called themselves "King of Gaoping", occupied the city of Yuanzhou, and declared himself emperor in 528. At that time, the Persian state wanted to sacrifice the lion to the rulers of the Northern Wei Dynasty, along the Silk Road through Gaoping, the lion was detained by the ugly slaves of Wan Qian, Li Xian went to suppress it many times, and then went to fight with Yuwen Tai, who was deeply respected and promoted to the posts of Fujun Grand General and Governor.
After the division of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Li Xian still held the town of Yuanzhou. In the second year of the Western Wei Dynasty (536), Li Xian quelled the rebellion of the Leader of the Western Wei rebels in Yuanzhou, "Doulu Wolf", and then promoted him to the post of Assassin of Wonju and took charge of military and political power. Under the management of Li Xian, Yuanzhou gradually became the base of the Yuwen family to support the Establishment of Northern Zhou by the Western Wei.
Li Xian's younger brother Li Yuan was also very famous, and Li Yuan's son was named Li Zhi. Li Yuan's father and son were involved in The struggle between Yuwen Tai's nephew Yuwen Hu and the crown prince for imperial power, Li Yuan and several of his sons were unfortunately forced to die, and Li Xian was implicated and dismissed, but he soon resumed his position and served as the assassin of Guazhou, indicating the power and influence of the Li family in the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
In March of the fourth year of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (569), Li Xian died of illness in Chang'an at the age of 66, and the emperor personally mourned and posthumously awarded him an official post. Li Xian's wife, Wu Hui, died more than twenty years before her husband and was buried elsewhere, and after Li Xian's death, the coffin was transported back to Guyuan and buried with his wife in Shengou Village, a rural area in the western suburbs of Guyuan. The epitaph records: "Don't open the temple, it is the day to move the couple in the artemisia, and the two souls are in the same cave."
4. Li Xian and the Viscounts
Li Xian and the princes are recorded in both the main history and the epitaphs, and the contents can be supplemented with each other.
1. Li Xianguan Jue
Li Xian's official history books record that he was appointed as the "Grand General of the Pillar State, the Governor of Dadu, the Military of Yuan, Jing, Qin, He, Wei, Xia, Long, Cheng, Feng, lingshi prefectures, and the history of the former prefecture", and was promoted to the title of "Duke Huan of Hexi". The Book of Zhou records it as "Duke of Xihe County"; the History of the North records as "Duke of Xihe County" and "Duke of Shangfeng County"; and "Duke of Hexi" in the Epitaph of Li Xian. In his wife Wu Hui's epitaph, li xian's official positions were not recorded elsewhere, such as "General of Zhenbei", "General of Zhengyu", "Governor of Dadu", "Scattered Horse Changshi" and so on.
2. Li Xian's viscounts
According to the Li Zhi, Li Xian had "the second son Xiang (Wu Zhi recorded as "second son Xiao Xiang"), the second son Lun, the second son Xiao Zhong, the second son Xiao Li, the second son Xiao Yi, the second son Xiao Liang, and the second son Bao Nan. According to the epitaphs of Li Xian and his wife Wu Hui, there are 12 records, and it is possible that Li Xian's wife is more than one. Or he is still young and has not been recorded in the history books.
Li Xianshizi's name, Li Zhi records: "Shizi Duan, envoy jiejie, riding the great general, Yi Tong Sansi, Dadu Governor, Ganzhou Assassin History, Huai Huigong." "Wu Zhi" recorded: "The East Palace washes horses." ”
The second son, Ming Ji, is recorded in the Li Zhi: "The second son Ji, the general of Pingdong, the right silver Qing Guanglu, and the governor of Dadu. The Book of Zhou and the History of the North are both clouded with "Duan Di Ji, Yi Tong Sansi", but there is no name of Li Ji in the Wu Zhi.
The second son, Minglong, recorded in the Li Zhi: "The second son, Long, was a great general who held the knot, rode a horse, a third division of Yi Tong, a governor of Dadu, and a marquis of Shile. "Wu Zhi" recorded: "The second son Yonglong." ”
Li Ji's younger brothers Li Chong, Li Rail, and Li Xun, the Book of Zhou recorded: "Ji Di Chong, the Duke of Taifu Zhongfu, Shangzhu Guo, and Guangzong County. The "History of the North" records: "Xun Di Chong, the word Yonglong." "Zhou Yuanju, with his father Xianxun, was given the title of Marquis of LeXian County."
Li Rail, Li Zhi recorded: "The second son, Shuai DuDu, promoted Bo." "Wu Zhi" recorded: "The second son filial piety." The "History of the North" records: "Ji Di Filial Piety".
