Li Ling: On China's winged mythical beasts and Qiliang stone carvings

#以书之名#

Originally published in China Academic, No. 1, 2001, and later in Li Ling, "Into the Mountain and Out of the Block", Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2004, pp. 87-135, also published in China Social Science Net

I. Introduction

The winged beast is an artistic theme that uses a wide range of materials and has been popular for a long time in ancient Chinese cultural relics. The theme includes a number of different species (e.g., winged lions, tigers, deer, sheep, etc.), among which the Tianlu and the warding off evil spirits are the most eye-catching. In the general impression, it was mainly popular since the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Shinto stone carvings of the Southern Dynasty tombs are the most striking (huge in shape and beautifully carved) (this kind of theme can also be seen in other cultural relics of the same period, such as the celadon water injection and the tiger in the Six Dynasties period), so the discussion mostly revolves around the Shinto stone carvings of the Southern Dynasty. For example, the "Investigation Report on the Tombs of the Six Dynasties" (Central Antiquities Commission, 1935), published in the thirties, is a representative work in this regard. In this report, scholars have made special discussions on Tianlu and warding off evil spirits, which provides a basis for later research. They have two views on the origin of Tianlu and warding off evil spirits: one is more daring, as seen in Teng Gu's "A Brief Description of the Stone Traces of the Tombs of the Six Dynasties" (pp. 71-90), and the other is more cautious, as seen in Zhu Xizu's "Examination of Tianlu to ward off evil spirits" (pp. 183-199). Teng Gu's view is that although this type of theme was "fully sinicized" during the Six Dynasties, it appeared much earlier (not only as far back as the Han Dynasty, but also as early as the Warring States Period) (his "early arrival to the Warring States Period" is based on Xu Zhongshu's research on Lin's pots. See Xu's "Examination of Ancient Hunting Images". However, Xu's article only said that the device was "engraved with birds and beasts galloping and people holding spears, swords and shields chasing and stabbing shapes", and did not say that the device had a pattern that showed winged beasts. At that time, Teng had not yet found real evidence), the origin was the art of the ancient Assyrian region, and similar themes were also found in the art of the Sai and Bactria species, as well as the art of Greece and India, and the Westerners or winged chimera (the Westerners said that the chimera has a broad and narrow meaning, the narrow sense refers to a kind of divine beast unique to Greek mythology, and the broad sense refers to any imaginary and piectogether divine beast made of different animals. Teng Gu said that the Westerners called the true god Winged Chimera on the mausoleum of the Six Dynasties, but he had seen it in Italy, "The former was a lion, with a goat raised in the middle of its back and a long snake on its tail, which took advantage of the momentum and bit the goat's horn." Judging its system, it seems to have nothing to do with the six dynasties, and Xilun Yunyun is also a tentative title." Case: Teng Gu said that the carving is for the collection of the Archaeological Museum of Lorence, this vessel is indeed far from the Chinese Tianlu and evil spirits, but the Westerners take this name as a broad meaning, that is, it means a mixed animal, the so-called winged chimera, just a general reference to "winged beasts"). This was influenced by Western scholars (according to the French scholar Grosse). Zhu Xizu's view, on the other hand, is quite reserved. He quoted the phrase "like a tiger with wings" in an ancient Chinese book, and quoted the words of winged gods and monsters in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", thinking that such images are very ancient in China, and it is difficult to determine whether they are "the inherent relics of our country and the new model of foreign countries." Although "speaking from outside" was still an "overseas strange talk" in the academic circles at that time, and it was not accepted by the Chinese people for a long time (Yao Qian, Gu Bing, Guan Yuchun, Yang Hong), the author believes that this is an idea worth taking seriously. Especially in the 70s, in the excavations of the tomb of King Zhongshan in Baidi Country, people saw this mythical beast again, and they were co-found with many grassland style utensils, and this idea was reactivated. Some scholars believe that we should open our eyes and rethink the idea of habit (Li Xueqin).　

At present, because the whole discussion is not deep and systematic enough, domestic scholars are not familiar with foreign materials, and foreign scholars do not know enough about domestic materials.

2. The winged beast unearthed and discovered

There are a lot of materials in the unearthed discovery of winged beasts, the author's vision is limited, it is difficult to collect all the materials, the following is only for the current knowledge, with the time (Spring and Autumn Period to the Eastern Han Dynasty) as the warp, to the land (out of the land and the country) as the weft, the earlier and more typical examples are listed as follows (the materials after the Han Dynasty are not discussed for the time being):

(1) Spring and Autumn period

There are two main examples, both of which belong to bronze ornaments:

1. The standing crane square pot unearthed from the tomb of Zheng Guo in Lijialou, Xinzheng, Henan Province (Figure 1) (case: this article was prompted by Professor Alain Thote of the French Center for Scientific Research). The original is a pair, one in the Palace Museum, and one in the Henan Provincial Museum. In addition to the ears of two beasts, they are also decorated with reptiles under the four corners of the abdomen. The latter is similar to the reptile on a regular square pot, but the difference is that it has two wings on its back and the wingtips are facing backwards. Whether they are accidental artistic deformations or foreign artistic themes still need to be further proven, but the discussion of the problem cannot be ignored. Considering the age of the tomb, its production time is about the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period (around the 6th century BC).

2. Bronze ornaments from the collection of the Izumiya Hiroko Museum in Japan (Fig. 2: 1-3). According to legend, it was unearthed in 1930 from an ancient tomb near Xinxiang, Henan Province, including four animal-shaped ornaments mounted on a circle, and two bird-shaped ornaments and two animal-shaped ornaments scattered together. The former resembles the lid of the animal button ware popular in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and the latter resembles the pavement ring popular in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, so Umehara Sueji speculated that they were ornaments of a large round pot (about 70-80 cm in height as inferred from the restoration drawing), and drew a restoration (Fig. 3). The so-called animal-shaped ornament on the lid is made of a crouching shape with a side head. They have the head of a lion and tiger, with their mouths open and their teeth bared, wings on both sides of their mouths, and a small bird on their heads, with a meat crown (nodulous protrusions) of the head of the beast in their mouths, and their wings are raised flat; they have the body of a lion and tiger, and the wings of a tree on their backs, which are slightly S-shaped, with the wingtips facing backwards, making vertical and scaly feathers (two rows) (the feathers of the ancient Chinese winged beast are divided into two rows and one row, and this characteristic has been continued until the Han and Wei dynasties); the four legs are also used as bird claws: the front feet are hooked claws, the hind feet are pointed claws, and the legs are separated (similar to the protrusions behind the bird's claws). Its ornamentation, the body of the beast is a cloud pattern, the mouth of the beast is an S pattern, the wings on the side of the mouth are simplified feather patterns (grate tooth shape), and the copper ring is a rope pattern. The so-called sacred objects on the belly, the two beasts have the head of a lion and tiger and the wings of a bird, the two birds (with a raised flesh crown on the head) have the same moire on the body, the same feather pattern (as a grate tooth) on the wings, and the ring is decorated with a heavy ring pattern, which is obviously another form of expression of the former ornament, that is, it is also a combination of the winged beast and the sacred bird. Its ornamentation is similar to that found in Houma pottery. Judging from the ornamentation, the age seems to be set as the late Spring and Autumn period. The lion-headed winged beast of the Warring States period may have developed from this, and the bird-headed (deformed from the eagle's head) winged beast is also related to this or, so it is the most representative one.

Figure 1 Standing crane square pot decorated with winged beasts (copper, unearthed from the Zheng tomb of Lijialou, Xinzheng)

Fig. 2 Bronze ornaments from the collection of Izumiya Bogu Museum: 1. Bronze circles of four beasts, 2. Animal-shaped ornaments, 3. Bird-shaped ornaments

Fig.3 Bronze ornaments from the Izumiya Hiroko Museum (restoration of Sueharu Umehara)

Fig. 4 Winged beast-shaped handle (copper): above: unearthed in Jingchuan, Gansu; Bottom: Collection of the Shanghai Museum

(2) Warring States Period

(a) Bronze vessels.

1. The "winged beast-shaped lifting beam" unearthed in Jingchuan, Gansu Province (Figure 4: above). It is now in the Gansu Provincial Museum. It is characterized by the head of the beast as the flow, the body of the beast as the body, the foot of the beast as the foot, and the wings on the belly. The head of the beast, judging from the published photographs, is not very clear (the original is not seen). The wings are represented by protruding yang lines (the fine lines on the top are yin lines), and the fine yin lines represent the feathers (from the Lower Forbidden City collection, the front end of the yang line is a hooked beaked bird's head), the wingtips are facing backwards, the four legs are bird claws, and the legs are spaced. The age of this artifact is estimated to be in the early Warring States period, and the country is unknown, but judging from the following artifacts, it should be made in the Three Jin Dynasty.　

2. The Palace Museum, the Guangdong Provincial Museum and the Shanghai Museum have a "winged beast-shaped beam" (Picture 4: bottom). The difference between them and the upper vessel is that the vessel flows as a bird's head, and the cover and handle are also different, but they obviously belong to the same type of shape. The Forbidden City collection (seen in the exhibition), is in 1946 into the collection, unearthed unknown, its head is not the same as the collection of the Shanghai Museum, the beak is sharper, the eyes are filled with gold (suspected to be done later). Extensive collection, unearthed is unknown. According to the cloud, it was stolen from Jinsheng Village, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province (the source of the excavation is Professor Lothar von Falkenhausen). Judging from this clue, we suspect that the above vessels are all made by Sanjin.

3. The "Bird's Head and Beast" in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei (Figure 5) (case: Mr. Li Xiatinging has pointed out that this is a Griffin-style bronze). This artifact is similar to 2 in that it also belongs to the bird head category. Its wings are on the side, represented by a yin line, as a plane decoration, the wingtips are facing backwards, in an S-shape, and the feet are made of bird claws, and the claws are spaced on the sides. The date is estimated to be the early Warring States period, and the country should belong to the Three Jin Dynasty. The decoration of the bird's head is similar to the bronze ware unearthed in Liyu Village, Hunyuan, and the S-shaped pattern on the body can be seen in the "bird-shaped mold" and "tiger-shaped mold" unearthed from the Houma bronze casting site below (note: the shoulders and hips of this beast are decorated with vortex patterns, which are similar to the pattern of the saddle sheath unearthed in Figure 49 Bazelek below, and similar decorations are also seen in the upper 2nd and lower 4th and other vessels, but most of them are reliefs)

Fig.5 "Bird's Head and Beast" (bronze) in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei

4. A winged mythical beast unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Suixian, Hubei Province (now Suizhou City, Hubei) (Fig. 6:1). Both are made of the long neck of the head of the beast (the long neck is to support the chime). It has two wings on its body and mouth, which can be compared with the characteristics in the Izumiya Hakukokan collection, and its four legs are made of bird claws, and the hind legs are spaced behind. It is dated to the early Warring States period. It is worth noting that a turquoise inlaid beast pedestal (Fig. 7) was unearthed from the Chu Tomb in Xujialing, Xichuan, Henan Province (Case: This kind of vessel pedestal (including the vessel pedestal unearthed from the tomb of King Zhongshan mentioned below) was further developed in the Han Dynasty, and Tianlu and evil spirits are the commonly used shapes of the vessel seat), the vessel has no obvious wings, but from the shape point of view, it is quite similar to the tomb of Zeng Marquis B (especially the head, ears, mouth, and tongue). (The pairs of stone lions used in front of the tombs of the Han Dynasty, the wingless and the winged ones are the same as "Tianlu" and "evil spirits" (details). This artifact is similar to that found in the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. Zeng and Chu were married to each other, and the utensils and characters were originally similar, both of which were artifacts from the early Warring States period, and they had many things in common, which was reasonable. It reminds us that there may have been a north-south transmission channel from present-day Shanxi to Henan and Hubei. In addition, the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng also unearthed a "deer antler crane" drum base (Figure 6: 2) (case: in 1991, a jade pillow was unearthed from the Shanxi Han Tomb in Houlou, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, with a four-horned divine beast similar to this, but without obvious wings), which is also a composite artifact of birds and beasts.

