Li Chongrong
The lin toe gold in the tomb of the Marquis of Haixia
In the first year of the Han Dynasty (74 BC), Emperor Zhao died, and because he was childless, the powerful minister Huo Guang chose to let liu he come to inherit the throne. This change of power completely changed the fate of Liu He, who had been on the throne in Chang'an for only 27 days after his succession to the throne in his homeland of Chang'e, collapsed in a brutal political struggle due to his lack of personal virtue, was deposed, and was sent back to his homeland. In March of the third year of Yuan Kang (63 BC), he received an edict from his successor Emperor Xuan, was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Haixia, rewarded with 4,000 households, and moved to Yuzhang. However, when Yuzhang talked to people, he revealed his remorse for the failure of the palace fight that year, and the defendant was severely punished and died quietly soon after.
In fact, the end of his political career many years ago meant the despair of Liu He for the rest of his life, but this historical record shows his suffering. From this, we can guess that in the last years, Liu Heying recalled the glorious but fragile glory of Weiyang Palace countless times. In order to maintain a vague connection with the central government, he had prayerfully prepared a pile of gold objects and fantasized about participating in the imperial court's gold ceremony. However, he was a "stubborn and wasted" person, and the political qualifications to participate in the temple sacrifices were eventually stripped away, so those precious gold objects could only be buried in the deep tomb with their masters, becoming an eternal mystery. It was not until it was restarted two thousand years later that it caused a sensation in the academic community.
More than 10,000 relics (sets) have been excavated from Liu He's tomb, including gold, bronze, iron, jade, lacquered wood, ceramics, bamboo weaving, straw weaving, textiles, bamboo jane, wooden mu, etc. Among them, there are 478 pieces of gold utensils, about 115 kilograms, and the shapes are gold cakes, gold plates, horseshoe gold and lin toe gold. Because there is only a gold cake ink book "He Yuankang, Marquis of the South China Sea, three years of gold and one pound", it can be determined that it is made for the gold ceremony, and the use of the rest of the gold is difficult to determine, but there are two special shapes that are eye-catching.
One is cast in the shape of a horseshoe and is called "horseshoe gold" (Fig. 1). The other is cast into a pointed foot hoof, shaped like a deer's hoof, the bottom touches the ground, and the top is a circle of delicate gold wire pattern ornamentation, exquisite workmanship, delicate shape, named "Lin toe gold" (Fig. 2).
Figure 1 Horseshoe gold excavated from the tomb of Marquis Hai of Nanchang, Jiangxi
Figure 2 The tomb of Marquis Hai of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, unearthed lin toe gold
The royal cultural connotation of the unicorn
As the name suggests, "Lin toe" is the hoof foot of the unicorn, which has a long history and has long been seen in the Book of Poetry. "Zhou Nan Lin's Toe" Yun: "Lin's Toe, Zhen Zhen Gongzi, Yu Yu Lin Xi." "Use "Lin toe" Toe to describe the grace and noble character of noble princes.
The term "lin toe" was circulated and also affected the culture of ethnic minorities. For example, the Northern Zhou Ming Emperor set up a special Lin toe Hall, gathering cultural celebrities from the north and south to compile the history of the book here, such as Yu Xin, Wang Zhen and other southern dynasty celebrities who were exiled to the Northern Dynasty.
The unicorn is a kind of sacred beast, as Han Yu said: "The horned one, I know it as an ox; the mane, I know it as a horse; a dog, a pig, a jackal, a wolf, an elk, a deer, I know it as a dog, a jackal, a jackal, a wolf, a elk, a deer; nor can I know it." "But in the pre-Qin, Qin, and Han dynasties, it was imagined as a kind of auspicious beast that could be seen in reality, symbolizing the taiping and prosperous world." For example, the famous Confucius lamentation song "Xi Hunt Won Lin" story, in the Han Dynasty, the royal respect for it reached its peak.
