There were also many strong women in ancient China, such as Empress Lü of the Western Han Dynasty; Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty; Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty was an iron-fisted figure who wielded great political power.
The woman we are going to talk about today, she is famous because of her luxurious tomb! She is the princess of the Shang Dynasty, who combines the status of favored concubine, fierce general, and vassal, Wuhao
▲A sculpture of a woman located outside the tomb of Yinxu in Anyang, Henan
Discovery and excavation of the tomb of the woman
Yin Wu is the capital of the late Shang Dynasty, located in the northwest suburbs of Anyang City, Henan Province, in 1976 the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences found the world-famous tomb of Nuhao, which is the only preserved royal tomb of the Shang Dynasty that has been excavated, Nuhao is the spouse of King Wuding of Yin, died during Wuding's lifetime, and the temple is known as "Xin".
▲On May 16, 1976, the tomb of Nuhao was unearthed in the Yin Market of Anyang, which is the only tomb of the Shang royal family and nobles found in the Yin Market that has not been stolen and excavated, and it is also the earliest tomb found in China so far that can accurately determine the identity of the tomb owner.
Excavations revealed that the tomb was 5.6 meters long, 4 meters wide and 7.5 meters deep, with an area of 22.4 square meters. The original coffin has decayed, but there are traces that indicate that the coffin was painted with red, black and other colors.
There is a waist pit at the bottom of the tomb, and 1 person and 1 dog were martyred in the waist pit. At a distance of 6.2 meters from the tomb, there is one niche on the east and west walls of the tomb, where martyrs are buried. A total of 16 martyrs and 6 dogs were martyred in the tomb. But the main thing is that no bones of the tomb owner were found in the tomb.
▲ The scene during the excavation of the tomb of Nuhao, the upper part of the chamber is divided into six floors
Scholars at that time mainly based on the inscriptions on the bronzes in the tombs "
The two words are determined, because according to the explanations of Guo Moruo, Tang Lan and other senior scholars, these two words read "women are good".
The tomb of the woman was unearthed on bronze ceremonial vessels
The "Good Women" inscription and oracle bones record good deeds of women
On this basis, a series of explanations were developed: it was said that Wu Hao was the wife (queen or princess) of King Wuding of Shang, and based on the fact that there were large bronze weapons in the tomb, it was speculated that "Wu Hao" was a female general who could fight in battle. This statement seems to have been conclusively accepted and appears in all books and television films about the tomb...
▲Distribution of cultural relics in the tomb, interior view of the tomb
Such a burial has far exceeded people's imagination of a medium-sized tomb.
▲ Women's good copper owl zun, women's good copper mirror, Simu Xin copper four-legged mackerel
So, what kind of woman can have such a rich burial after death?
What kind of strange woman is "Woman Hao"?
▲ Restoration of the appearance of the ancient corpse of the woman
Image source network is for reference only
Wu Hao was the favorite queen of Wu Ding, the 23rd monarch of the Shang Dynasty, as a generation of Ming monarchs in the late Shang Dynasty, Wu Ding worked hard to govern, so that the political, economic, and military development of the shopping mall was unprecedented, and this stage of his reign was historically known as the "Wuding Prosperous Era".
Legend has it that Wu Ding had three official wives, Simu Xin Nuhao, Wu Lu, and Nu Concubine [jìng], and Simu Peng Dafang Ding was the funeral product of this third wife. In addition, Wu Ding has more than sixty little wives, but they are no better than women, she is slightly fandy, gentle and amiable, is a good mother of the prince and princess, and has given birth to several children for Wu Ding.
According to oracle bone records, she has led troops to expeditions many times, made outstanding battle achievements, and won the favor of Wu Ding and the respect of her subjects.
For example, Wu Hao once led an army of more than 13,000 people to defend against the invading ghost side, and returned victorious. Dispatched by Wu Ding, she fought against the Turks in the north, razed the southeast, and defeated the Ba army in the west, making great contributions to the Shang Dynasty's expansion of the territory.
In addition to leading troops in battle, she also presided over various types and divination activities. Wu Ding was very fond of her wife, not only granting her an independent fief, but also often praying to ghosts and gods to bless her with health and longevity.
What are the burial products of the good tomb of women?
After the death of Wu Hao, Wu Ding was grieving and posthumously called her "Xin", and the descendants of the Shang Dynasty respectfully called her "Mu Xin" and "Hou Mu Xin". Due to her personality and meritorious achievements during her lifetime, the funeral given to her by King Shang is not ordinarily rich, and these precious collections are enough to support a museum!
左 "其" copper round 斝 (jiǎ)
Right Simu Tongyuanzun/Simu Lu Tongfangzun
Although it is not a large tomb in the traditional sense, there is a strong contrast between the limited volume of the tomb and the colorful burial objects.