Figure 6 The winged beast (copper) in the tomb of Marquis Zeng: 1. The winged beast supporting the chime; 2. Antlers standing cranes

5. The winged beast unearthed from the tomb of King Zhongshan in Pingshan, Hebei. There are three types: (1) Mismatched Silver Winged Divine Beast (Figure 8:1). There are four of them, possibly town objects, similar in shape to those in the collection of the Izumiya Bogu Museum, with lion and tiger heads with teeth open, wings on their backs, wingtips facing backwards, plumage scales, feet like bird claws, and distances between the palms of the front and back feet, (2) the Zhongshan Wang square pot (Fig. 8:2). The four corners of the reptile have two wings on its back tree, which are similar to the square pot of the crane on the top, but the head is facing in opposite directions, and (3) the bronze scheme of four dragons and four phoenixes (Fig. 8:3). The so-called "four dragons" are also the wings of the back tree (the head has two horns, the long neck has scales, the four legs are bird claws, and the legs are on the back). Zhongshan is a Baidi state (similar to the sinicization of foreign countries during the Sixteen Kingdoms period) related to the Three Jin Dynasty (especially the Wei and Zhao states), and the excavated objects have both the characteristics of the Three Jin Dynasty and the grassland style. For example, the tiger deer-eating vessel unearthed from the tomb has a Scythian style, and the tiger-shaped gold ornaments unearthed from the country's ruins are also familiar to the steppe region.

Figure 7 Chu Divine Beast Vessel Seat (copper, unearthed from the Chu Tomb in Xujialing, Xichuan, Henan)

Fig. 8 The winged beast (bronze) in the tomb of the king of Zhongshan: 1. The two-winged beast of the wrong silver, 2. The reptile beast on the square pot of the king of Zhongshan, 3. The bronze scheme of the four dragons and four phoenixes of the wrong gold and silver

(b) Bronze pottery.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the territory of the Three Jin Dynasty was Duo Rong Di, the north (Daidi) and adjacent to the grassland area, the utensils or miscellaneous grassland style, the pottery fan unearthed from the Houma copper casting site is its concentrated embodiment. As:

(I.) Excavations from 1959-1964. Typical specimens are:

Bell button fan excavated from site II (Fig. 9:1). Designation: II.T13(5):6, the bell button is composed of a pair of dragon-headed winged beasts. The performance of the wing is very realistic, and there are many patterns of the three Jin Dynasty.　

(II.) Excavations from 1992. Typical specimens are:　

1. "Bird-shaped mold" (Fig. 9:2). Designation: T9H79:17, the head is mutilated, and it is reported to be a "bird-shaped mold", presumably judging by the claws of its feet, and its neck pattern is the same as that of the lower "tiger-shaped mold", and the decoration of the wings is also similar to that of the winged "tiger-shaped mold" under it. It doesn't have to be a bird-shaped model.

2. "Beast Capture Snake Model" (Figure 9:3). Number: T9H79:18, the head is also mutilated, but it has wings, and from the pattern on the body, it looks like a leopard.

3. "Tiger Mold" (Fig. 9:4). No.: T9H79:19, two pieces, both half-molds: one with wings, with scaly folded feathers, and one without feathers. The feet are bird claws, and the legs are spaced behind. Its tiger stripe is the Yin line S pattern, which is the characteristic of Sanjin bronzes.

Fig. 9 The winged beasts on the pottery model of the Houma bronze site: 1. The pair of beasts on the bell button, 2. The bird-shaped model, 3. The beast capturing the snake, and 4. The tiger-shaped model

(c) Bronze ornamentation.

1. The unicorn pattern on the copper kettle unearthed in Liyu Village, Hunyuan, Shanxi Province (Figure 10: left) (Sun Ji). The unicorn is very common in Han Dynasty images (Fig. 10: right), and the image is mostly a winged deer with a horn on its head and flesh at the end of the horn (the front end is knotted, like a sarcoma-like). Mr. Sun Ji pointed out that the pattern on the copper kettle unearthed in Liyu Village is similar to it, which should be an earlier example. This device is also from the Sanjin system.

Figure 10 Unicorn pattern

Left: The unicorn pattern on the copper kettle in Liyu Village, Hunyuan (illustration of Sun Ji's "Several Han Dynasty Patterns and Decorations"); Right: Linlin pattern of the Han Dynasty (ibid.)

Figure 11 The bird's head and winged beast pattern of the Three Jin Dynasty:

Above: Patterns on the pottery fan unearthed at the Houma bronze casting site;

Bottom: The pattern on the bronze certificate unearthed in Liulige M57, Huixian County, Henan

Figure 12 The winged beast on the Bashu weapon:

1. The winged tiger on the bronze spear of Bashu;

2. The pattern on the bronze Ge in the collection of Guangyuan City Cultural Relics Administration

2. The animal face pattern on the pottery fan unearthed from the Houma bronze casting site in Shanxi Province (Figure 11: above) (Guo Baojun). It is composed of a deformed bird's head winged beast. This type of pattern is extremely common in the Sanjin bronzes, often with its ears visible from the front and its crown visible from the side, and with bird feathers like eagle wings and simplified feathers similar to those in the Izumiya Hakuko Collection.

3. Animal patterns on the bronze Jian unearthed from the M57 Warring States Wei Tomb in Liuli Pavilion, Huixian County, Henan Province (Figure 11: below). It is divided into two layers, the upper layer is the bird's head winged beast and the snake, and the lower layer is the horse and deer. Its bird-headed winged beasts are all long-necked with crowns, and their wings are either raised or drooping (Li Xiating).

4. The ornamentation on the weapons of Bashu (Fig. 12:1). Bashu popular tiger stripes, tiger stripes are mostly used as winged tigers, used to decorate weapons (the ornamentation on its swords and spears is more obvious. There are two kinds of ornamentation on the Ge: horizontal, the head of the body is cut off by the appendix, and it is difficult to see whether there are wings, and the vertical type, on the left side of the appendix, it can be seen that there are wings on the back). Although this ornament has local characteristics, it may be related to the Yunnan culture in the south and the grassland areas in the north. For example: (1) Sichuan Guangyuan City Cultural Relics Management Institute collection of bronze Ge (collected in Zhaohua Baolun Institute in the 60s), the shape of the vessel belongs to the Bashu style, but the ornamentation is Ordos style, there is not only a tiger devouring sheep (or deer) scene, but also a beast is very similar to the lion and tiger winged beast (Figure 12: 2) ;(2) sarcophagus tombs in southern Sichuan and the tombs of Yunnan Yunnan culture often unearthed the so-called "three-pronged copper sword", this kind of copper sword is also popular in Inner Mongolia, (3) The winged tiger is also found in the silver buckle unearthed from the No. 7 tomb of Shizhai Mountain in Jinning, Yunnan Province (see below). These three points all imply that there has always been a north-south transmission channel from western Inner Mongolia to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.

(3) Qin Dynasty　

The winged beast seat unearthed from the Qin tomb in the northern suburbs of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province (Fig. 13). Now in the collection of Xi'an Municipal Cultural Relics Management Committee. It is characterized by the fact that the head of the beast is not similar to that of a cat, but more like a camel or a horse, with pointed ears and a long tail, and the wings of the back tree are cast and equipped.

Figure 13 Winged beast seat of the Qin Dynasty

(Copper, unearthed from the Qin tomb in the northern suburbs of Xi'an, Shaanxi)

Fig.14 "Beast-shaped ornaments" in the early Western Han Dynasty

(Copper, unearthed from the tomb of Liu Yan, Marquis of Han Wanqu in Xuzhou, Jiangsu)

(4) Western Han Dynasty

(a) Bronze vessels.

1. The "beast-shaped ornament" unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Liu of Wanqu in the Western Han Dynasty in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province (Figure 14). Its shape is similar to that of the above-mentioned Qin Dynasty winged beasts, which are also in the form of camels and horses, but with two horns on their heads that bend backwards (as sheep's horns) and their wings facing backwards. A set of gold buckles with animal-like images. Its age is no later than 155 B.C., which belongs to the early Western Han Dynasty. Many of the winged beasts of the Warring States period have two wings on their backs, which is relatively rare in Han weapons. The characteristic of the Han Dynasty winged beast is that their wings are mostly elongated or leaf-shaped, with the tips of the wings facing backward and attached to the side, and the feathers are divided into two rows and one row.

2. Jiangsu Suzhou Tiger Hill Agricultural Machinery Factory unearthed the "evil spirit-shaped copper seat" (Guan Yuchun). The original is not seen, the shape of the vessel is unknown, and there is an inscription on the bottom of the vessel "Shang Fang made Jiazi in May of the first year of Heping". This vessel is a work of 28 B.C., belonging to the late Western Han Dynasty. The winged beast-shaped seat was very popular during the Han and Han dynasties.

3. The gilt inlaid winged beast town in the collection of the Japanese Izumiya Hakuko Museum. Two pieces: (1) "Toad-like" winged beast (Fig. 15: top). The lion's head, the single horn, shaped like a toad, has a male root at the bottom of the vessel, and is inlaid with rubies, turquoise, lapis lazuli and crystal, that is, the so-called "green and blue rose" decoration (Sun Ji). (2) Male and female mammals (Fig. 15: bottom). The upper beast is a single horn, and the lower beast has no horns, and the body is also inlaid with turquoise. These two artifacts are judged by Japanese scholars to be from the Western Han Dynasty, but they may also be artifacts from the Eastern Han Dynasty.

(B) Pottery.

1. The Western Han Tomb at No. 92, Northwest Medical Equipment Factory, Longshouyuan, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province was unearthed (Fig. 16: top) and the winged beast seat collected by the Art Institute of Chicago Museum in the United States (Fig. 16: bottom). The two pieces are basically the same, both are painted, with large mouths and pointed ears, wings facing backwards, three points to the feet, and a square jack on the back of the neck. Its head shape is also similar to that of a camel and horse, and its wings are on its sides. This vessel is an artifact of the early Western Han Dynasty.

2. The winged beast seat unearthed from the Western Han Tomb in Shilipu, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province (Figure 17) (Wang Jiugang, Sun Jingyi). It is also painted, and there is also a square jack on the back of the neck, but the difference is that it is a winged lion with its head held high. Holding your head high is also a characteristic of Tianlu and warding off evil spirits later. The age of this vessel is also in the early Western Han Dynasty.

Fig.15 The gilt inlay of the Western Han Dynasty Winged Beast Town in the collection of the Quanwu Bogu Museum (bronze):

Above: "Toad-like" winged beast; Bottom: Male and female

Fig.16 Winged beast seat (pottery) in the early Western Han Dynasty:

Above: Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, Longshouyuan No. 92 Western Han Tomb unearthed;

Bottom: Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago Museum, USA.

Fig. 17 The early Western Han Dynasty winged beast seat

(Tao, unearthed from the Western Han Tomb in Xi'an, Shaanxi)

(c) Jade.