There are buildings named after the Qilin in the City of Chang'an Palace in the Western Han Dynasty, such as the "Han Palace" in the second volume of the "Three Auxiliary Yellow Maps": "The Han Palace Shu said: 'Weiyang Palace has the Qilin Pavilion and the Tianlu Pavilion, and there are the Golden Horse Gate, the Qingsuo Gate, the Xuanwu, and the Canglong Erque. Volume III" Weiyang Palace: "Qilin Hall, Weiyang Palace has a Qilin Hall." Volume 5 "Guan": "Qilin , Vermilion Bird , Longxing , and Hanzhang are all the names of the museum." ”
The Qilin Pavilion is widely circulated because of the portraits of eleven heroes. In the third year of Han Ganlu (51 BC), Emperor Xuan realized Zhongxing, and in order to commemorate his courtiers, he specially ordered painters to paint eleven images of heroes in the Qilin Pavilion, among which Huo Guang, Zhang Anshi, Du Yannian, Xiao Wangzhi, Su Wu and others were listed. This is the supreme glory of the people, and it is sung by posterity as "Gongcheng Painting Lin Pavilion" and "Who's Family Lin Pavilion".
From the Qilin Pavilion in the political center to the Lin toe gold that marginalizes Yuzhang, the Qilin seems to have become an indispensable auspicious symbol in imperial culture, a symbol of blood and status.
So, what does a unicorn look like?
Prototype of the Unicorn
In the Southern Dynasty, there were lion-shaped stone beasts on both sides of the Jiankang Emperor Mausoleum Shinto, and there were those called "Kirin". The National Palace Museum in Taipei has a painting of the Ming Dynasty Painting the Qilin Figure Shen Du Song, which depicts the scene of Pang Ge La paying tribute to the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di for the "Qilin", but the Qilin in the picture is the image of a giraffe (Figure 3). In front of the gate of the Cining Palace of the Palace Museum, a pair of bronze beasts, the scales of the lion's head (Picture 4), have two titles: "lion" and "qilin". But these are all deductive variants of later generations. Literature and image data from the pre-Qin, Qin, and Han dynasties show that the unicorn morphology is not related to exotic lions, but is a complex of native animals.
Figure 3 The National Palace Museum in Taipei, "Ming Ren Paints Qilin Tu Shen Du Song"
Figure 4 Bronze beast in front of the gate of the Cining Palace of the Palace Museum
In the literature, its prototypes include sheep, horses and deer. Like a sheep, as quoted in book 29 of the Book of Beginners, "Filial Piety Guqi": "Like a bird, there are horns on its head, and at the end of it there is meat, and the head of a sheep." Like a horse, as quoted in the "Sayings" in volume 889 of the Imperial Dictionary: "Horse body, meat horn, ox tail." Like a deer said, as "Erya" said: "The body of the deer, a horn, the tail of the ox." "Regardless of the animal, one thing in common is that the head is a single horn, and it may be with meat at the end of the horn.
The image of the unicorn in the image data is also roughly consistent with the literature, and can be divided into three types: sheep-like, horse-like and deer-like.
(1) Sheep-shaped unicorn
The sheep-shaped unicorn mostly appeared on copper or jade in the Han Dynasty in the form of ornaments. For example, a jade pendant (Figure 5) was excavated from the arsenal site of Han Chang'an City in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, the jade pendant is round, the central carving, the main ornament is a winged unicorn sheep, the head of the sheep is a one-horned bent backwards, curved neck looking back, three legs upright, only the right front hoof is raised, the shoulders are wings, under the background of the cloud pattern, more and more body shape. Scholars such as Sun Ji and Huo Hongwei named such unicorn images "Qilin "Qilin". Similar images are mostly found on the plaques excavated from the tombs of northern Xiongnu such as Chalam and Noyan Ula, and some scholars speculate that this image is a continuation of Scythian-style ordos-style bronzes in the Han Dynasty.
