The tomb of Wuwangdun is the largest, highest-level and most complex large-scale high-grade tomb of Chu State that has been scientifically excavated so far. Among the thousands of cultural relics that are known to have been unearthed, lacquered wood ware occupies a certain proportion. Some of the lacquerware shapes, ornaments, colors and other ingenious workmanship, have been sleeping underground for more than 2,000 years, and the color is still as new after being unearthed, which makes experts sigh and admire.
Wooden figurines of cultural relics unearthed from the tomb of King Wudun (data picture)
"Chu-style lacquerware technology is a peak of Chinese lacquerware craftsmanship, and the cultural relics unearthed from Chu tombs can be described as 'nothing without lacquer'. According to experts, lacquer refers to a lacquer process that coats lacquer on utensils through a special process. In addition, the cultural relics of wooden material are very easy to damage and difficult to preserve, in the archaeological excavation, once the wooden cultural relics are found, the archaeologists are particularly cherished, and the tomb of King Wudun unearthed so many lacquered wooden cultural relics at one time, which is very rare.
Lacquer plate (file photo)
A few days ago, at the site of the first media open day of the archaeological excavation of the Wuwangdun tomb, the reporter of Huaihe Morning Post and Huainan Net noticed that whether it is the unearthed wooden figurines, or the town tomb beast and other wooden components, there are strange shapes and smart color decorations, these pictures have deep black, gorgeous red, contrast, very romantic.
Expert introduction: When the Chu State was at its peak, its territory reached the Yellow River in the north, the sea in the east, Dongting Cangwu in the south, and Bashu Yunnan in the west. Its "land" itself is rich in lacquer trees, which provides the foundation for the vigorous development of Chu lacquerware, and exquisite lacquerware, bronze and iron ware are common in Chu tombs, and these lacquerware have also become a major feature of Chu tombs.
Wuwang dun tomb unearthed cultural relics lacquered wood components
It is understood that the lacquer technology of the Chu State profoundly influenced the development of lacquerware in the Han Dynasty on the mainland. In the Han Dynasty, almost all of the wooden, bamboo and cast lacquerware production techniques that were prevalent came from the Chu State, and the red and black color scheme commonly used in the Han Dynasty lacquerware was also a typical Chu lacquerware tone. Therefore, during the visit to the archaeological excavation site of the Wuwangdun Tomb, the reporters of Huaihe Morning Post and Huainan Net saw these lacquer tones, and suddenly felt that Chu and Han were indistinguishable and time and space traveled.
At present, archaeological experts are conducting conservation research on the lacquerware unearthed from the tomb of Wuwangdun. In the future, there will be more amazing lacquerware artifacts to the world. Through these cultural relics, you can get a glimpse of the gorgeous life scene on this land more than 2,000 years ago, and understand the super high skills and unique aesthetics of the ancients.
Huainan Daily all-media reporter Su Guoyi photo report