1. The winged lion unearthed from the Han Wei Mausoleum (Han Yuan Emperor's Mausoleum) in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province (Figure 18: upper and lower). Two pieces, now in the Xianyang City Museum, one is made of the head holding high, the head has two horns, and the top of the head is bent backwards; the other is made of the head prostrate, and the head also has two horns, the two horns are combined, and the horn ends are separated to the left and right. It is dated to the late Western Han Dynasty (before 33 BC). The former is similar to the Tianlu and warding off evil spirits in the Eastern Han Dynasty Shinto stone carvings, and has its characteristics; There are jade objects such as horse-riding feathered people (note: horses are winged heavenly horses), eagles, bears, etc., which can make people feel a kind of grassland art. (The Palace Museum has two pieces of jade heavenly horses from the Han Dynasty (both old collections of the Qing Palace), and also has wings.) The feather man is a Chinese art theme (the tombs of the Shang Dynasty in Oceania have been discovered by the Yuyu people), but the immortal ideas since the Warring States period are often related to the legend of the Queen Mother of the West. ）

2. The winged lion in the collection of the Palace Museum (Fig. 19). The old collection of the Qing Palace, which is similar to the "toad style" produced by Weiling, should be a work of similar time (there are still a few pieces of jade in the old collection of the Qing Palace to ward off evil spirits, I don't know whether it is the late Western Han Dynasty or the Eastern Han Dynasty artifacts).

3. Winged lion in the collection of the Arthur M. Arthur Arthur Art, Washington, D.C. (FIG. 20). The lion's head is like a dragon, and it also holds its head high, with two horns on its head, and a feather on its back.

Figure 18 Winged lion in the late Western Han Dynasty

(Jade, unearthed in the Han Weiling Tomb in Xianyang, Shaanxi):

Above: Raised head; Bottom: Prostrate

Fig. 19 Winged lion in the late Western Han Dynasty

(Jade, collection of the Palace Museum)

Figure 20 The winged lion of the Western Han Dynasty

(Jade, collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art, Washington, D.C.)

4. The winged goat on the relief ornament unearthed from the site of the arsenal of Chang'an City in the Han Dynasty (Figure 21: above). as a one-horned goat. The unicorn in the artistic image of the Han Dynasty is mostly made of winged deer, with a horn and meat at the end of the horn, which is a Chinese style of unicorn, but there are also such images, that is, it is closer to the West Asian style. For example, since the Eastern Han Dynasty, many of the "five spirit patterns" are goat (Sun Ji). This vessel is similar to the animal on the bronze plaque unearthed from the bronze drum tomb of Xilin Pu in Guangxi (Fig. 21: bottom), except that the latter has no wings. The former is from the Western Han Dynasty ruins, and the latter is from the Western Han Dynasty tombs, and the times are similar, but they are out of the north and the south, which can reflect the wide spread of culture in the north and south.

(d) Gold and silverware.

A silver buckle excavated from Tomb No. 7 of Shizhai Mountain in Jinning, Yunnan Province (Fig. 22: above). The theme is the Winged Tiger. Its form is similar to that of the tiger-striped buckle excavated from the Lelang site in Korea (Fig. 22: bottom), but the latter does not have distinct wings. Some of the buckles in the early mainland were made from the grassland region, and some were Han products that imitated this style. The relationship between the two is worth exploring (scholars have different opinions on the origin of this buckle: (1) the excavators believe that it was introduced from Greece, and the ornamentation is similar to that of the "Assyrian" winged beast; (2) Mr. Zhang Zengqi believes that it was made by Scythian immigrants in Yunnan; (3) Mr. Wang Renxiang believes that it was made locally; (4) Mr. Sun Ji also believes that it was made locally; (5) Mr. Tong Enzheng believes that it was imported from India. Case: It seems that the local theory is more reasonable. ）。 Among the unearthed discoveries, there are many similar excavations, and the theme is often dragons, but the tiger stripes are found in Shizhai Mountain and Pyongyang. Such tiger stripes, according to the understanding at the time, seem to be classified as the Chinese ornament of the Four Spirits system, but the wings are influenced by foreign influences. The gold and silver buckles that have been unearthed are mostly found in Han and adjacent areas (in Korea and Japan in the east, Xinjiang in the west, and Yunnan and Guangdong in the south), of course, they cannot be considered as foreign objects, but their aesthetic taste is still influenced by foreign influences.

Figure 21 Winged goats of the Western Han Dynasty:

Above: jade artifacts excavated from the site of the arsenal of Chang'an City in the Han Dynasty;

Bottom: The bronze medal unearthed from the bronze drum tomb of Xilinpu in Guangxi

Fig.22 Winged tiger stripe buckle (silver) of the Western Han Dynasty:

Above: Unearthed from the No. 7 tomb of Shizhai Mountain in Jinning, Yunnan;

Below: Unearthed at the Lelang site in Pyongyang, North Korea

(5) Eastern Han Dynasty.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the winged lion in the above-mentioned winged beasts began to be stereotyped, forming a fixed image of Tianlu and warding off evil spirits (hereafter, according to the convention, the pairs are called "Tianlu" and "warding off evil spirits", and the single ones are called "warding off evil spirits"). Because there are so many discoveries, I can only choose to make a short introduction here.

(a) Bronze vessels.

1. The Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art in the United States collects artifacts to ward off evil spirits. There are three pieces: (1) the collection of the Freer-M. Sackler Museum (F1961.3), with an open back, 36.6 cm long, 13.7 cm wide, 19.3 cm high, and two horns; (2) the M. Sackler Foundation Deposit (MLS1779, Fig. 23), which is similar in shape to the upper vessel but slightly smaller in size: 24.2 cm long, 11.6 cm wide, 13.3 cm high, with two horns missing; (3) M. Sackler Foundation (MLS1778), which is similar in shape to the above two vessels, but with a different head and a square back. One round jack (cylindrical), the size of which is limited to the above two: length 25.6, width 15.3, height 16.5 cm, double corner. One of the characteristics of this type of evil spirit is that the soles of the feet are often turned upside down.

Figure 23 Artifacts of the Eastern Han Dynasty to ward off evil spirits

(Bronze, collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum)

2. A gilt inlaid inkstone box to ward off evil spirits was unearthed from the tomb of Liu Gong, King of Hanpengcheng, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province (Fig. 24). This is a typical "toad-like" winged beast with two horns on its head. This vessel is luxuriously decorated, gilded on the surface, inlaid with red coral, turquoise and lapis lazuli, and is also a "green rose" decoration. It dates from the time of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty (58-75 AD).

Figure 24 The Eastern Han Dynasty's evil inkstone box

(Copper, gilt silver inlay, unearthed from the tomb of Liu Gong, King of Hanpengcheng, Xuzhou, Jiangsu)

Fig.25 Eastern Han Dynasty gilded evil town (Izumiya Bogu Collection)

3. The gilded evil town in the collection of the Izumiya Hakuko Museum in Japan (Fig. 25). The shape is similar to the common evil spirits in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and there are patterns similar to leopard inscriptions on the body.　

4. Bronze mirror (Fig. 26). Mr. Sun Ji mentioned that a Han mirror unearthed in Zhejiang has a one-horned pterodactyl-like pattern, and the inscription "ward off evil spirits" is annotated.

Fig.26 Patterns on the bronze mirror of the Eastern Han Dynasty (illustration of Sun Ji's "Art of Hanzhen")

(B) Pottery.　

1. The winged beast seat unearthed in Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province (Figure 27). Collection of Shaanxi Provincial Museum. The head of the beast resembles a camel and a horse, which seems to be a series with the Qin vessel seat from the northern suburbs of Shangxi'an and the Western Han Dynasty vessel seat from the dragon head, and is different from the common evil vessel seat in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Eastern Han Dynasty's evil weapon seat is mostly similar to the lower vessel. (The winged beast-shaped seats of the Warring States Qin and Han dynasties recorded above, what they were originally used for, many cases are not clear.) However, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, some of these vessels, especially those unearthed in Sichuan, were so-called "cash cow" vessels (in addition to warding off evil spirits, there were also winged horses or winged sheep types). See Susan N. Erickson, "Money Trees of the Eastern Han Dynasty," Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 66 (1994), pp. 5-115. Case: The winged sheep unearthed in Sichuan are sheep)

Fig. 27 Winged beast seat of the Eastern Han Dynasty (Tao, unearthed in Xianyang, Shaanxi)

Fig.28 Eastern Han Dynasty painting to ward off evil spirits (collection of Los Angeles County Museum of Art)

Figure 29 The Eastern Han Dynasty's evil vessel seat (jade, from the Eastern Han Dynasty tomb in the northern suburbs of Baoji City, Shaanxi)

2. The Los Angeles Museum of Art in the collection of the Eastern Han Dynasty to ward off evil spirits (Fig. 28). It has two horns on its head, and four hook-like wings with curved tips above each of its fore and fore feet. This piece is a typical style of the Eastern Han Dynasty to ward off evil spirits, and many pottery seats at that time took this form (this kind of pottery is collected in many museums around the world, such as a pair seen in 1997 when I visited the Jining Museum).

(c) Stone tools.

An evil spirit-warding vessel unearthed from the Eastern Han Dynasty tomb in the northern suburbs of Baoji City, Shaanxi Province (Fig. 29). There is a square jack on the top of the head and a round jack on the back (there is also a jade jade in the National Palace Museum in Taiwan to ward off evil spirits, which is similar in shape to the Tianlu and evil spirit-warding stone carvings in the Lower Nelson-Atkins Art Museum. The original has the Qianlong imperial model, and Dr. Su Fangshu believes that it is an antique artwork of the Ming and Qing dynasties).

(d) Gold and silverware.

Tianlu and evil spirits unearthed from the tomb of Liu Chang, King Mu of Hanzhong, Dingxian County, Hebei Province (Figure 30). It is made of gold wire, one for two horns, and the other for one horn, both with wings. There are also a variety of cloisonné golden dragons, cloisonné golden sheep and various gold ornaments. The tomb is dated to about 174 AD.

Figure 30 Tianlu and evil spirits in the Eastern Han Dynasty (gold, filigree, unearthed from the tomb of Liu Chang, King Mu of Hanzhong, Dingxian County, Hebei Province)

Figure 31 Eastern Han Dynasty Shinto stone carvings of Tianlu and warding off evil spirits (originally in front of the ancestral hall of Nanyang Zongzi in Henan)

(e) Shinto stone carvings. There may be no horns on the head, or one horn, or two horns. Specimens from the Eastern Han Dynasty, there are now more than a dozen pairs (but some only have one left) except for the Sichuan region, which seems to be the most concentrated in Henan, especially the imperial capital Luoyang and Nanyang, where the wealthy people gathered. Many of the collections scattered in museums around the world since this century are also from Henan. From Nanyang, one corner is engraved with "Tianlu", and two corners are engraved with "evil spirits" (both engraved on the wings); Tianlu, warding off evil spirits and guarding the gate and Shinto is the atmosphere since the Eastern Han Dynasty, they are generally on the left with one corner, and the right with two corners (the Six Dynasties is on the right with one corner, and the two corners are on the left), and the shape is not too large (generally around 1-1.6 meters). They were the predecessors of such stone carvings of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties (the shape was not as large as later, but the basic characteristics were the same). During the Wei and Jin dynasties, such stone carvings were not seen, and they only regained popularity during the Northern and Southern Dynasties (but declined after the Northern and Southern Dynasties). The carvings of the Northern Dynasties are not fine, and most of the exquisite productions are the works of the Southern Dynasties (concentrated in Nanjing and Dantu). Their common source is still Henan, and the carving process is also followed by the Han Dynasty, which is very similar to each other. The objects are:

(I.) Specimen from Henan.