Figure 5 Sheep-shaped qilin jade pendant excavated from the ruins of the Han Chang'an City Arsenal in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province
Another example is the popular five-spirit mirror in the Han Dynasty, and the multi-milky animal belt mirror, there are also many sheep-shaped unicorn images, which are combined with other four spirits. The so-called five spirits, namely the five divine beasts of qinglong, white tiger, xuanwu, suzaku and qilin, this combination of divine beasts has been popular since the late Western Han Dynasty and is related to the five elements theory. For example, the "Li Wei Ji Ming Zheng" Yun: "The ancients used the five spirits with the five directions: dragon, muye; phoenix, fire; lin, earth; white tiger, jinye; god turtle, water also." ”
A bronze mirror of the Western Han Dynasty Wuling Bo Bureau unearthed in Luoyang is exquisitely crafted and beautifully decorated. The mirror is round, the mirror back structure is divided into three parts: the button seat, the inner area and the outer area, the circle of button seats is decorated with a circle of milk nail patterns, and the twelve seals are cast between them, representing the hour; the inner area is divided into four squares and eight poles by the arc milk nail pattern and the Bo bureau pattern, and each is decorated with the image of the sacred beast in each direction; the outer area is a circle of inscription tape, and its words have a Hanfu style; and then the outer area is decorated with geometric patterns and cloud gas patterns (Figure 6). The shape of the sacred beast on the main body ornament in the inner area of the bronze mirror is vivid, or meandering and soaring, or the front is full of wind, or looking back at the long roar, or spreading its wings and flying clouds, and the surrounding cloud qi pattern is added to the Xu Immortal Qi. Among them, the unicorn matches the suzaku and is located in the south.
Figure 6 The Bronze Mirror of the Western Han Dynasty Five Spirits Bo Bureau was unearthed in Luoyang, Henan
(2) Horse-shaped unicorn
Horse-shaped unicorn images are mostly found in Han Dynasty murals and portrait bricks and stones. One of the most convincing is the image with the title, which is found in the Han Dynasty mural tomb in Xingyang Chang Village, Henan. The mural image of the tomb has been damaged due to dampness, age and other reasons, in the west wall of the front room, it is faintly recognizable that the south side of its upper part is painted with a rare bird, facing north, tail feather grace, ink book list inscription "Phoenix Emperor" two words; the opposite north side paints a beast, south face, shoulder wings, horseshoe, bull-shaped tail, lishu list title "donkey" two words. The main part of the beast's body shape is blurred, and it can only be speculated to be horse-shaped based on its approximate outline.
A more explicit example is found on the portrait stone in the front room of the Han tomb in Maocun, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. The left, right and upper outer frames of the stone are decorated with semicircular patterns, and the border is outlined with horizontal lines inside, and the main image in the frame is a running sacred beast. At each end of the picture, there are several dragons, sacred birds, etc., and in the center is a combination of images of a feathered man feeding a pair of unicorns. The feather man stood in the middle, dancing with his hands, his arms outstretched, as if he were feeding the divine beast; the two unicorns stood facing each other on the left and the right, similar in appearance, both resembling horses, and in addition to the erection of the ears, there was also a fleshy horn, and the curved neck was slightly extended forward, reaching the hand of the feather man in front of him, a natural pleasure of harmony (Figure 7).
Figure 7 Portrait stone in the front room of the Han tomb in Maocun, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province
(3) Deer-shaped unicorn
Deer-shaped unicorns are the most common, but are sometimes easily confused with horse-shaped unicorns. Judging from the title on the image, the word "horse" of the word "qi" seems to imply the relationship between the beast and the horse.
In addition to the material of the aforementioned mural tomb in Xingyang Changcun, on the portrait stone on the east wall of the back room of the tomb of Miao Yu of the Eastern Han Dynasty in Pizhou, Jiangsu Province, there is also a sacred beast titled "Qi Qi", but the beast is deer-shaped and elegant (Figure 8). In addition, there are also deer-shaped unicorn images on the portrait stone of The Wuliang Ancestral Hall in Jiaxiang, Shandong, and its title is the word "Lin", which seems to indicate the association with the deer. Therefore, from the glyph point of view, the "horse" and "deer" may indicate the change of the prototype of the unicorn.
Figure 8 Local line diagram of the portrait stone on the south side of the east wall of the back room of the tomb of Miao Yu in Pizhou
In contrast, the image data of the deer-shaped unicorn is the most abundant, and the shape is particularly beautiful, which fully reflects the flower-like wishes and beautiful meanings of the ancients who created this sacred beast.
For example, the gilded copper unicorn unearthed in Lijia Village, Yanshi, Henan, is 8.6 cm high and 6.7 cm long, based on a deer, with a single horn on its head, looking straight ahead, with a soft gaze, a carved collar on the neck, and upright limbs. The shape of the unicorn is elegant, the whole body is gilded, the gilded layer has a detracted place, and it is half old and timeless, reminding people of Yu Xia's scattering here, smudging the small beast, and occasionally gently playing a whirlwind, making the atmosphere feel like Chengjiang, quiet as practice (Figure 9).
