The stone letter in the tomb where Feng Kai's parents were buried together.
Jin dynasty black glazed plate jar.
Jin Dynasty black glaze four-series jars.
Jin Dynasty white glazed iron flower dish.
Woohoo! My Father is not seeing the end;
Mourn! My mother didn't know her.
Although people die, I hate them infinitely.
This text full of grief and affection comes from the epitaph of the Jin Dynasty 800 years ago.
This tomb was discovered in 1987, and a small number of cultural relics were unearthed in the tomb, and this epitaph is the biggest harvest of this archaeological work, and it has become an important document for later research on the tombs of the Jin Dynasty. The epitaph tells the story of an official named Feng Kai who buried his parents together. What has attracted the attention of experts is that the vivid information it contains reflects the social impact of national integration at that time.
The discovery of epitaphs is an important result of this archaeology
Zhou Xiangyong, deputy director and researcher of the Tieling City Museum, told reporters: "In the archaeological excavations of the Jin Dynasty, there are many tomb excavations, and the value of Feng Kai's parents' joint burial tomb lies in the excavation of epitaphs with words, in the words of your reporter, there are many stories." ”
The tomb of Feng Kai's parents was discovered in May 1987, when a farmer in Qianxiatazi Village, Xibao Town, Tieling County, was preparing to build a new house, and when leveling the foundation of the new house, a sarcophagus was found. They immediately reported the situation to the Tieling City Museum.
Zhou Xiangyong said that at that time, he was still engaged in the preservation and research of cultural relics in the collection, and did not participate in the investigation and excavation. Afterwards, from the feedback of archaeologists, this former Lower Pagoda Village is located 10 kilometers north of Tieling City on the west bank of the Liao River, east of the Liao River, west of a north-south mountain beam, found that the burial site is at the foot of the mountain west of the village, 300 meters east of the LiaoHe River.
According to reports, after the tomb was discovered, the sarcophagus was demolished. Based on the interrelationship of the slate and the recollections of the farmers at the site, the archaeologists successfully restored the sarcophagus, so that the shape of the sarcophagus and the construction of the slate were basically clarified.
The sarcophagus in this tomb is north-south, the four walls of the entire sarcophagus are made of six stone slabs, the east and west walls are 2 pieces each, the north and south walls are 1 piece each, the four corners of the coffin are connected by mortise and mortise, the bottom of the coffin is paved with 8 stone slabs of different sizes, and the top of the tomb is made of 3 stone slabs as the coffin cover. The stone used to make the sarcophagus has undergone simple processing and trimming, one side is uneven and uneven, one side is relatively flat, and the flush side faces the inside of the coffin.
Inside the sarcophagus was unearthed a stone letter containing ashes. This stone letter is composed of a trough and a trough, the trough is carved from a whole piece of pink sandstone, the surface is relatively rough, the front of the trough has a yang carved imitation door and window pattern, the composition is symmetrical and neat, and the other three sides are plain and unprinted. The cover is a bluestone slab, the same size as the trough, with no texture on the surface and only simple processing.
Unearthed at the same time as Shihan were 8 fragmented porcelain plates and a iron belt card.
The above excavations have many similarities with other Jin Dynasty tombs, but it is exciting that this tomb is accompanied by an epitaph unearthed from the stone letter.
This 168-character epitaph has been engraved for more than 800 years, bringing a large amount of vivid information of that era to future generations, so this archaeological achievement has been cited by many Jin Dynasty tomb research documents.
In 2014, the tomb of Feng Kai's parents was also included in the main archaeological achievements of Liaoning archaeologists in the past 60 years, which was a comprehensive display of the archaeological achievements of our province since the establishment of the professional archaeological team in 1954.
Feng Kai's parents were buried together in the epitaph
Rectangular, upper end of the corner, length 73 cm, width 50 cm, thickness 5 cm, front polishing, with ink lines to draw vertical 12, horizontal 17, a total of 204 squares, the inner yin carved calligraphy, the font is neat and clear, Tieling County Town Xibao Town before the lower tazi village excavated, Jin Dynasty cultural relics (see above).
Feng Kai cried and complained between the words
Visitors to the Tieling City Museum to see the tombstone of Feng Kai's parents will find that there are many fragments on it, which was caused by the excavation.
According to reports, the farmers at the tomb excavation site once recalled that when the epitaph was unearthed, there was also a bluestone slab on it, so the epitaph was well preserved, but it was destroyed before the archaeologists arrived at the site, fortunately, the archaeologists carefully collected almost all the fragments, and carefully repaired it, so that the epitaph could be restored to its original appearance.