1. Tianlu in front of the tomb of Nanyang Zongzi, ward off evil spirits. According to the Jinshi writings since the Song Dynasty (see Ouyang Xiu's "Jigulu Bawei" volume 3, Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan" volume 21, Zhao Mingcheng's "Jinshi Lu" volume 15 and other books), the Tianlu evil stone carvings unearthed in Henan are the most concentrated in Nanyang and Baofeng. Nanyang mainly has a pair in front of the tomb of Han Zongzi, a pair in front of the tomb of Han and Song Jun, and a pair in front of the Han tomb in Qilingang. Baofeng has a pair in front of the tomb of the state auxiliary. Of these stone carvings, only a pair (or only one is a Zongzi tomb, and the other is not) are still there, and they are now in the Nanyang Han Painting Museum (Fig. 31).

2. Tianlu and evil spirits unearthed in Sunqitun, Luoyangjian, Henan Province (Figure 32). A collection of Luoyang Guanlin Stone Carving Art Museum, a collection of Chinese History Museum, its shape is similar to the top, there is a square seat below, there is an inscription on the neck, it is said that "Artemisia is gathered into a slave".

Figure 32 Eastern Han Dynasty Shinto stone carvings of Tianlu and evil spirits (unearthed in the west of Luoyang, Henan)

Figure 33 Eastern Han Dynasty Shinto stone carvings of Tianlu and evil spirits (in front of the tomb of Han Gaoyi, Ya'an, Sichuan)

Fig. 34 Eastern Han Dynasty Shinto stone carvings of Tianlu and warding off evil spirits (collection of Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art)

Figure 35 Eastern Han Dynasty Shinto stone carvings of Tianlu and evil spirits (unearthed in the western suburbs of Xianyang, Shaanxi)

(II.) Specimens from Sichuan.

1. The Tianlu and evil spirits of the Gaoyi Tomb in Ya'an (Figure 33). A pair, the shape is rough, not as fine as the one produced in Henan.

2. The Tianlu and evil spirits of the tomb of Fan Min in Lushan. Couple. The shape is also relatively rough.

(III.) Collections scattered in Western museums (Barry Bill, case: The author divides the above artifacts into two main categories, the first being 1-4 below, and the second being 5-7 below. In addition, the article contains a private collection whose whereabouts are unknown. The device is Mr. Gatt Gray's. Gategory) acquired from Luoyang before liberation and then moved to Beijing, and the shape of the vessel is similar to that of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, which the author suspects to be a couple).

1. Philadelphia, USA: Collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. A pair, rumored out of Neiqiu County, Henan.

2. Paris, France: Collection of the Musée Guimet. A pair, rumored out of Neiqiu County, Henan.

3. Buffalo, USA: Collection of the Albright-Knox Museum of Art. A.

4. Zurich, Switzerland: Collection of the Letterburg Museum. A.

5. Kansas, USA: Collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (fig. 34). Couple. There is a square seat under this device, which is the same as that of Jianxi.

6. San Francisco, USA: Collection of the Asian Art Museum. A.

7. Stockholm, Sweden: Collection of the Museum of Antiquities of the Far East. A.

In addition, it should be pointed out that in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Tianlu and evil spirits were some wingless, and scholars may call them "lions", such as: (1) a pair in front of the tomb of Yang Jun in Lushan, Sichuan, (2) a pair in front of the Wu Ancestral Hall in Jiaxiang, Shandong, (3) a pair unearthed in the western suburbs of Xianyang, Shaanxi Province in 1959 (Figure 35), their position and function in the cemetery (guarding the gate), their shape and posture are no different from those with wings, in fact, they should still be regarded as Tianlu and ward off evil spirits.

(Self) image stone.　

In the portrait stones of the Eastern Han Dynasty, winged mythical beasts are a common theme. Among them, there are not only griffin-style bird-headed mythical beasts and Tianlu and evil spirits, but also winged fetishities with the body of winged lions, winged tigers, winged leopards, winged horses, winged deer and human-headed (nine-headed, three-headed and two-headed) beasts. Here are two examples:

1. An example from the portrait stone in Yinan, Shandong Province (Fig. 36).

2. An example from the portrait stone of Jiaxiang in Shandong Province (Fig. 37).

Figure 36 The winged beast on the portrait stone of the Eastern Han Dynasty (unearthed in Yinan, Shandong)

(g) Other stone carvings.　

1. The "evil socket" unearthed from the tomb of the Taihan Dynasty in Ya'an, Sichuan Province (Figure 38). Now in the Sichuan Provincial Museum, there is a round jack on the back of the neck.

2. The "Shi Tianlu Chengpan" unearthed from the Han Tomb (M1) of Beiguan Yarn Factory in Huaiyang County, Henan Province (Fig. 39). It is also a relatively small stone carving (22 cm long, 46 cm high), and there are other stone carvings such as stone figurines, tiger-shaped seats, lion-shaped seats, and double beast seats.

37 The winged beast on the portrait stone of the Eastern Han Dynasty (unearthed in Jiaxiang, Shandong)

Figure 38 The socket of the Eastern Han Dynasty to ward off evil spirits (stone, unearthed from the tomb of the Taihan Dynasty in Ya'an, Sichuan)

Figure 39 Shi Tianlu Chengpan of the Eastern Han Dynasty (stone, unearthed from the Han tomb of Beiguan Yarn Factory in Huaiyang, Henan)

Figure 40 Silk fabrics excavated from the site of Niya (with patterns to ward off evil spirits)

(Xin) silk fabrics.

In the Han brocade unearthed in Xinjiang, we can often see a pattern of birds and beasts sandwiched with Chinese characters. Among them, in addition to lions and tigers, evil spirits are also common. For example, the "Five Stars Out of the East to Benefit China" brocade, "Qiu Nanqiang" brocade, "prolong life and longevity and longevity" brocade, "Yi descendants" brocade, "Wenda" brocade, and "Anle embroidery" brocade unearthed from the Niya site in Minfeng County have such images on them.

(6) Others.　

1. The "arm tie to ward off evil spirits" unearthed from the Han tomb. (Figure 41) (Case: Mr. Sun Ji quoted the third volume of the "Urgent Chapter", "Tie the arm Lang Ji Tiger Dragon, Bibi Zhu Rose Urn, Jade Jue Ring Admire Calmly, Shoot the Charm to ward off evil spirits and eliminate the evil", it seems that all things can ward off evil spirits, so this thing is called "Tie the arm to ward off evil spirits"). It is a kind of wingless lion made of amber, charcoal, gold, glaze, and bone, the general size is only more than 1 cm long, mainly popular in the tombs of the Han Dynasty and the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

Figure 41 Tie the arm to ward off evil spirits:

1. Shaanxi Xianyang Maquan Western Han Tomb unearthed (amber)

2,3. Guizhou Qingzhen Pingba Han Tomb unearthed (bone)

4. Sichuan Zhaohua Baolun Courtyard Northern and Southern Dynasties Tomb unearthed (charcoal essence)

2. The "evil town" unearthed from the Han Tomb in Hepuxi, Guangxi (Figure 42). Evil Town. It is surrounded by three beasts, and has no distinct wings.

Figure 42 Evil Town (bronze, unearthed from the Western Han Tomb in Hepu, Guangxi, illustration of Sun Ji's "Art of Han Town")

3. Winged mythical beasts in hand-me-down literature

The animal images in ancient Chinese art can be divided into two categories, one is realistic animals, and the other is exaggerated and mixed with different kinds of animals (especially birds and animals), that is, purely imaginary animals. The latter can be divided into animals that are less famous than those imagined at will, and animals that have been selected for a long time and are regarded as "auspicious birds". For the sake of convenience, our discussion of the "Winged Divine Beast" is limited to the last one, and does not include the first two. For example, Zhu Xizu mentioned the "tiger with wings" theory, or the Mao gods and miscellaneous monsters in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", which are no longer discussed here.

Judging from the literature, the most important "winged beasts" in China are:

(1) Kirin. It is a winged mythical beast based on deer-like animals. The early Chinese auspicious birds and beasts were most famous for their "dragon", "phoenix" or "unicorn" and "phoenix". However, it is worth noting that although "dragon" and "phoenix" are names that have appeared early in Shang and Zhou inscriptions, "qilin" and "phoenix" are not found in early inscriptions. "Spring and Autumn" biography Lu Aigong 14 years "West hunting to capture Lin", "Book of Poetry: Zhou Nan" has "Lin Toe", they all refer to "Lin" instead of "Qilin". The "Qilin" as a rui beast and the "phoenix" seem to have appeared only from the Warring States period documents (such as "Dadai Li: Yi Benming", "Rites: Liyun", "Mencius: Gongsun Choushang", "Guanzi: Feng Chan", "Lü's Spring and Autumn • Yingtong", "Chu Ci" "Regret Oath" and "Nine Sighs"). Case: "The Book of Rites and Rites" also refers to the Lin, the phoenix, the turtle, and the dragon as the "Four Spirits"). "Qilin" is called "Lin", which is generally considered to be a provincial name, just like "Phoenix" is called "Phoenix" is also considered a provincial name. But when we look at the order of lexical development, the opposite is true. They may instead be an extension of the words "lin" and "phoenix". According to books such as "Erya" and "Shuowen", "Qi", "Lin" and "Phoenix" and "Phoenix" are all male and female bodies of the same animal. However, we suspect that the "lin" (also known as "麐") was probably just a deer-like animal before it was deified (the old saying that the unicorn is the giraffe, Sun Ji has been correct, see the book "The Qilin and the Giraffe"). Scholars may also say that the unicorn is the hartebeest (Alcelaphus), but it is also not credible, see Guo Ying, Joseph Needham, and Cheng Qingtai: A History of Ancient Chinese Zoology). This animal was deified because of two famous events in history: (1) in the fourteenth year of Lu Ai Gong (481 B.C.), "the West Hunting Lin" (note: its capture was in the West), its capture had caused Confucius's sympathy, and legend has it that Confucius actually wrote the "Spring and Autumn Period" because of this;(2) Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in 122 B.C. in the West Ancestral Hall, it is said that he also hunted the "Bailin" (note: its capture is also in the West, and the white color of the beast obtained is the symbol of the West), so it was changed to Yuan Yuan Hunting, which is the Qilin Pavilion. The "Spring and Autumn" and "Zuo Chuan" do not say, the "Ram Legend" says that it is a "non-Chinese beast" or "benevolent beast", and "麕 has horns" (麕 is a deer, Chinese water deer, Hydropotes inermis, only distributed in China and Korea) (the Hanshu Xuan Di Ji says that in the fourth year of Yuan Kang (62 BC) "Jiuzhen (in present-day Vietnam) offered strange beasts", which is also said to be "Lin", and the "On Heng • Jiaorui" says that Emperor Xuan obtained "two horns like a deer." ”）。 Why did Confucius cry when he saw such an animal? The reason was that he himself was a benevolent being, and in his view, the capture of such a benevolent beast was a symbol of his inability to do so. The "Bailin" obtained by Emperor Wu is said to be "one horn and five hooves", which was used as a symbol of the Han Dynasty's conquest of the four Yi and the prosperity of martial arts, especially related to his conquest of the Xiongnu ("Hanshu • The Legend of the Final Army"). Since the Han Dynasty, scholars have mostly said that the qilin is a kind of sacred object with a deer body, an ox's tail, a wolf's forehead, and a horse's hoof, the male is known as the Qiqi without horns, and the female is known as the Lin with a horn, and the horns have meat (such as "Erya Shi Beast", "Guangya Shi Beast", "Zuo Chuan" Wai Gong 13 Years Du Pre-Note, "Chinese • Lu Language" Wei Zhao Note, "Hanshu Wudi Benji" Yan Shigu Note, etc.). But because the unicorn is only called "lin", it is more known as "one horn". The image of its excavation, as mentioned above, is that there are many people with one horn and meat at the end of the horn, but there are also those who make the image of a goat, wearing a long pointed horn or two horns together. After the Western Han Dynasty, "Lin" often added the "Four Spiritual Patterns" (Fig. 43: upper and middle) represented by the Green Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Xuanwu, which further constituted the "Five Spiritual Patterns" (Fig. 43: Lower) (Sun Ji). It can be seen that "Lin" is a clear theme. However, it is worth noting here that the ancients sometimes confused "Qilin" with "Taoba", "Fuba", "Fuba" or "Tianlu" and "evil spirits" to be discussed below. For example, Zhu Xizu once pointed out that the ancients often called Tianlu and evil spirits in front of the mausoleums of the Han and Wei dynasties "Qilin", and called such mausoleums "Qilin Mound" and named the place where the stone carvings are located after "Qilin". It can be seen that they are divine beasts with similar images and similar properties.　

