The mysterious "lump of soil" in the tomb of Emperor Yang of Sui
One day in April 2013, a real estate developer construction team in Caozhuang, Situ Village, Xihu Town, Yangzhou City, stumbled upon an ancient tomb. The person in charge of the construction site immediately notified the archaeological experts of Yangzhou City, and the experts rushed to the site for investigation after learning the news.
After the investigation, experts found that there are many treasures in the tomb, not only jewelry, bells, jade, chimes, pottery, etc., but also a thirteen-ring gold inlaid jade belt that only the emperor can wear, and later found a line of words on the epitaph, clearly writing that this is the tomb of Emperor Yang of Sui, after repeated transfers, this is indeed the joint burial tomb of Emperor Yang Guang of Sui and the Empress of Xiao.
Who is Emperor Yang of Sui?
Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty (569-618), the second son of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty Yang Jian and Empress Wenwen, was the second emperor of the Sui Dynasty. During his reign, he created the imperial examination system, built the Grand Canal of the Sui Dynasty, built the eastern capital, and moved the capital to Luoyang, which had a great influence on later generations. However, due to his frequent wars and the abuse of people's power, the people were miserable, causing large-scale peasant uprisings, causing chaos in the world, which led to the fall of the Sui Dynasty.
After the death of Emperor Yang of Sui, people have been trying to find the tomb of Emperor Yang of Sui, legend has it that there are amazing treasures hidden in it, but after looking for more than 1400 years, they have not found it, but they did not expect to be accidentally found in 2013.
When excavating the tomb of Empress Xiao, the experts found a very large "lump of soil", hard as a stone, and the experts felt that this thing should be extraordinary, so they brought it back to the research institute for research.
Uncover the amazing identity of "Dirt Pimple".
In the research institute, the experts cleaned up this "lump", and finally found that it was a hat, that is, the phoenix crown of Empress Xiao.
Empress Xiao is also a legendary female historical figure during the Sui Dynasty.
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty (567 - 647), a descendant of Emperor Xiao Yan of Liang Wu and the daughter of Emperor Xiao Yue of Western Liang, was the daughter of Emperor Xiao Yue of Western Liang, and her mother was Empress Zhang. She is tactful and intelligent, knowledgeable and courteous. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, she became the concubine of Yang Guangzheng, the king of Jin, and gave birth to three sons and one daughter, making great contributions to her husband's succession.
Because the phoenix crown was so badly damaged, the experts began to prepare for the restoration of the phoenix crown after cleaning it. Due to the great difficulty in the restoration of the phoenix crown, the Yangzhou cultural relics department specially commissioned the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics Protection to protect and restore the Xiao Hou crown.
The original outline can be faintly seen on this "lump of soil".
There are obvious traces of beads, and there are uncorroded pearls and other objects left on the beads. This is a common beading process in the production of traditional Chinese gold and silverware, looking from afar, shiny and jeweled.
In order to restore the phoenix crown, the preparations are underway, and there are many raw materials for restoration: 12 copper hairpins, 1 copper incense burner, 1 copper lamp, 1 forehead support, 2 temples, and a number of flowers.
Finally, after nearly 900 days of restoration by experts, the phoenix crown, which was originally a lump of earth, was finally restored to its proper appearance: luxurious and beautiful.
According to research, this phoenix crown was given to Queen Xiao by Tang Taizong, and in addition to Queen Xiao's funeral goods, 13 flower tree crowns were given one more tree than the average queen of the Sui Dynasty, which shows Tang Taizong's honor and favor for Queen Xiao.
In the archaeological world, the phoenix crown is even more rare than the dragon robe, and the phoenix crown of the empress of the Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, which was unearthed in the early days, was designated as a top national treasure and was forbidden to be exhibited. Not to mention this phoenix crown of the Sui Dynasty, which is an unprecedented and major discovery.
The remaining two phoenix crowns found by archaeology
Historically, clothing was an important symbol of the difference in rank in China's feudal society.
The queen, as the most expensive woman in the dynasty, is definitely the most beautiful in her full outfit. However, different dynasties, according to habits, ethnicity, social development and other factors, styles, materials, and craftsmanship are very different.
Now you can see the real thing, in addition to the phoenix crown of Emperor Xiao of the Sui Dynasty above, there are also the phoenix crowns of the two queens of Dingling and the phoenix crowns of the Qing Dynasty!
Ming Xiaoyuan, Xiaojing Empress 凤冠
Dingling unearthed a total of four phoenix crowns, belonging to Xiaoduan, Xiaojing two queens, of which nine dragons and nine phoenix crowns and six dragons and three phoenix crowns belong to the main palace Xiaoduan Queen Wang; three dragons and two phoenix crowns and twelve dragons and nine phoenix crowns belong to the posthumous queen Xiaojing Queen Wang.
The production method of the 4 phoenix crowns is basically the same, the crowns are all lacquered bamboo tires, and the crowns are inlaid with dragons, phoenixes, jewelry flowers, green clouds, green leaves and temples, but the specific number and weight are different.
The number of these four phoenix crowns and dragons and phoenixes is not the same, but the total number of dragons and phoenixes is very interesting: the dragons are all 15, and the number of phoenixes is one more than the queen of the main palace, 12 to 11.
These four phoenix crowns are in the collection of the Palace Museum (one, the six dragons and three phoenix crowns of Empress Xiaoduan), the National Museum (one crown, the nine dragons and nine phoenix crowns of Empress Xiaoduan) and the Dingling Museum (two crowns).
Qing Dynasty phoenix crown
Crown round type, mink fur for the ground, decorated with Zhu Wei, the top with three gold silk phoenix stacked, the top inlaid with a large east pearl, between each layer through the east pearl each, the phoenix body is decorated with three east pearls, the tail is decorated with pearls. Zhu Wei is surrounded by seven gold and silk phoenixes, which are decorated with one cat's eye stone, nine east pearls, and pearls on the tail.
The back of the crown is decorated with a gold Zhai, the back of Zhai is decorated with a cat's eye stone, and the tail is decorated with several pearls. Zhai tail hangs the bead spike five elements two on the (horizontal two rows and vertical five columns), the middle through the two sides of the gold silk "heart" shaped knot, the bead spike is decorated with the gold silk and the pendant made of coral.