This square epitaph is rectangular, the upper end is cornered, 73 cm long, 50 cm wide, 5 cm thick, polished on the front, and 12 vertical and 17 horizontal are drawn with ink lines, a total of 204 squares, and the inscription is engraved inside the grid, the text is vertically arranged, and the font is neat and clear, a total of 168 characters.
Affected by the difference in complex and simplified glyphs and the light, it is now difficult for ordinary visitors to read through the whole text quickly. Under the guidance of Zhou Xiangyong, the reporter now recorded the following inscription: "The epitaph of the deceased examination and the ancestor concubine: The people of Xinxing County in Xianping Province, who were once government officials, benevolent and attentive, and relied on many people who were alive and well. Subsequently, he was promoted to Jinshidi and Gaiyin Dezhiye. Taehwa died of illness on October 27 of the fourth year, at the age of seventy-two. Isn't it good to be a funeral, and to be as good as ever? At the beginning of the opening, the proclamation was prescribed to the proclamation, and it was painful not to see it. The following year, Shangyuan was buried in the ancestral tomb of Muranan. The first concubine of the Zhang clan died for forty-five days after his birth, and his father was buried with him. Long weeping inscription: Oh! My Father is not seeing the end, mourn! My mother didn't know her. Although people die, I hate it infinitely! On the first day of the first month, the male Ru Lin Lang and the former Beijing Road transporter sentenced Feng Kaijinzhi"
After adding punctuation and breaking sentences, this epitaph is not difficult for modern people to read, it was left in the fifth year of Jin Zhangzong Taihe, that is, the first month of 1204 AD. The Jin Dynasty's subordinate official, Beijing Road Transporter, ordered Feng Kai to bury his father, who had died the year before, with his mother, who had died earlier, and that the place where Feng Kai's parents were buried was the ancestral grave of the Feng family at that time.
It is mentioned that Feng Kai was sent to Linhuang (i.e., Shangjing in the Liao Dynasty, in the southern suburbs of malin zuoqi in present-day Chifeng City). In 1120, Jin bing captured Shangjing and renamed it Beijing Linhuang Road), so when his father died, Feng Kai did not see him for the last time. Because he wanted to bury his parents together, Feng Kai thought of his mother Zhang Shi, who was a close relative who had been lost in just 45 days of his birth, so Feng Kai never knew what his mother looked like, and it was difficult to get together even in his dreams.
After thinking about it, Feng Kai "long weeping inscription" and used the elephant words of continuous lamentations such as "oh" and "mourning" to issue a cry of "although people have died, I hate infinity". Reading it, the scene of Feng Kai's grief at that time was displayed between the lines, and after 800 years, it was still sighing, and this kind of love and affection in the world has not changed in ancient times.
Feng Kai was just a petty official
Of course, archaeological excavations are not about tear-jerking stories, but about exploring the historical origin of the time in which the artifacts are located.
The 168-character epitaph is valuable in that it provides posterity with a large amount of first-hand information about the era of Jin Zhangzong more than 800 years ago.
The History of Jin Geography contains the inscription "Emerging ... There is the Fan River, the Chai River in the north, and the Liao River in the west", which is one of the eight counties under the jurisdiction of Xianping Province in the Jin Dynasty. According to research, Xianping Province is located in the old city of present-day Kaiyuan, but the site of Xinxing County is currently to be examined. The epitaph tells us that Feng Kai's father was a "native of Xinxing County, Xianping Province", and that there was also a "ancestor buried in the south of the village", which proves through writings and relics that in the Jin Dynasty, the jurisdiction of Xinxing County was not entirely bounded by the Liao River, and its administrative area also included parts of the area west of the Liao River.
Feng Kai signed the title "Ru Lin Lang, Former Beijing Road Transporter Judgment". "Ru Lin Lang" is a wenshan official name that originated in the Sui Dynasty, and only indicates official rank, not specific position. Feng Kaizhong became a jinshi, and later became a higher-ranking Beijing road transporter judge, and still placed the title of "Ru Lin Lang" from Qipin in front of his post, reflecting the importance he attached to this appointment.
The "History of Jin" contains that "the Fate Of The Yuan was more granted to Chengwu Lang, the second old was granted to Ru Lin Lang, and more Chengshi Lang was awarded." The second division below the old grant of ShiLang, more general Shilang". It can be judged from this that in the imperial examination that year, Feng Kai should have entered the first division, that is, entered the top three. In modern words, Feng Kai can be said to be the "super scholar" in the Liaodong region of his time.