The ancient sound of "Qilin", "Qi" is the part of the mother, and "Lin" is the true part of the mother. We suspect that it may be a foreign translation of the Chinese concept and the Chinese word (麟), which was introduced to China relatively early (Professor Christoph Harbsmeier suspects that "phoenix" is both a term for "qilin" and may have been coined in the same way).

Figure 43 Four Spiritual Patterns and Five Spiritual Patterns

Above: Four spirit patterns (the pattern on the bronze wine statue unearthed from the Western Han Tomb in Maquan, Xianyang, Shaanxi)

Middle: Four spirit patterns (patterns on the seal box unearthed from the tomb of the Northern Dynasty in Xining, Qinghai)

Bottom: Five Spirit Patterns (illustration of Sun Ji's "Several Han Dynasty Patterns and Decorations")

(2) Peach pulling, fu pulling, and pulling. It is generally believed to be the name of an exotic animal related to "Tianlu" and "evil spirit". Its fame is later than that of the Qilin, mainly since the Han Dynasty passed through the Western Regions, and it is obviously related to the countries of present-day Central Asia and West Asia, which were known as the Western Regions in ancient times. The relevant records are:

(1) "Hanshu • Western Regions Biography": "Wuyi Mountain left the country (in the area of present-day Afghanistan), Wang [case: Xia Tuo means the "governance of a certain city" in his capital] (Mr. Lin Meicun said that the lack of text is regarded as "governing Wuyi Mountain leaving the city", see his "Tianlu to ward off evil spirits and ancient Chinese and Western cultural exchanges"). However, the Book of Han and the Book of the Western Regions and the Book of the Later Han Dynasty have different names for their country names and capitals), and they go to Chang'an for 2,200 miles,...... The summer heat of Wuyi is reckless, and its plants, livestock, grains, fruits and vegetables, food and drink, palace, market, money, weapons, and gold beads are all the same as Zhengbin, and there are peach, master, and rhinoceros. Meng Kang commented: "The peach pulls a talisman, like a deer, with a long tail, one horn or a heavenly deer, and two horns or to ward off evil spirits." The master is like a tiger, and he is yellow

The tail end is as large as a bucket. ”

(2) "Book of the Later Han Dynasty • Emperor Zhang": "The first year of Zhanghe (87 AD),...... It's the year old, and the chief of the Western Regions, Shi Ban, overtook Shache and broke it. The Yueshi Kingdom (in present-day Xinjiang and west of Xinjiang) sent envoys to offer support and lions. Note: "Pulling, like a forest without horns." The end of the plucking step is reversed. ”

(3) "Book of the Later Han Dynasty and Emperor Ji": "The second year of Zhanghe (88 AD),...... The Sabbath (in present-day Iran and Iraq) sent envoys to offer lions and pluck them. Note: "The explanation is in the "Chapters". ”

(4) "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty • The Biography of Ban Chao": "At the beginning, the Yue's tried to help the Han chariot master with merit, and he was a tribute and a lion." Note: "The Book of the Continuation of the Han Dynasty says: 'Fuba, the shape is like a lin but has no horns. ’”

In the above materials, we should note that "Taoba", "Fuba" and "Fuba" should be different ways of writing the same foreign word. Their first character seems to indicate the consonant part or the syllable that precedes the word, slightly like the Chinese reverse cut upper character. In the ancient Chinese pronunciation, "peach" is the mother of the word, "fu" is the mother of the Hou word, "Fu" is the mother of the fish word, the first word and the last two words of the initial is different, but "peach" is the mother of the word, the ancient from the trillion sound of the word "佻" and "頫" word is the word to help the mother, and the mother is very close, we suspect, they are B or P as the initials. And "pull" is the word of the month of the mother, and it ends with at as the rhyme.

In the past, there were two understandings of the above materials, one was to take "Taoba" (or "Fuba", "Fuba", "no longer note") and "lion" as two animals, such as thinking that it was another name for the Qilin or the hornless Qilin (i.e. Qi) (Yang Kuan), or guessing that it was some other animal in West or Central Asia (such as Lin Meicun: "Tianlu to ward off evil spirits and ancient Chinese and Western Cultural Exchanges" takes "Taoba" as a mistake, "Fuba" or "Fuba" as positive, and understands "Fuba" or "Fuba" as "Tianlu" According to the research of Sha Wan, it is interpreted as the Western Regions pronghorned antelope (ancient Greek as boubalis), and the "evil spirit" is interpreted as a rhinoceros). Because Meng Kang's interpretation of "Taoba" and "Lion" is separate, Li Xian is also Dan's interpretation of "Fuba". This explanation seems reasonable. However, it is worth noting that in the sentences quoted above, although words such as "peach" and "lion" are occasionally inverted, all the sentences are connected, and they may also be read consecutively. For example, Zhu Xizu uses continuous reading.

Here we would like to point out that although the ancient records are vague and scholars have many differences in understanding, two things are certain. First, "Taoba" is the same as Tianlu and warding off evil spirits, or at least related to it (i.e., Tianlu and warding off evil spirits collectively, or hornless Tianlu and warding off evil spirits); second, Tianlu and warding off evil spirits, which are found in the excavations, all appear in the image of pairs of winged lions or lions, which are different from the images of unearthed unicorns. If we use "Taoba" to refer to unicorns or other animals, it is inconsistent with the unearthed image, and if we use them to refer to lions, it is too semantic. Therefore, the latter reading above is also worth considering. There are two possibilities here:

The first possibility is that "Taoba Lion" refers to a lion with some kind of divine power or some kind of divine object with a lion as its incarnation. In other words, "Peach Pull Lion" or "Peach Pull Lion" are both mysterious sayings for lions. Meng Kang said that "Fuba" resembles a deer, and a horn or "heavenly deer" is similar to a unicorn, so this thing may be understood by relying on the image of "unicorn". It is to explain what is more familiar to something less familiar (just as the ancients explained camels with swollen horses and lions with short-haired tigers, both of which are phenomena that linguists call "catachresis"). If this understanding is correct, then it can explain the question raised by Zhu Xizu, that is, why the ancients used "qilin" to refer to the Shinto stone carvings of Tianlu and ward off evil spirits. In this sense, we can even say that "Taoba Lion" or "Lion Taoba" is also a kind of unicorn-style lion or lion-style unicorn.

The second possibility is that "Momono Lion" is a "lion" produced by "Momoba". In other words, "Taoba" only indicates the origin of the lion (but if this is the case, then "lion pulling" must be incorrect). For example, we can consider whether it belongs to the same region as the Wuyi Mountain or neighboring countries where lions were born as mentioned in the Hanshu Western Regions. According to the "Hanshu • Western Regions Biography", Wuyi Mountain is the first big country to meet at the end of the Southern Silk Road in the Western Regions of Hantong. "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty • The Biography of the Western Regions" says that in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wuyi Mountain was renamed "Paite". Its territory was bounded to the east by Zobin (in present-day Kashmir), to the north by Bactria (between the present-day Hindu Kush and the upper reaches of the Amu Darya River), and to the west by Lijing (Alexandria, Egypt) and Tiaozhi (in present-day Syria), in present-day Afghanistan. Wuyi Mountain is away (the ancient books are mostly referred to as "Wuyi"), and the ancient sound is close to Alexandria. Its capital (Hanshu Western Regions Biography stripped of its name) is one of the many cities named after Alexander in present-day Afghanistan (there are four main theories in scholars: Herat, Kandahar, Farah, and Ghaznio. See Yu Taishan, "Research on the History of Cypriot Species". Case: "Pai" is slightly closer to the pronunciation of the first and third sayings).

(3) Tianlu and warding off evil spirits. Scholars have debated a great deal (one says that the one with one horn is Tianlu, the one with two horns is to ward off evil spirits, and the one without horns is Fu Ba; see Zhu Xizu's "Examination of Tianlu to Ward Off Evil Spirits"; one says that the one with one horn is a unicorn, the one with two horns is Tianlu, and the one without horns is Fu Ba; see Zhu Wei, "An Examination of the Mausoleums of the Six Dynasties of the Lanling Tomb in Jiankang"; one says that both the single horn and the two horns are unicorns, see Yang Kuan, "Research on the History of the Ancient Chinese Mausoleum System"; one says that the one with one horn is to ward off evil spirits, and the one with two horns is Tianlu, see Sun Ji: "Illustrated Material Culture Materials of the Han Dynasty"). However, no matter how you look at it, there are two things that cannot be doubted: (1) they were imported from the Western Regions and were foreign objects (judging from the Han Dynasty documents;( and 2) they should be related to "lions" (judging from the excavated objects). Based on the above understanding, our view is that "Taoba Lion" is a foreign name for "Tianlu" and "warding off evil spirits", and "Tianlu" and "warding off evil spirits" are the Chinese names for "Taoba Lion", and the two are the same thing. The renaming of "Taoba Lion" to "Tianlu" and "warding off evil spirits" is actually a kind of "sinicization" transformation: one is the transformation of the image, and the other is the transformation of the vocabulary. Let's explain a little bit below.

First, as we have already said above, the introduction of this type of fetish is based on the concept of "unicorn", which is said to be a pair of fetish, which is an imitation of the unicorn. "Lin" is called "Qi" and "Lin", which is said to be determined by having horns and no horns: Qiqi has no horns and a horn. In the same way, "Tianlu" and "warding off evil spirits" are also divided according to this method. Their appearance, which has been excavated and discovered, is more complicated: sometimes it is single, sometimes it is double, sometimes it is horned, sometimes it is not, sometimes it is one, sometimes it is two, and there is no strict distinction at first. We suspect that the division of the "Taoba Lion" into two and the appearance of "Tianlu" and "warding off evil spirits" are likely to be a later theory. Meng Kang said that "one corner is either Tianlu, and two corners are either to ward off evil spirits", and Li Xian said "Pulling, like a lin without horns", all of which can show that this is not a clear division. The distinct division is only in the case of the appearance of similar unicorns in pairs. If it is single, it is difficult for everyone to call, and it is impossible to determine one corner or two corners, not to mention that they often have no horns. Scholars call a single person "to ward off evil spirits" (such as many of the "evil spirits" mentioned in the previous section), but in fact it is just a habit, and there is no real basis, and it is okay for us to call it "Tianlu" (for example, the "Tianlu toad" in the following research is two corners).