Figure 9 Gilded copper unicorn unearthed from Lijia Village, Yanshi, Henan
Deer-shaped unicorns are more common on portrait stones in Sichuan and Shaanxi. They are similar in appearance, with a single horn on the top of the head often with flesh, a head held high, a long cow-shaped tail drooping, and slender limbs to stop at the ground, showing their agile posture.
A stone carving of the Eastern Han Dynasty Linfeng was unearthed in Zhaojue County, Liangshan Prefecture, which is in a better condition, and the Qilin is quite kingly. But seeing a fleshy unicorn standing proudly above its head, the horned end of the flesh like a peach, with its head bent at the top; the front half of the body fell to the ground, the center of gravity was lowered, the rear half of the body was slightly raised, and the wings on its shoulders rose in the wind, thus forming a visual effect of the front and low and the back high, as if it had just fallen from the sky, light and jumped to the ground, fluttering like immortal dust (Figure 10).
Figure 10 A deer-shaped unicorn stone carved rubbing was unearthed in Zhaojue County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan
Rice fat unearthed a portrait stone of the lintel of the Eastern Han Tomb, the picture is divided into two layers, the left and right ends of the upper layer are carved with sun and moon wheels; the middle is dominated by vine-like flowing clouds, during which there are various kinds of divine beasts and feather people, as if the gods were born in the clouds, and the gods were transformed into ruiyun, entangled with each other, and the confusion was difficult to distinguish, showing the mysterious dreams of the fairyland. The lower picture shows a team of divine beasts marching to the left, pounding medicinal white rabbits, tigers, dragons, phoenixes, divine birds and other divine beasts moving forward in turn, with Seocho in the middle; the leftmost end of the picture is a combination of a feather and a unicorn, but the feather man faces the right, jumps up with one foot and one foot, holding a takumi tree facing the front of the unicorn, and the unicorn is located at the head of the divine beast team, facing the feather people, the fleshy unicorn on the top of the head stands with the raised head, slightly backwards, stands up on the chest, the right hoof is raised, and the spirit is vibrant (Picture 11). In this feather and unicorn form a wonderful correspondence, as if a team of people wading through mountains and rivers finally ushered in a messenger from the fairyland, he brought a mysterious ray of signs.
Figure 11 Shaanxi rice fat unearthed door lintel portrait stone rubbing
The above are three common prototypes of the Qilin in the Han Dynasty. Although they have their own characteristics, they all have a single horn on their heads, and their appearance is full of spiritual beauty.
A combination of images of the unicorn and folk beliefs
The Han Dynasty qilin often formed image combinations with other gods and beasts to create a fairy aura in the tomb, as if this scene could offset the fear of diluting death and appease the eternal soul.
The unicorn on the bronze mirror is often combined with a variety of sacred beasts, especially the four gods, while the qilin on the portrait bricks, stones and murals can be roughly divided into the following three categories.
(1) Combined with the Queen Mother of the West
The West Queen Mother was the most popular goddess in the Han Dynasty, as early as the Warring States Period, her legend was popular, and in the Han Dynasty, she was even more famous for being rumored to have the elixir of immortality, and from the late Western Han Dynasty, a belief in the West Queen Mother was popularized from the official and down to the folk. In the Portrait Stones, Bricks, Bronze Mirrors and even the Cash Cow and Pottery Figurines in the Southwest Region of the Han Dynasty, the Queen Mother of the West has evolved from the half-human, half-beast image in the Classic of Mountains and Seas to a dignified and noble goddess.
She wears wide sleeves, or combs a high bun or wears a crown, the most common of which is Dai Sheng, "Interpretation of The Name and Interpretation of Jewelry": "Hua Sheng, Hua Xiang Grass and Wood Hua Ye; Sheng Yan people describe zheng waiting, and one person wins." Cover the hair before the ornament also. "Katsu is a kind of hair ornament, and Mr. Sun Ji has examined that there are not many secular women who wear sheng on the portrait stone, and this ornament can be roughly regarded as one of the symbols of the Queen Mother of the West. In addition, the West Queen Mother is often surrounded by some attendants, such as jade rabbits, toads, three-legged crows, nine-tailed foxes, chicken heads or cow-headed human gods, etc., and unicorns may sometimes appear in them.