Because the signature is "Former Beijing Road Transport household judgment", it means that Feng Kai has left this position when he buried his parents. In the records of Jin Zhangzong Taihe and the years and later in the "History of Jin", the reporter accidentally found the name "Feng Kai", at this time his official position was the right counselor of the Jin Dynasty's court, as a consort sipin official. In the third year of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, in 1215 AD, he was ordered to go to the counties of Henan with four other people to distribute "barren official fields and pastoral land cultivators" to the military households who migrated south.
Zhou Xiangyong said: "A number of Jin Dynasty tombs have been found in the Tieling area, but their age is mostly speculative, and the Jin Dynasty tombs excavated in the former Xiatazi Village, because there are epitaphs and records have exact dates, provide a reliable empirical basis for the study of the Jin Dynasty tombs." ”
The cultures of various ethnic groups in the Jin Dynasty influenced each other
The Tomb of Feng Kai's Parents is a sarcophagus tomb with stone letters placed in the middle, which is a typical tomb example of the Han people using the Jurchen burial form, reflecting the interaction between the cultures of various ethnic groups in the Jin Dynasty.
According to reports, cremation has been prevalent in the Liao Dynasty, but from the excavation of cultural relics, before the Zhenglong period of King Jinhailing, few tombs were cremated. It was not until the reign of Emperor Jin Shizong that cremation began to become popular in the northeast region and Hebei and other places, and in the late Jin Dynasty, cremation was quite popular among the Jurchen nobles of the Jin Dynasty.
However, although cremation was popular among the ruling class of the Jin Dynasty, even in its ruling areas, the Han Chinese rarely cremated, and at most in the construction of the tomb chamber, the brick chamber structure of imitation wood was adopted.
As a Han official, Feng Kai used cremation when burying his parents together, and Zhou Xiangyong believed that in addition to the factors that influenced the Jurchen and Han cultures at that time, there were also economic factors in it.
Zhou Xiangyong put his perspective on the tomb itself. Judging from the excavated cultural relics, this tomb is very simple. It is manifested in the fact that there are fewer burial items and are simple. In the tombs excavated by other Jurchen nobles in the Jin Dynasty, the upper cover of the stone letter is often carved into a roof, and complex forms such as tile ridges are carved on it, compared with the stone cover in the tomb of Feng Kai's parents, which is only a bluestone slab, which is extremely simple.
At that time, Feng Kai was only a Beijing road transporter judge, according to the "Jin Shi Baiguan Zhi", the Jin Dynasty capital transport division under the entry there were "two members of the household registration judge, from the six products", this official position belongs to the middle and lower level officials. It is speculated that Feng Kai, who was still a minor official at that time, buried his parents in the period of Jin Zhangzong Taihe, that is, the period of relative social stability, and the economic situation was also a reason that could not be ignored in addition to the influence of Jurchen culture.
Journalist's Note
From a secular point of view, the excavation of gold and jade treasures from ancient tombs is a very exciting thing, and most of the tomb robbery works that have been popular in recent years revolve around ancient tomb treasures, which is a reflection of this phenomenon. However, the excitement of the archaeologists is not here.
Taking the excavated cultural relics as evidence, further study and restoration of the original face of history can better reflect the true value of archaeological excavations. Therefore, relatively speaking, cultural relics with words are the excitement of experts. The "Feng Kai Parents Joint Burial Epitaph" exhibited at the Tieling City Museum is exhibited as a proud work of archaeological excavations.
I am ashamed to think about how many times I searched in the Tieling City Museum, and like most visitors, the reporter repeatedly lingered in front of those scene sculptures for a long time, and rarely stopped before those inscriptions.
Under the guidance of experts, the reporter found the "Feng Kai Parents Joint Burial Epitaph" in the Tieling City Museum, and found that its placement was actually very eye-catching, it was at the end of the Jin Dynasty cultural relics exhibition area, and the visitors had to pass on the road. The narrator of the exhibition hall told reporters: "Before the exhibition hall was re-arranged, there was also a stone letter on display at the same time as the epitaph, and after the new exhibition, the stone letter was put away. "The reason for putting it away is because it is not noticed by tourists.
Reprinted from Liaoning Daily 2018-03-30
Original title: The epitaph of the Jin Dynasty tells about family affection 800 years ago