Second, "Tianlu" and "warding off evil spirits" are Chinese words. They are the clichés of the Chinese to express auspiciousness. "Tianlu", see "Mencius Wanzhangxia", originally refers to the blessing given by God, but because "Qilin" is also called "Tianlu", which is just homophonic to "Tianlu", it also refers to a divine beast similar to Qilin, which is actually an auspicious language. Similarly, "warding off evil spirits" see the third volume of the "Urgent Chapter", which is a joint statement with "removing the group of evil", which originally meant to get rid of evil spirits, and the ancients believed that the lion and tiger were fierce and could get rid of the evil (detailed section 5), so this kind of divine beast was used to guard the gate and Shinto. On the portrait stone of the Han Dynasty unearthed in Sichuan, we have seen a pair of tigers, similar to Tianlu and warding off evil spirits (tigers are very popular in the local area, and have been mentioned above), one marked "dispelling Mao (evil)" ("Mao" is a clerical error), and one marked "removing evil" (Fig. 44), the same word, which can be used for both pairs of lions and pairs of tigers, can be seen to be similar auspicious language, and the use is not strict.

Figure 44 Tiger marked with the inscriptions "Evil (evil)" and "Evil" (portrait stone unearthed in Sichuan)

Compared with the literature, we believe that the above-mentioned archaeological finds mainly fall into this category. But the types are not limited to this, in addition to the animal head class, there is also the bird head class, and there are different categories in the animal head class. Especially their age, many of them belong to the Western Han Dynasty, when the lion was called Xuanyi. Therefore, we can't name all discoveries with "Taopluck Lion" or "Tianlu" and "Ward Off Evil Spirits", before the Eastern Han Dynasty, they were still called "winged beasts" or "winged beasts".

In the Han Dynasty, there were Tianlu Pavilion and Qilin Palace, which were said to have been built by Xiao He (see "Sanfu Huangtu • Weiyang Palace" quoted in "Han Palace Shu"), in which there are bronze or stone statues of such gods, but unfortunately they have disappeared.

(4) Tianlu toad. It is also a kind of sacred object related to Tianlu and warding off evil spirits. The literature on this fetish is:

(1) "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty • Emperor Ling": "In February of the third year of Zhongping (186 AD), the Yutang Hall was restored, and the bronze man was cast four, and the Tianlu toad. Note: "Tianlu, beast also." When the court ordered Bi Lan to cast a bronze man, listed outside the Canglong Xuanwu Que, Zhong hung in front of the jade hall and the cloud platform hall, and the Tianlu toad spit water outside the flat gate, and the matter was "The Legend of the Eunuch". ”

(2) "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty • The Biography of Zhang Rang": "Next year, he ordered Song Dian to repair the Nangong Jade Hall, and ordered Bi Lan to cast four bronze figures, which were listed in Canglong and Xuanwu Que. Four bells were cast again, all of which received two thousand hundreds, and the county was in front of the jade hall and the cloud platform hall. Cast Tianlu toad again, spit water in the east of the bridge outside Pingmen, and turn the water into the palace. It is also used to overturn the car and thirst for Wu, and it is applied to the west of the bridge, and the north and south suburbs of the road are used to save the cost of the people's road. ......”

These two texts are about the same thing. Its so-called "bronze man", "bell", "Tianlu toad", "overturned car thirsty black" are all luxury items of the temple furnishings. Similar things can also be found in many records of the Han Dynasty, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. For example, the so-called "bronze man", in fact, Weng Zhong, Shi Fan Liujian, are all taken from the Xiongnu or imitated from the Xiongnu palace decoration; The genera of "Tianlu", "Evil Spirit", "Qilin", and "Feilian" are also such things. They are mostly exotic pieces. The "Tianlu toad" in the text used to be read separately. If read in this way, the person who spits water in the text is not the same object, but two things with different images. We thought it would be better to read continuously. Because from the archaeological findings, one of the winged beasts of the Han Dynasty mentioned above is often in the form of a frog creeping, or a town object, or an inkstone, or a vessel seat, and we suspect that it is the "Tianlu toad". As mentioned in the previous section, the tomb of Liu Gong, the king of Hanpengcheng, is very similar to the "shrimp toad" (they are similar to the gold "tiger-shaped ornament" unearthed in Alu Chaiden, Inner Mongolia (there are also similar reclining beasts on the "eagle-shaped crown ornament" and "gem-inlaid plaque" unearthed in the same tomb)).

(5) Fei Lian. See books such as "Chu Ci • Lisao" and "Huainanzi • Yu Zhen", which is a kind of divine object that can cause an atmosphere. "Sanfu Huangtu • View" said: "Feilian Guan is in Shanglin, and Emperor Wu Yuanfeng made it in the second year. Fei Lian, a god bird can cause the wind, the body is like a deer, the head is like a bird, there are horns and a snake tail, and the text is like a leopard. Emperor Wu ordered the bronze cast view, because of the name. It is worth noting that the ancient books say that one of the ancestors of the Qin people was named "Fei Lian", and that he lived in the north of present-day Shanxi in the Shang Dynasty and raised horses for the Shang kings. This seems to suggest that "Fei Lian" may also be an artistic theme related to the northern peoples. It is said above that a "deer antler crane" was unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi, and some scholars believe that it is Fei Lian in the ancient book. Whether this is the case or not is still to be studied (this standing bird may also be exotic. For example, a tapestry excavated by Bazelek has this image, and the fetish on the left is a bird with antlers, and on the right is a man with antlers).

Four

Winged beasts of the steppes of West, Central and Eurasia

The above is about China's winged beast, and here we want to talk about whether it is related to foreign influences. This problem involves a wide range of issues, and it can only be solved by comparison, but the author has not seen a wide range of things, and lacks in-depth research.

First of all, we all know that there are many species of winged mythical beasts in the art of various parts of Europe and Asia (e.g., (1) the sphinx (sphinx), Egypt (Egypt in the third millennium BC), Greece, and (2) griffin (griffin, (3) Chimera (a lion-shaped monster with a deer's head on its back and a dragon snake on its tail), Greece, Pegasus (winged horse), Greece, and (4) dragon, Greece. In addition, Assyria/Persia also had lamassu (a human-headed winged beast), senmurv (a bird-like monster with a beast's head), and various winged men and birdmen, the most relevant of which is probably the griffin ("griffin" is a Semitic word and is used by all European languages). This artistic theme has very early origins, almost as old as the Sphinx in the Mediterranean. As early as the third millennium BC, it appeared in the valley of the two rivers and spread widely throughout the world. This type of motif is found in North Africa, Southern Europe, South Asia, West Asia, Central Asia and the Eurasian steppes (Griffin in the first three regions, see Fig. 45; Griffin in the last three regions, see Fig. 46-53), and is the most international artistic theme of the ancient world. But there are many variants of them, their meanings in early religion and mythology are not very clear, they have different manifestations in different periods and different regions, and their cultural relations with each other are very complex.

There are three points worth noting in the study of the spread of Griffin: first, it spreads in all directions from West Asia: the Mediterranean and the Near East are southern, Central Asia and the Eurasian steppe are northern, and India is somewhere in between, with the former having lions without tigers, the latter with tigers without lions, and India with both, and they represent two regions of animal ecological distribution (the distribution area of lions is the African continent, the two river basins, West Asia and northwest India. There were no lions in European history, but Greece probably did. The tiger's range is the Asian continent: from the Amur River in the north, to Sumatra in the south, to Georgia in the west, to the Sakhalin Islands in the east, and many other places. The tigers in Asia are centered in China: there are Siberian tigers in Northeast China, South China tigers (extinct in the wild), Ili tigers in Xinjiang (extinct after the thirties), and Tibet, tigers of the same species as the Bengal tigers in northeastern India. Second, West Asian art spread to the north and east, and its entry into the northern shore of the Black Sea, into southern Siberia and the Altai region was centered in Central Asia, and into Xinjiang, the Mongolian steppe, and the hinterland of China was also centered in Central Asia; third, China's acceptance of Griffin may have different channels, either from Xinjiang (roughly along the so-called "Silk Road") or from Inner Mongolia and Northeast China (except for the earlier Assyria, Babylonian art, the art of these regions often influenced each other (which also included the influence of Greek art), and the chronological and stylistic relationships were extremely complex, and scholars have various speculations and analyses about their chronology and diffusion).

Figure 45 Griffins in North Africa, Southern Europe, and South Asia:

1. Griffin in Egypt, 2. Griffin in Israel, 3. Griffin in Greece, 4. Griffin in India

Figure 46 Assyrian winged lion:

Left: Decoration on the walls of the palace of Calah; Right: Decoration on the walls of the Susa Palace

Fig. 47 The winged beast on the chest ornament of Givier

Figure 48 Eagle Head Griffin: Gold bracelet in the treasure of the Amu Darya River

(2) Lion griffin or winged lion (see Figure 46: left, right and the middle of each row in Figure 47). is a variant of the previous Griffin. It differs from the former in that it replaces the head of an eagle or a bird with a lion's head. Originally hornless, the horned art is characteristic of Persian, Central Asian, Southern Siberian and Altai art, Assyrian art is absent, and art from the Black Sea region is rare. They are mainly imitation of wild goat horns, i.e. borrowed from the next species. There are two types of horns of wild goats, one with pointed horns and one with the end rolled up.

(3) Sheep griffin or winged ibex (see Figure 47, middle row from left, first type). The image is based on the Asian ibex (Capra sibirica) from West and Central Asia. This type of griffin is a griffin with horned cloven hooves: the cloven hooves are distinguished from the body of a lion, and horns are their own characteristics. Its horns, both in their true image, and in those with two horns combined or in one corner, are generally bent backwards, but there are also those that are made of other shapes. The above two kinds of griffin were originally hornless, but with this mixture, there is also the image of horns.

In addition, we should note that the Griffins of the Assyrian, Persian, and Central Asian systems were dominated by bronze ornamentation, stone statues, tile frescoes, gold and silver jewelry, and roller seals, which often appeared in complex representations alongside other winged fetishes (e.g., Sphinx, Ramasus, and Birdmen and Feathered Men) (Fig. 47). The above-mentioned griffin, because it is often carved in gold and stone, has a very detailed depiction of the head and wings of the eagle, the head and body of the lion, the head and horns of the sheep, especially their muscles, and has a strong sense of realism. In particular, they have three decorative features: (1) the wings are raised upwards and slightly S-shaped, with the tips pointing forward (in the direction of the head), ;(2) animal feet (the feet of the eagle-headed griffin and the lion-headed griffin) or bird claws, especially the hind feet, and (3) the rump may be shaped as a "(" or "•" (so-called "apple and pear" or "bow and dot"), and the abdomen under the wings sometimes has a strip mark. These three characteristics are also found in excavations in the Eurasian steppe.

Next, let's briefly talk about the Griffin of the Eurasian steppe.

The Eurasian steppe is commonly referred to as (1) the South Russian steppe north of the Caucasus on the northern shore of the Black Sea (the so-called "Cypriot species" and "Scythian art" mainly refer to the inhabitants of this region and their art), ;( 2) the southern Siberian and Altai regions, and (3) the Xinjiang and Mongolian steppes on the mainland. The ancient tribes in this area were very complex, ranging from the Scythian tribes of the Greeks or the Saka of the Persians (the "Sai species" referred to in Chinese historical texts) as well as the "Yueshi", "Xiongnu", "Xianbei" and "Donghu" tribes in Chinese literature. Not only are griffins popular in these areas, but interestingly, according to classical Greek legend, to the east of the Scythian people (presumably referring to the Altai region) lived the Arimaspi people, who killed the "griffins who guarded the gold" and took the gold (the Altai Mountains are the most famous gold source in the Eurasian steppes, and the name itself means "mountain of gold").　