Li Xun, Li Zhi wrote: "The second son inquired, the governor, the left attendant sergeant." The Book of Zhou records: "Filial piety is consulted." "Wu Zhi" recorded: "The second son filial piety." The History of the North was mistaken for Li Chong's brother.
Li Xian also had seven sons without a position and an official, and zhengshi was missing.
▲ One of Li Xian's epitaphs
▲ Li Xian's epitaph no. 2
▲ Li Xian recorded in the Book of Zhou
▲ Li Xian recorded in the History of the North
5. Li Xian's wife Wu Hui
Wu Hui, which is not recorded in detail in the Book of Zhou and the History of the North, only mentions her surname Wu. In the Wu Zhi, it is recorded: "Gaoping people ,...... Its predecessor Bohai was in vain. "It shows that Wu Hui is a Gaoping person."
Li Xian accompanied Yuwen Tai on his conquests and made many western tours of Wonju, and the history books record that Yu Wentai "feasted all day" in Li Xian's home and was close. Yuwen Tai entrusted his two children to Li Xian and his wife to raise, because when they were young, they had superstitious sayings that "it was not conducive to living in the palace", so they were fostered in Li Xian's home for six years. Of these two princes, one was Emperor Gaozu of Zhouwu "Yuwen Yong" and the other was "Yuwen Xian", the king of Northern Zhou Qi.
According to the Li Zhi, when Emperor Yuwen Yong of Zhou went to Yuanzhou, he said: "Taizu was rich in the Spring and Autumn period of the Emperor, and the Duke of Qi was in the year of Youchong, linggong was assisted, and the righteous master was still high." The gist of this passage is: "I lived here when I was very young. The process of raising up depends entirely on Lee Hyun, a native of Wonju. He is a man of merit and virtue, not only taking care of our lives carefully, but also tutoring us throughout our studies. "Expressed gratitude to the Lee family. Li Xian and his wife raised the crown prince with merit, yuwen Tai gave the surname Wuhui Yuwen clan, and accepted her as a niece, and posthumously awarded the title of "Great Wall County".
There are also many records in the history books about this matter.
The Book of Zhou records that "Gao Zu and Qi Wang Xianzhi were in their infancy, to avoid taboos, and to live in the palace, Taizu ordered Yu Xian's family to be in the palace, and the six years were returned to the palace." Because of the surname of Yuwen ( 宇文氏 ) , he was given the surname of Yuwen (宇文氏) and was raised as a niece and given a lot of money. ”
The Book of Wei records that the Great Wall County belonged to Yuanzhou, and Wu Hui may have been the first to be given the title of "Great Wall County", and in the following decades (Baoding II, 562 AD), the imperial court issued an edict: "Below the pillar state, above the Shuai Du Governor, the mother and wife are given the wife, the wife, the county jun, and the county jun are different" to show grace.
The "Wu Zhi" records: "The imperial court showed the merits of Fumen, and the wife practiced cultivation and posthumously gave it to the Great Wall County. "Thirteen years of the reign of the Emperor Ding Di September 26 GengShen Shen Xue Yu Zhou Zhi." There is no record in the Wu Zhi of giving a surname and adopting her as a niece, indicating that this great honor occurred after Wu Hui's death, during Yuwen Tai's lifetime. Wu Hui was given a gift in his early years, which shows the relationship between the Li family and the Yuwentai family and its status in the Guanlong Group.
▲ One of Wu Hui's epitaphs
▲ Wu Hui's epitaph no. 2
Vi. Northern Dynasty Sui and Tang Dynasty Tombs and the Silk Road in the Guyuan region
In addition to the tomb of Li Xian, the Guyuan area has also found "Guyuan Eastern Suburb Lacquer Coffin Painting Tomb", "Northern Zhou Tianhong Tomb", "Sogdian Shi Family Tomb into China" and other small and medium-sized tombs, which are important archaeological materials to understand the Wonju area and the Silk Road.
▲ Guyuan eastern suburb lacquer coffin painting tomb
1. Lacquer coffin painting tomb in the eastern suburbs of Guyuan, Northern Wei
Guyuan Eastern Suburb Lacquer Coffin Painting Tomb", is a single brick chamber tomb with a slope tomb passage, composed of four parts: sealing soil, tomb road, Yongdao and burial chamber, the tomb owner and his wife are buried together, sitting east and facing west.