In addition, there are two red snails, one Arabian silk shell and more than 6,820 cargo shells, these rare treasures are distributed in different soil layers of the burial chamber, as well as inside and outside the coffin.
The jade artifacts unearthed from the tomb account for about 40% of all excavated artifacts, of which 755 are complete or relatively complete, and it is a small museum that studies jade from the Shang Dynasty.
According to their use, this batch of jade can be divided into six categories: ceremonial vessels, ceremonial guards, tools, living utensils, ornaments and miscellaneous ware.
This is also the largest number of jade objects unearthed in the single tomb of the Shang Dynasty so far, with the richest variety and the most exquisite production.
According to the Yizhou Shu Shi Jiaojie, the scale of jade used by Shang Dynasty can be seen from this.
The jade-shaped jade dragon is more seriously eroded, with the word "minister" with large eyes, and there are traces left by the cutting material on the surface
Jade sheep's head round carving, white jade, greased luster, brown stains
This kind of jade, according to the theme, has human images, but animal images are most, such as bears, tigers, deer, cows, horses, rabbits, birds, geese, ducks, cranes, cicadas, turtles and other real-life existences, as well as two animals combined into one, tiger head monster bird, sheephead monster bird, cicada frog combination, etc.
The realistic theme is the main theme, supplemented by the mysterious color theme, and the two jointly frame the content that Xiao Sheng's jade wants to express.
A collection of women's good tomb animals: jade wai, jade ox head, jade monkey, jade funiu, jade dog, jade free brand ornaments.
Birds in the tomb of women: jade cormorant, jade swallow, jade goose, jade parrot, jade osprey, stone duck, jade bird.
Birds in the tomb of women: jade geese, jade birds, jade parrots, jade ospreys, jade phoenixes, and high-crowned parrots.
The jade tufts and jade plates of the women's tomb are extremely luxurious and exquisite, and they are comparable to weighers.
They opened the precedent for future generations of jade wine ware and food vessels, which reflected the exquisite jade-making craftsmanship of the Shang Dynasty, and also reflected the once powerful and wealthy Shang Dynasty.
Among the decorative jade unearthed from the tomb of Nuhao, the unearthing of jade hoops and jade fences, animal face pattern jade combs and other hair ornaments reflects the merchants' hair binding customs, jade charms as a combination of ornaments, they are either directly worn on the body, or some kind of utensil handle ornaments.
Jade handle-shaped green jade, brown Qin, decorated with symmetrical cirrus patterns
Jade jade, brown and white
Copper-headed jade tiger The tiger's head and forelimbs are copper-inlaid turquoise, possibly scepter heads
Xiao Shengjade is the core content of jade unearthed from the tomb of Wuhao, they may have perforations and can be worn; or have a mortise that can be inserted into something; Or purely as a work of art, can be furnished.
Jade tiger piece carving, blue and white jade, brown spots, neck ornamented scales, body ornamental cloud patterns, tail ornament with arc patterns
Jade ox Jasper with cracked white patches
Jade ritual ware is the most important type of jade at the beginning of the era of civilization. In the late Shang Dynasty, the bronze civilization was highly developed, and although the jade ritual ware declined, it still had an important position.
Jade Aid Copper Nego Green jade, with white and yellow spots throughout
Jade knife Jasper, with black spots, the blade is sharpened on both sides, and there are no signs of use
Jade bi jasper, incomplete edges, coarse production, leaving traces of processing
Jade jade, heavy brown erosion, four corners carved up and down raised semicircular ornamentation, resembling cicadas
Jade Gui Green and white jade, with yellow-brown spots, decorated with triangular patterns, gluttonous patterns, and string patterns
Various squatting "jade people"
Jade Man has a brown body with snake and cloud patterns
In addition to the many types of jade, more than a quarter of the bronzes unearthed in the tomb of Nuhao are weapons.
According to the oracle bone speech, a total of four copper plutonium were unearthed in the tomb of Nuhao, which is the second largest number of copper plutonium burials seen in the tombs of nobles of the Shang Dynasty (there are up to seven copper plutoniums buried with it), which further confirms the legendary experience of Nuhao's life in charge of Shuaiyin and Rong Ma.
There is also a bronze urn (bù) unearthed in the tomb of Nuhao, which is a bronze ceremonial vessel from the Shang Dynasty. The animal face pattern originated from prehistoric witchcraft and primitive religion's worship of gods and the pursuit of superpowers, and further combined with the ritual idea of "divine right of kings".
Copper urn (bù) unearthed in the tomb of a good woman
END
The Tomb of Nuhao is a large and medium-sized tomb with the largest number of burial products unearthed so far, which provides rich materials for studying the burial system, funeral system, ritual system, social development, handicraft production and other conditions of the nobles of the Shang Dynasty. The number of jade excavated is also the largest single tomb in the mainland, providing rare materials for the study of jade-making technology, jade system, jade function, jade culture, etc. of the Shang Dynasty.
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