From the archaeological material, in the 7th and 4th centuries BC, the so-called Scythian art was popular in the steppes of South Russia, South Siberia and the Altai region, that is, an art that was related to the art of the Persian system, the art of the Central Asian system, and the art of the Greek colonial system, and in turn influenced their art. Most of the excavations are small ornaments, decorated with horse harnesses, felt carpets, gold and silver buckles and medals, as well as tattoos. This art is characterized by the abundance of animal ornaments and the depiction of their fighting scenes. In these scenes, eagles, tigers, wolves, and bears are all carnivores, while camels, horses, sheep, and deer are killed as herbivores. Although they have both the above three types of griffin, in terms of the law of role reversal, the eagle-headed griffin replaces the eagle, and the lion-headed griffin replaces the tiger (as well as the leopard, bear, and wolf). Their eagles and tigers are more realistic, but the eagle-headed griffin and winged lion are entirely imaginary, and even in local art they are "exotic".

Figure 49 Condor:

Left: Saddle sheath excavated from Bazerek;

右：七兄弟石冢（Seven Brothers Kurgan）出土的银鹰头

In this type of art, there are several main themes that are relevant to our discussion:

（一）神鹰（mythological　eagle，图四九）。 特点是大耳，短额，钩喙，头戴肉冠，颈项和胸脯饰垂鳞纹。

(b) Griffin. It can be divided into:

1. Eagle head Griffin (Fig. 50). It is characterized by the fact that its eagle head is often in the form of the "condor" mentioned above, and has S-shaped wings with the wingtips pointing forward (towards the head). This wing shape is the same as that of the griffin of Central Asia and Persia, but it is worth noting that it also bears the characteristics of Greek art. For example, their eagle heads tend to have mane on their backs, which are serrated in the early days and fins in the late period, which is influenced by Greek art in the fifth century AD (Assyrian and Greek have this characteristic, but Persia does not).

Figure 50 Eagle Head Griffin:

左:图克丁石冢(Tuktin Kurgan)出土的木雕;

Right: A bronze medallion excavated from Bazelek

Figure 51 Winged Lion: A gold collar from Peter the Great's collection

2. Lion-headed griffin or winged lion (Fig. 51). It is the same as the winged lion of Persia and Central Asia in terms of general characteristics, but there are some differences, one is because of the different materials used (such as carved in wood, leather or felt carpet), some only show its outline, lack of three-dimensional sense and detailed description, and the realism is not as good as the former; second, there is a trend of "tigerization", many "winged lions" Scholars often refer to the word feline as feline, and confuse this type with the next category as feline griffin; The former is a development of the aforementioned curly horn, while the latter is identical to the griffin's horn on the a-mentioned gold bracelet of the Amu Darya Treasure.

3. Winged tiger (Fig. 52). is a variant of the winged lion. The Eurasian steppe is the stage for tiger activity, and tigers occupy a central place in local art and are often the "first killers" of fighting scenes. It has similar roles to the former, often replacing each other, but the winged tiger is characterized by striped tiger stripes and no horns. It's a sign that we can grudgingly separate them.

Figure 52 Winged Tiger: Wood carvings excavated from the Tukding Stone Mound

图五三 鹰首鹿:帕西里克石冢二(second Pasirik Kurgan) 出土的文身图案

Finally, we should also mention that in the 4th-2nd centuries B.C., in relation to Scythian art, in the regions of Xinjiang, Ningxia and Gansu on the mainland, in the Mongolian steppe and the northeastern part of the continent adjacent to the Mongolian steppe, in the Yellow River valley in Shaanxi, Shanxi and northern Hebei, there are many excavations of northern peoples, among which there are similar artistic expressions, which can be used as a background reference for the study of how the above themes were introduced to China. As:

(1) Xinjiang region.

1. The bronze circle of winged beasts unearthed in Xinyuan County, Xinjiang (Figure 54). It is decorated with a pair of winged lions, and the age is quite similar to the Warring States period in the Central Plains. This vessel is a Western-style artifact (Michelle Chiu Wang).

Figure 54 Winged beast collar in West Asian style (copper, unearthed in Xinyuan, Xinjiang)

2. The "Eagle's Beak Monster Fighting Tiger Gold Medal" unearthed from the No. 1 Tomb of the No. 1 Plateau of Guchenggou North in Jiaohe, Turpan, Xinjiang (Figure 55: above). The cemetery is the cemetery of the Che Master, which is quite the early Western Han Dynasty in the Central Plains. This device depicts the "Condor" (i.e., the Scythian "Condor") fighting with a tiger. Such motifs are very common in steppe areas, such as a gold buckle in the collection of Peter the Great at the Hermitage Museum in Russia, with an exact similar scene on it (Fig. 55: below).

(2) The Xiongnu system.

1. The "monster pattern" gold ornament unearthed from the Xiongnu tomb on the west ditch bank of the Jungger Banner in Inner Mongolia. There are two types of so-called "monsters": the hooked beak bighorn deer (Fig. 56: top) and the wolf popular in grassland art (Fig. 57: upper and middle). The former is a mixture of the head of a condor and the body of a deer, with tangled horns on the head, like the crown of a tree (note: the one in the recumbent position also has a small condor-like head on its back). Comparing similar works in Scythian art, such as the hook-beaked bighorn deer (Fig. 56: bottom) (Sun Ji) on a gold buckle excavated from the tomb of the Issyk kings, it is not difficult to see that this type of griffin belongs to the hawk-headed deer-style griffin popular in Scythian art. The latter is seen in the wolf and tiger fighting (note: the first of these is seen at the top of the frame). There is a gold buckle in the Peter the Great collection of the Hermitage Museum in Russia with the same motif on it (Fig. 57: below). The age of these ornaments may be comparable to the late Warring States period in the Central Plains.

2. The "deer-shaped monster" unearthed from the Xiongnu tomb of Nalin Gaotu in Shenmu County, Shaanxi Province (Figure 56: middle). Similar to the hook-beaked bighorn deer on the west ditch, it is also a griffin of the eagle-headed deer-style. Its antlers and tail are deformed from the head of a condor. Its age may be comparable to the late Warring States period in the Central Plains.

3. The bronze medal of "Tiger Eagle Winning Sheep" donated by herdsmen of Wengniute Banner in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia (Figure 55: middle). It has the same theme as the gold medal ornament unearthed in the ancient city of Jiaohe. The so-called "eagle" is also the "divine eagle" mentioned above. Its age may be comparable to that of the Han Dynasty in the Central Plains.

Figure 55 Eagle and Tiger Fighting:

Above: gold medal ornaments unearthed in the ancient city of Jiaohe in Turpan, Xinjiang;

Middle: Bronze medallion unearthed from the Wengniute Banner of Chifeng, Inner Mongolia;

Bottom: Gold buckle from Peter the Great's collection

Figure 56 Eagle's head deer:

1. Gold ornaments unearthed from the Xiongnu tomb on the bank of the ditch in Junggeri, Inner Mongolia;

2. The gold ornaments unearthed from the tomb of the Xiongnu in Shenmu Nalin, Shaanxi;

3. Gold buckle excavated from the tomb of King Issyk

(Sun Ji's "Gold and Silver Buckles for Pre-Qin, Han and Jin Belts")

Figure 57 Tiger and wolf fighting:

Upper and middle: gold ornaments unearthed from the Xiongnu tomb on the bank of the West Ditch in Inner Mongolia;

Bottom: Gold buckle from Peter the Great's collection

(3) Xianbei system.

A bronze bronze plaque with a Pegasus pattern excavated from the tombs of Zha Lai Nuoer in Inner Mongolia and Shenxian Bei in Yushu Laohe, Jilin Province (Fig. 58:1, 2). Its image is wearing sharp horns on its head and wings on its back, which is a typical plaque of the Xianbei nation (Mr. Su Bai links it with the "divine beast" of "its shape resembles a horse" in the "Book of Wei, Emperor Ji and Preface", see the book "Shengle, Pingcheng and the Tuoba Xianbei Northern Wei Ruins"), similar images have not been found in the Central Plains.

Fig. 58 Pegasus ornament

(Copper, gilded, Jilin Yushu Laohe Shen Xianbei tomb unearthed)

Comparing the above materials, we have the impression that the Chinese winged mythical beast is similar in all respects to the griffin popular in the West Asian and Eurasian steppes in terms of motifin type and decoration style. For example: (1) They have the head of an eagle, the head of a lion, the head of a tiger, the head of a sheep, (2) their eagle-headed griffin or lion-headed griffin, in the early style of West Asia, with more realistic feathers, and the same goes for the bird-headed winged beast on the pottery model of the Houma bronze ruins, and (3) their lion-headed griffin, with foot or bird claws, with horns or no horns on their heads, or one horn, or two horns, with knots at the ends of their horns, and the same is true for our lion-headed winged beasts (and to indicate that they are bird claws, we also add distances on their legs or palms);(4) their sheep-headed griffins or deer-headed griffins, sometimes with one horn and sometimes two horns on their heads, and the same is true for our unicorns (the unicorn should belong to the griffinUnlike unicorn in Western art, which has no wings, while unicorns have wings, their horns are different, and Westerners may translate it as unicorn, which is inappropriate). In addition, in addition to these details, they also have a lot of similarities in posture and demeanor. For example, if we compare the bronze crouching beast in the Izumiya Museum and the collar excavated by Pazyryk (Fig. 59), it is not difficult to see the similarities between the two. This is where they are the same or similar. But on the other hand, we must also see that China's winged mythical beasts are not passively accepting foreign influences, but both absorbing and transforming, and even exporting (such as the export of bronze ware from the Three Jin Dynasty to the Daidi, and the circulation of Han Dynasty plaques and buckles in the surrounding area). In addition, in terms of artistic approach, it also has its own characteristics. For example, (1) its wings tend to be backward rather than forward-facing, and (2) its lion head tends to assimilate with dragons, tigers, and unicorns.

Fig. 59 Comparison of the Izumiya collection and the Bazerek collar (gold, excavated from Kofun 2).

5. Related animal themes

(1) Eagle. It is a popular artistic theme in the grassland area. Although it is found from time to time in Chinese art and in neighboring areas with China, such as the eagle head on the Xinglongwa pottery ornamentation, the jade eagle in the jade of Hongshan, the bronze eagle unearthed from the tomb of King Youyou of Chu, and the jade eagle unearthed from the Weiling Tomb of the Han Dynasty, all of which are very exquisite works of art, the image that is really similar to the above-mentioned "divine eagle" is still relatively rare (some similar images can be attached here). Such as: (1) the eagle-shaped hook unearthed from the Spring and Autumn Tomb of Yimen in Baoji, Shaanxi; (2) the sacred objects on the jade pendant unearthed from the Western Han Tomb of Qinjiaqiao in Shucheng, Anhui Province; (3) the Spring and Autumn Jade Double Bird Pattern Insert in the Palace Museum (old collection of the Qing Palace); (4) The Palace Museum's collection of the Warring States Jade Dragon Bird Pattern (Qing Palace Collection) (Note: its expression is similar to the recumbent bighorn deer produced by the Xigou Bank, and it is also a hooked beaked bird head on its back.) Case: The pedestal of Figure 7 in this article is also a small beast on its back), except for the Izumiya Hakukokan collection that may be this kind of theme, the other finds are mainly the eagle-headed winged beast or the bird-headed winged beast. For example, the above-mentioned "exotic beast-shaped beam" and the bronze ornament of the Sanjin Dynasty belong to this category. They were popular for a time during the Warring States period, but gradually declined after the Warring States period.