▲ Lacquer coffin painting tomb excavation site
▲ Cross-sectional view of the burial chamber
According to the brick inscription in the tomb, the owner of the tomb was the Northern Wei envoy Jiejie, the general of Zhenxi, and the governor of Gaoping Town, "Feng Shigong", who was a humble nobleman. Feng Shigong was buried in the thirteenth year of Taihe (489 AD) in mid-July, after his death, his six brothers, spent about a month, burned 25,000 bricks for tomb burial, so the tomb bricks also recorded about brick making, labor, quantity, tomb repair period and so on.
Two wooden coffins are placed in the tomb, the coffin of the male owner on the east side is better preserved, and the lacquered coffin has decorative patterns and comic strips of filial piety stories, strange gods, masters feasting, Tianhe, filial piety stories and other paintings, and excavated Persian silver coins, through-carved copper coffins and other relics.
▲ Schematic diagram of tomb tiles
▲ Schematic diagram of tomb tiles
The painted content of the "Lacquer Coffin Painting Tomb" has the style of the Xianbei people of the Central Plains and northern Wei. From the top to the end of the coffin lid, there are a long river of gold in the shape of a wave, and there are two houses with draperies on the left and right above the long river, a middle-aged man sits in the left room, and two female attendants sit on both sides of the sub-station, and the left side of the ink book list is titled "Father of the Eastern King"; in the right room sits a middle-aged woman, and there is also a waiter outside the house, all dressed in humble costumes. The Father of the Eastern King and the Queen Mother of the West were originally mythological figures, and since the Northern Wei Dynasty, they have gone to the people, and this male and female portrait is the symbol of the owner of the tomb.
▲ The golden river on the coffin lid
▲ The east king father and the west queen mother at the top of the coffin lid
The lacquer painting on the front of the coffin is a picture of the tomb owner's drinking and feasting before his death. The lacquer paintings on the left and right side files can be divided into three columns according to the content: the upper column is a comic strip of the story of filial piety. The middle column is a decorative pattern of people and animals painted on the back of the beaded turtle and a straight window set, and the lower column is a hunting map of the Xianbei warriors.
The figures and patterns of the lacquer coffin painting clearly show the characteristics of the integration of Persian culture with Xianbei culture and Central Plains culture. Scholars have believed that the movement of the tomb owner raising a glass and holding a fan in the portrait is very similar to the figures on the frescoes of the feasts of the nobles in the bararek ruins northwest of the city of Terme in southern Uzbekistan.
▲ The drinking feast in the front of the coffin
▲ One of the details of the feast map
▲ The second detail of the feast map
The lacquer paintings on the upper column of the left and right side of the coffin can be divided into three columns according to the content: the upper column is a "filial piety story comic strip", the character story sequence is from the front of the coffin to the coffin, each picture column is about eight centimeters high, each story has a list title, and the story characters wear humble costumes (hats, clipped collar small sleeves). Filial Piety Story Comic Strip, eight surviving Shun's stories. Feng Shigong was buried at the time when Empress Feng was promoting the idea of filial piety, and the lacquer coffin painted with traditional Chinese filial piety stories, and scholars speculate that the producer should be a Han craftsman, which is a fresh and humble illustration of the "Filial Piety Classic".
The center column is "Beaded Turtle Back Carapace Pattern", "Straight Window Cover Painted Figure" and "Decorative Pattern of Animals". The lower column is the Xianbei "Martial Hunting Map", and the figures are in the posture of looking back at the archery on horseback. It is a popular subject of hunting maps in Persian culture.
▲ The paint painting of the left and right side files can be divided into three columns according to the content
▲ One of the filial piety diagrams
▲ The second of the filial piety diagram
The "lianzhu pattern" on the lacquer coffin painting can also be seen on the embroidery lace of Dunhuang and the Northern Wei Taihe Eleventh Year Inscription.
▲ One of the beads on the lacquer coffin painting
▲ The second bead pattern on the lacquer coffin painting
▲ The first half of Dunhuang has the embroidery lace of the Northern Wei Taihe Eleventh Year Inscription, and the lower half is the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes Northern Wei 259 Cave Lianzhu Honeysuckle Pattern
2. Tomb of Northern Zhou Tian Hong
▲ Slope tomb road multi-patio cave tomb
▲ The structure of the tomb consisting of the main chamber, the back chamber, and the side chamber
Tian Hong, Ren Wonju Assassin History. The shape of the tomb is the same as that of Li Xian, which belongs to the multi-courtyard cave tomb of the slope tomb, and the husband and wife are buried together. The tomb of Tian Hong consists of the main chamber, the rear chamber, and the side chamber, and this burial chamber structure was first discovered in the Northern Zhou tombs excavated in the Guyuan area. The north and west walls of the main room of Tian Hong's tomb are painted with "bodyguard figures", there are groups of characters or group figures, the colors are mainly red and black, the colors are bright, compared with the single figure in the mural of Li Xian's tomb, it should be two different types of craftsmen group.