For example, a portrait stone unearthed in Gaozhuang Township, Zoucheng, Shandong Province, is engraved at the top of the picture with the image of the Queen Mother of the Lord God Xi, only to see her wearing a long staff, wearing a robe, sitting on several sides, and there is a waiter on each side. At the bottom of the picture is a group of sacred beasts, birds and beasts, dragons and tigers, one of which is similar to a fawn, standing tall, with a single horn with flesh on its head reaching backwards, and a short tail upturned (Figure 12).
Figure 12 Stone rubbings of portraits unearthed from Gaozhuang Township, Zoucheng, Shandong
In the Han Dynasty, it was believed that the place where the Queen Mother of the West was located symbolized the wonderland of immortality. For example, Wang Shengda's "Sacrifice of Yan Guanglu Wen" said: "Xi Chang'e took the medicine of the immortality of the Queen Mother of the West, and then ran to the moon, which was the moon essence." The appearance of the unicorn in this fairyland also has the meaning of immortality and auspiciousness.
(2) Combined with other immortals
In addition to the Queen Mother of the West, the unicorn is often combined with ordinary immortals.
The characteristics of immortals are that they can fly between the heavens and the earth and the universe, such as the "Zhuangzi Getaway" cloud: "The mountain of defiance, there are gods and people living in the mountains, the skin is like ice and snow, like a virgin; do not eat grains, suck wind and drink dew, ride on the clouds, fly dragons, and swim away from the four seas." The Han Dynasty believed that immortals could guide the immortals to the realm of freedom and hindrance, such as the "Book of Han And Suburban Ancestral Zhi": "There are immortals who take the medicine of immortality, move lightly, climb the scenery, view the Xuan garden, and float to Penglai." "On the portrait stone, the unicorn may serve as a mount for immortals. In the image expression of Han portraits, riding a unicorn is similar to riding a horse, such as a portrait stone unearthed in Baizhuang, Linyi, Shandong, and the picture is divided into four grids from top to bottom, in order: figures, immortals riding unicorns, three tigers and driving and upside down monster images. In the second compartment, two unicorns stand side by side, one of which has an immortal riding on his back, with his hands raised, as if pointing out the direction (Figure 13).
Figure 13 Portrait stone rubbings unearthed from Baizhuang, Linyi, Shandong
There is also a Linyi Baizhuang portrait stone, similar in shape to the former, which is also divided into four grids from top to bottom, in order: figures, sheep riders, riding unicorns and three human-faced beast images. In the third grid, the unicorn resembles a horse, with a large horn, a tall chest, a long tail hanging down, and a fairy riding on its back, with its right hand raised, and its body slightly backwards (Fig. 14). Some scholars have noticed this phenomenon, pointing out: "Although the image of stirrups for riding a horse is not seen on the portrait stone, it is inferred from the backward tilt of the body of some horsemen that it is difficult to do so without stepping on anything under their feet." ”
When was stirrup invented? A number of scholars have discussed it, and Mr. Wang Zijin, combined with the opinions of various families, further examines the early stirrups as stirrups with wooden core stirrups with metal or leather, and the cultural relics of this shape are "concentrated in northeast China." Its age is roughly from the 3rd to the 4th century, and the excavation sites are mostly in the tombs of the Xianbei people." Based on wooden stirrups unearthed in Japan, he also deduced that it "should be a more primitive form than a wooden stirrup with a metal foreskin."
Figure 14 Stone rubbings of portraits unearthed from Baizhuang, Linyi, Shandong
Another example is an image of a combination of immortals and unicorns on the sarcophagus of Luzhou No. 7 in Sichuan, where the immortals stand in front of the qilin instead of riding, tilting their heads and looking, smiling, holding a branch of Seocho to raise kirins, alluding to the magical attributes of both humans and beasts; the unicorn is located on the left side of the picture, with a single horn on the top of the head, wings on the shoulders, and lips close to the Seocho in front of him (Figure 15).