(2) Lion. Lions were originally an important animal in the West Asian region and therefore had an important place in their art, but there were no lions in the steppe region, and there were no lions in China, and their entry was mysterious and exotic from the beginning. The representation of lions in Chinese art seems to be divided into three periods:

1. The lion of the Warring States period.

At that time, the Chinese had two names for lions, one was "狻猊", see "The Biography of Mu Tianzi", vol. 1 and "Erya Shi Beast"; The former may be a name for the Western Regions dialect (Linmei Village), while the latter is related to the Greek and Roman names for lions ("豸寽貌", the upper character is the mother character, which is similar to the pronunciation of Greek and Roman words for lions). Lion, ledn in Greek, leo in Latin, lion in English today). From the comparison of materials, we get the impression that: (1) the "Fox Fox" or "Pig Appearance" is the lion of the Han Dynasty; (2) The ancients attributed the discovery of the Fox to Mu Tianzi's journey to the west, which was an important record before the Han Dynasty to the Western Regions (the experience of his travels does not have to be true, but the record must be a legend);( 3) At that time, people's understanding of the lion was with the help of the tiger, and they said that the lion was a short-haired tiger (see "Erya Shi Beast"), thinking that it was more powerful than the tiger, and could not only eat the tiger, but also take the "Foxy Tiger" as auspicious. The artistic representation of the lion is a lion-headed winged beast, and the realistic lion has not yet been discovered. Such lions are all "deified" lions or "tigerized" lions.

2. The lion of the Han Dynasty and the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

The introduction of lions and being called "lions" was in the Han Dynasty. Its place of introduction is clear, and it is all in Western Asia or adjacent Central Asia. At that time, lions were also regarded as mysterious beasts, not ordinary animals. Its introduction was originally based on the unicorn, which had wings and horns as the embodiment of the lion-headed griffin. The lions of the two Han Dynasty are still mainly deified lions, that is, Tianlu and warding off evil spirits. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, there have been realistic lions, but the number is limited, and whether it is Tianlu, evil spirits, or realistic lions, its image has been "tigerized".

3. Lion since the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

The trend is that the two types of lions mentioned above are differentiated: the Tianlu and evil spirit-warding lion lions, whose image is fixed and gradually excluded from the lion and no longer as a lion, while the realistic lion is popularized by the influence of Buddhist art and becomes a new shape. The characteristics of this type of lion are: (1) influenced by India and Tibet, often with curly hair, and (2) the image is cute, with a tendency to "dog". The lions seen in later generations, whether they are the lions guarding the gate (developed from the lions of the Han Dynasty Shouque) or the lions represented by the lion dance, basically adopt this kind of image, which is why the so-called "Chinese-style lion" is established. (Many Chinese believe that lions are our own animals and lion dances are our own art.) For example, in the newly built Shanghai Museum, there are eight antique lions or Tianlu and evil spirits at the door, and the reporter asked passers-by "what the lion symbolizes", and they said "it symbolizes the Chinese spirit". But not only is the lion itself alien, but the lion dance is not necessarily our creation. "Hanshu Lile Zhi" Meng Kang notes that "elephant people, if the shrimp and fish master are also today" is an earlier record of lion dance, and the unearthed objects are lion dance figurines unearthed from the ancient tomb of Astana in Turpan, Xinjiang, dating from the seventh to ninth centuries AD)

(3) Tiger. As mentioned above, the lion was an artistic theme introduced from the West Asian region, but after its introduction, it was "tigerized". The reason why the "lion" is "tigerized" is very simple, this is because the lion was originally an animal of West Asia and North Africa, and there are no lions in the Eurasian steppes and China, only tigers. Tigers are widely distributed in both the Eurasian steppes and China and are a popular subject in art. There are winged tigers in the grassland areas, and there are also winged tigers in China. They undoubtedly had a significant impact on the transformation of the lion art image, but the realistic winged tiger is not the mainstream in either grassland art or Chinese art.

(4) Deer. It is also a popular theme in the steppe area. It is based on winged mythical beasts such as unicorns and flying trees, and it also has a certain importance in Chinese art. However, most of the deer in China are small deer, and the unicorn is mainly based on small deer such as sika deer (Cervus nippon), rather than the bighorn deer (stag) that is popular in the grassland areas, and the eagle-headed griffin has never been found in the art of the Central Plains.

(5) Sheep. As we said above, there are two types of unicorns in China, one is the deer-headed style and the other is the sheep-headed style. The latter is based on wild goats. Of these two styles, the former is close to steppe art and the latter is close to West Asian art. However, it should be added that the deer in Chinese art is not the bighorn deer popular in the grassland, but the common local deer, and the real foreign style is the sheep.

(6) Dragons. Originally, it was a typical theme of Chinese art, but since the Han Dynasty, it has interacted with the lion-headed winged beast, and at the same time changed their respective images: on the one hand, the "dragonization" of Tianlu and evil spirits, and on the other hand, the addition of wings of the "dragon". As a result of this interaction, it is easy to confuse the two in the artistic expression of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei and Jin dynasties. If you want to distinguish carefully, you often have to look at their overall combination. For example, in the "Four Spirit Patterns" and "Five Spirit Patterns", it is relatively easy for us to recognize, but it is a little difficult to appear alone.

In addition, it should be noted that although wolves and bears are important in the art of the steppe region, they are far from the mainstream of West Asian art and do not have much influence on the winged mythical beasts in the steppe area, and the same is true in China.

VI. Conclusions

To sum up, we have the following impressions of "China's winged beast":

(1) China's winged sacred beasts, whether in terms of documentary records (such as the records of the Book of Han and the Western Regions) or from the image of cultural relics (such as the image of a lion), are indissoluble with the art of the steppes of West Asia, Central Asia and Eurasia. Its appearance in Chinese art seems to date back to the middle of the Spring and Autumn period, or at least the late Spring and Autumn period, when it suddenly appeared and gradually developed into an important theme in Chinese art. Its epidemic period is mainly from the 6th century BC to the 6th century AD. From the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period (6th-3rd centuries BC), that is, roughly at the same time as the Griffin's epidemic in Persia, Central Asia, and the Eurasian steppes, there are many similar discoveries in China, which are mainly bronze and bronze ornaments, that is, mainly small bronzes or bronze ornaments. The theme was initially the most prominent of the typical griffin, or eagle-headed class (which gradually declined after the Warring States period), but the winged deer, winged lion, and winged tiger have also appeared, and the main types are complete. Their style is consistent with the griffin popular in West Asia and other places in terms of main characteristics, and it is more foreign than later. During the Qin and early Western Han dynasties (221-87 BC), such motifs were used in the decoration of certain palaces (note: not only in ancient times, but also today, foreign art is often a symbol of nobility), as well as some small objects, which already possess many elements of later forms and characteristics. From the late Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty (86 BC – 220 AD), with the Han Dynasty and the opening of the Xiongnu and the Western Regions, such themes were very active, and they were used in a wide range of materials, including precious materials (gold, silver, and jade) in addition to bronze, pottery, and stoneware, both for elaborate ornaments (bases, inkstones, and towns) and for large carvings (Shinto stone carvings and portrait stones). During this period, the eagle head class was only occasionally seen in portrait stones, and it was no longer popular, the deer head class formed a fixed style of unicorn, and the lion head class formed a fixed style of Tianlu and warded off evil spirits. The latter has a very prominent position since the Eastern Han Dynasty, not only has a high degree of popularity, but also has been used for mausoleum decoration, and has become an important part of Chinese commemorative art during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

(2) China's winged beasts, there are many excavation sites, but the earlier era seems to be concentrated in the Yellow River Valley, that is, the four provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi, Jin and Hebei that are connected with the Western Regions and adjacent to the grassland, especially in the northern part of them, and the bronze ware of the Sanjin region is its representative. Its products are not only related to the bronze types of Zhou, Zheng and other places, but also related to the bronze types of northern Shaanxi, northern Shanxi, northern Hebei and the southern part of the Inner Mongolia grassland, as well as the bronze types of the Baidi Zhongshan Kingdom, which are not only influenced by the grassland area, but also exported to the grassland area, which is a typical example of cultural integration. At that time, the winged beasts were mainly the winged beasts of the Three Jin Dynasty, and the winged beasts of Chu, Zeng and Zhongshan were derived from them (the conflict between Jin and Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period may be the background of the southern transmission of winged beasts). In addition, China's winged beasts are not only popular in the north, but also found in the Yangtze River basin and south of the Yangtze River, which can reach Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the east, Liangguang and Yunnan in the south, and Sichuan in the west. Some of them are still very early, and they can be as early as the early Warring States period, indicating that the spread and exchange in ancient times were far more developed than imagined. Its transmission routes, in addition to the east-west passages related to the ancient Silk Road, are worth paying attention to, and there are many north-south passages that are also worth considering. For example: (1) the route from the eastern part of Inner Mongolia and the western part of Liaoning to the northern part of Hebei, passing through Shandong, entering Jiangsu and Zhejiang; (2) from the central part of the Inner Mongolia grassland, passing through Shanxi to Henan, taking the route from Luoyang, Nanyang, Xichuan, Xiangfan to the Jianghan Plain; (3) from the central and western part of the Inner Mongolia grassland, passing through Ningxia, Gansu and Shaanxi, and entering the route of Sichuan and Yunnan. The culture of the Han Dynasty was the result of the great exchange between the north and the south and the culture of China and the West. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, winged beasts have gradually become a common theme.

(3) China's winged mythical beasts are influenced by foreign influences, but they have long coexisted with Chinese artistic themes and are influenced by the latter, and the two are in an interactive relationship. Ancient Chinese art, since the Shang and Zhou dynasties, is dominated by dragons and phoenixes. Since the Warring States period, and formed by the green dragon, the white tiger, the red bird, the Xuanwu composed of the "four spirits", and later the unicorn joined it, also called the "five spirits", but Tianlu, evil spirits are not among them. The position of Tianlu and warding off evil spirits in Chinese art is very delicate, not only relying on foreign lions as a support, and from the beginning of the indissoluble bond with foreign art, but also often together with other exotic animals constitute the "commemorative art" of ancient China. The "commemorative art" of ancient China is based on the Qin and Han dynasties, especially the Han Dynasty (with a vast unified empire as the background), and its typical manifestations are three, one is the palace view of the Han Dynasty, the second is the ancestral hall of the Han Dynasty, and the third is the mausoleum of the Han Dynasty. These buildings are often decorated with large bronze and stone carvings. They include: Weng Zhong, Qilin, Tianlu, Ward Off Evil Spirits, and various animals (elephants, ostriches, camels, etc.) that represent exotic curiosities and desert customs. Tianlu and warding off evil spirits mainly belong to this kind of theme. Its influence on Chinese art is not only the "winging" of various animals, but also the dragon in local art and the lion in foreign art, so that their images of each other have been greatly improved. But in the end, it did not replace the dragon, but remained in our art for a long time in a mysterious color that has been transformed.

It was written at the Norwegian Academy of Sciences in Oslo from April 4 to May 18, 2000, and rescheduled in Beijing from June 6 to July 16, 2000.

postscript

Postscript: In the process of writing this article, I received the guidance and help of Professor Christoph Harbsmeier of the University of Oslo in Norway and Professor Lothar von Falkenhausen of the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, and referred to the new work of Michelle Chiu Wang (see note 100 above, which discusses the ways and means of Griffin's spread from West Asia to the Eurasian steppes and China). In addition, Izumiya Hakukokan, Japan, the Art Institute of Chicago Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, the Freer-M. Sackler Museum of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Los Angeles Museum of Art have also contributed valuable images for this article.