▲ The north wall and the west wall of the main room are guarded
▲ Murals are presented in groups or groups of figures, and the colors are mainly red and black
▲ Sassanid silver coins excavated from Tian Hong's tomb
Tian Hong's tomb unearthed 5 gold coins, from A.S.I. and other 3 manufacturing bureaus, the time of flowing into China has been 25 to 50 years since the time of its manufacture, and there are 3 gold coins with 2 to 4 holes on the surface, indicating that after the gold coins flowed into China, their original monetary function has a certain degree of transformation, which may be to prevent loss and drill holes or as decorations. Tian Hong's tomb is also the tomb with the most excavated Eastern Roman gold coins.
Datong, Hohhot, Guyuan, Dunhuang a series of Northern Wei, Northern Zhou period Central Asian and West Asian relics, there are foreign gold and silver coins, gilded gold and silver plates, beaded fabrics, etc., researchers will link the above discovery sites together, will find a road from Datong, Shanxi, along the edge of Inner Mongolia, to Guyuan, Dunhuang road.
▲ The Northern Silk Road from Datong to Dunhuang
▲ Schematic map of the first line of traffic from Datong to Dunhuang during the Northern Dynasty period
3.Grave of The Family of Tokutoshi Awa
From the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, many Sogdians came to China from Central Asia, and "Zhaowu Jiu Surname" is the Tang Dynasty's name for the Sogdians, including Cao, An, Shi, Kang, Shi, Luo, Bai, Mi, He and other surnames. The Sogdians originally lived in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, belonged to the loose structure of the city-state system, for many years by the Persian, Kushan Dynasty control, because of the war, so that the Sogdians mostly engaged in business to avoid disaster, they traveled east along the Silk Road, in Turpan, Dunhuang, Wonju to establish a stronghold, and finally reached Chang'an.
From 1982 to 1995, 5 kilometers southwest of Guyuan, Yangfang Village, Xiaomazhuang Village and Wang Shuiba Village near Li Xian's tomb excavated the Sui and Tang Sogdian Shi family cemeteries, and 6 tombs have unearthed epitaphs, which show that the tomb owners are the tomb of Shi Shebei in the fifth year of Sui Daye (609), the tomb of Shi Suoyan and his wife in the first year of Tang Xianqing (656), the tomb of Shi Daoluo and his wife in the third year of Tang Xianqing (658), the tomb of Shi Tiebang in the first year of Tang Ganfeng (666), and the tomb of Shi Haoyan and his wife in the second year of Tang Zongzhang (669). Tomb of Tang Yifeng in the third year (678) of Shi Daode. The 6 tombs of the Shi family are all sitting north and facing south, and the distance between each tomb varies from hundreds of meters, arranged in a straight line from east to west, using a long slope tomb road multi-patio cave tomb.
▲ Tomb slice
▲ The Dog Martyred under the Seal of Storo's Tomb (Patio 5)
The burial chambers of the Shi family tombs are divided into two categories: "brick chamber tombs" and "earth cave tombs", because their family members served as officials in the Sui and Tang dynasties, especially the "Shi HaoYan" official to Sanpin, and the shape of the tomb is more elaborate, using brick chamber tombs, stone doors and sarcophagus beds. The other 5 are all earthen cave burial chambers.
The "Long Slope Tomb" and "Multi-patio Cave Tomb" are the shape of large-scale tombs in the Guanzhong area, following the slope tomb passage patio cave tomb in the Guanzhong area of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, especially in the practice of opening niches on the east and west walls of the courtyard near the Yongdao, which became the common system of multi-patio tombs in the early Tang Dynasty. Yuanzhou was the base of the rulers of The Western Wei and Northern Zhou, and during the Northern Zhou and Sui and Tang dynasties, due to its proximity to the capital Chang'an, there were many similarities in the tomb structure. Foreign gold and silver coins have been unearthed from the tombs of the Shi family.
▲ Sassanid Silver in the Tomb of Shi Shebe
▲ Gold coins from The Tomb of Szog
▲ Gold coins from The Tomb of Szog
▲ Gold coins from The Tomb of Szog
When the "Tomb of Shi Daode" was excavated, the gold covering on the face of the tomb owner still had fabric marks, and he wore a gold crown ornament. The "decoration of the crescent sun" on the crown guard forehead is similar to the mourning image painted on the bone urn of the Zoroastrian urn of the Central Asian "Tok-Kara", and the image of the "Sun on the Moon" on the door shows the Zoroastrian beliefs of the tomb owner.