Figure 15: A portrait of the Qilin no. 7 sarcophagus in Luzhou, Sichuan
The images of the riding immortals on the portrait stone often have the effect of guiding the undead to ascend to immortality, and when they are combined with the unicorn, it means that the unicorn is given a similar function.
(3) Combined with the phoenix
The unicorn and phoenix are also a common pair. "Spring and Autumn Left Transmission of Justice" Yun: "LinFeng Five Spirits, the King's Jiaruiye." "Jiao's Yilin" mostly uses Lin Feng as the theme of the proverb: "The phoenix is on the left, and the qilin is on the right." Rensheng meets, and Iro gathers. Time is not to blame, blessed is my mother. "Lin Feng is swimming, happy and carefree." Gentlemen care for the people, generations of autumn. Cai Yong's "Qin Cao" said: "Tang Yu Shi Xi Lin Fengyou, now is not the time to come to ask for it?" ”
Lin and Feng are the benevolent of the beasts and the king of the birds, and they can be regarded as a symbol of ruling the world, which is very auspicious, such as Wang Chong's "On Heng and Speaking of Rui": "The phoenix of the husband, the sage of the bird, the saint of the horse, the sage of the beast." ”
There are also pairs on the portrait stones, and they are often beautifully composed. Such as the portrait of the banner under the door of the former liangtai tomb, the composition of this stone is exquisite, and there is a long pillar image engraved at the left and right ends of the picture, and the pillar head is equipped with a bucket and a three-liter bucket; the main picture in the middle is decorated by two stripes of ornamental tapes above and below, and is divided into four compartments on the left and right by three diamond-shaped patterns, which are like draperies, and together with the buckets, they create a visual effect similar to the temple. In each frame, there is a divine beast, of which the two in the center, the left is the phoenix, the long crane neck, the tail feathers are long and luxurious, and the upward curl forms a beautiful arc; the right is the unicorn, the unicorn, the two wings fly upwards, facing the phoenix (Figure 16).
Figure 16 A rectangular portrait rubbing under the tomb door of the former Liangtai Tomb in Shandong
Another example is the image on the sarcophagus of Xinjin No. 2, which brings together the four spirits of dragon, xuanwu, phoenix and qilin, with strange shapes, smooth lines and great artistic atmosphere. In this picture, Suzaku, Xuanwu and Green Dragon occupy the main position: in the center of the picture is a pair of phoenixes, left and right, a wisp of feathers on the top of the head is curved, spreading wings, full wings, their tails are composed of five gorgeous long feathers, the tail feathers are exquisitely carved in the slightest, and the lines are extremely flowing. Under the phoenix is a xuanwu, with turtles and snakes entangled in a strange shape; it is separated from the phoenix by a huge ganoderma lucidum, and the branches of the reishi are meandering and fluttering. To the right of the phoenix and Xuanwu, there was a green dragon of the same size, with wings on its shoulders, rising into the air, and together with the phoenix with its wings spread, it obscured the sky, as if it shrouded everything under the power of the gods. On the left side of Xuanwu there is a running man, and on the right side there is a man riding a unicorn toward the center, the unicorn has a single horn on its head, resembling a horse, a long tail fluttering, and four hooves flying (Figure 17). On this portrait stone, the qilin is combined with several kinds of divine beasts, reflecting the vividness of the gods created in the Han Dynasty, as if the devout faith in these sacred beasts and birds can really touch the heavens and the earth, implying the deepest blessings.
Figure 17 Sichuan Xinjin No. 2 sarcophagus qilin portrait rubbing
epilogue
The creation of the Unicorn embodies the wisdom and aesthetics of traditional culture. It can be traced back to ancient times, but also passed down for a long time, in the changing time and space, its image may have changed in the legends of generations, but people's love and yearning for it has not changed, until today is still an auspicious symbol in our national culture.
The reason why the unicorn can have such a deep vitality may be related to its ability to connect with the wider earth. For example, in the Han Dynasty, it was no longer limited to the political category of pandering to the needs of the emperor, but more showed the atmosphere of the times and looked at the life experience of ordinary people.
The past has been hurt several times in the world, and Yamagata is still cold. But sometimes, even the mountains and rivers can't resist the vicissitudes of the sea, and some beautiful historical memories can only rely on the spiritual and cultural inheritance of generations to obtain eternal life.
Editor-in-Charge: Zhong Yuan