▲ The sun figure of yangyue on the golden crown of Shi Daode's tomb on the forehead
The first entrance to the "Tomb of Shi Shebe" is painted with a gate tower map, and the tomb passage and patio are painted with 10 murals of samurai and attendants. Similar to the layout of the content of Li Xian's tomb, it is a work that follows the tradition of Northern Zhou tomb murals. In the tomb, the "Lady Figure" is painted, and the figures are dressed in red and white striped skirts and comb their heads in a high bun, which can be seen in the tombs of the early Tang Dynasty murals in the Chang'an area.
▲ There are 10 murals of samurai and attendants on the tomb road and patio of Shi Shebe Tomb
▲ Murals of the tomb of Shi Shebe
▲ Details of the mural paintings of the Tomb of Shi Shebe
▲ The view of the gate tower above the first entrance to the tomb of Shi Shebe
▲ Tang cao pattern on the second cave entrance of Shi Shi Bei's tomb
▲ The handmaiden on the west wall of the tomb of Shi Shebei is an important discovery of the Sui Dynasty mural tomb
▲ Picture of the maid on the west wall of the tomb of Shi Shebe
In addition to the Shi family's "Shi Hao" in Zhizhongshu Province as a translator, the official position is higher, most of the other Sogdians are middle and lower-level military officials, sogdians are good at business and good at war, and the official positions they hold are also good at.
▲ Statistics of the official positions of members of the Shi family
The marriage of the Shi family is mainly intermarriage within the clan, and intermarriage with the Han people. According to the epitaph, Shi Suoyan and Shi Daode were "Jiankang Feiqiao people" (in present-day Gaotai County, Gansu), who had migrated from Liangzhou to Pinggao during the Northern Wei Dynasty. The epitaph of Shi Suoyan's wife "An Niang" refers to her as "the Miao descendants of the King of Rest". The epitaph of Shi Shebei indicates that his ancestors came from the Western Kingdom (史国). Shi Hao's ex-wife was the Sogdian Kang clan, and his second wife was the Han Chinese Zhang clan. Ssoyan's wife Ann nyon was also of the Sogdian ethnic group.
The Tombs of the Kang Sogdian Family found in the Turpan region are comparable to the guyuan Shi family tombs, and the epitaphs on the tomb bricks show that they are "from China", and the Kang family believes in Buddhism like the local residents of Turpan. In terms of marital relations, there were cases of intermarriage with both Sogdians and other local ethnic minorities.
▲ Genealogical table of Shi Shebei
4. Other small tombs
From 2003 to 2004, a number of small and medium-sized tombs of the Sui and Tang dynasties of the Northern Dynasty were excavated in the northeast of Guyuan Nanyuan, and a number of Sui and Tang tombs were also excavated on the Platform of Jiulong Mountain, not far northeast of the cemetery.
▲ Jiulongshan M33, small single-chamber earthen cave tomb, 8.2 meters in length, husband and wife burial tomb
There are more than 48 human bones (male 25 and 23 female) in more than 40 cemeteries from Guyuan Nanyuan to Jiulongshan Terrace, of which 10 human bones belonging to 6 tombs have been identified by human bones, showing the characteristics of the "Caucasian race", which is also Sogdian. There are 8 couples buried together, similar in age and of the same race, indicating that the Sogdians who came to Guyuan at that time not only had a certain scale, but also maintained the habit of intermarriage within the clan. Among them, in a tomb in Jiulong Mountain, eastern Roman gold coins were unearthed, and the owner of the tomb wore a gold crown ornament with a sun and moon pattern on his head, which is similar to the golden crown ornament of Shi Daode's tomb, and the Guyuan Museum now also has a golden crown ornament from the Sui and Tang dynasties.
▲ The owner of the male tomb wears a gold crown ornament with a Zoroastrian sun and moon motif
▲ Kowloon Hill M33 gold crown ornament and jaw holder
▲ Guyuan Museum's collection of gold crown ornaments and jaw holders
epilogue
Since the discovery of Li Xian's tomb in the 1980s, important relics related to the Silk Road unearthed in the tomb have attracted the attention of scholars. Later, a number of important tombs such as the Shi Sogdian family cemetery and the tianhong tomb were discovered one after another. These scientifically excavated tombs confirm that Wonju was an important part of the Silk Road Ancient Road during the Sui and Tang Dynasties of the Northern Dynasty, giving us a richer understanding of the distant and long "Silk Road" and the history of exchanges and integration between Eastern and Western civilizations that took place during it.
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Article from China Silk Museum (ID:cnsilkmuseum)