What remains are there in the twilight of Jiangling?

In the north of China, due to the climate, soil quality, water level, burial methods and other reasons, the coffins of tombs and some fibrous funerary objects are not well preserved, or even not preserved. But the Chu tomb in Jiangling is well preserved.

A large number of bronzes, pottery, bamboo slips, silk books, silk paintings and so on are completely preserved in the Chu tomb in Jiangling. The funerary objects of Chu tombs are complete, and the inscriptions on many bronzes are even clearly visible, and some pottery even has seals and seals. Some lacquered wood, bamboo, silk and linen fabrics are only found in Chu tombs.

The bronzes in Jiangling Chu Tomb account for about 30% of all the relics, and the artifacts cover most of the bronzes of Chu, which not only reflects the level of tombs and burial customs, but also reflects Chu's exquisite casting technology and splendid cultural characteristics.

Among the Chu tombs in Jiangling, most of the bronze ritual vessels come from the tombs of aristocrats above the middle level, mainly including ding, pier, statue, lamp, pot, ladle, washing ladle and dish.

The hollow bronze dragon cup found in the Eastern Zhou Tomb in Jiudian, Jiangling, has a diameter of 0. 122 m, a bottom diameter of 0. 103 m, a height of 0. 147 m and a weight of 0.77 kg. The whole utensil is cylindrical, with a small top and a small bottom, a small mouth and a straight wall. The outsole has three hooves and three feet, and there is a tenon on the inside. The round hollow flat bottom is placed on the tenon in the utensil. The outer wall of the cup is decorated with a strip-shaped two-way continuous hook-and-loop dragon pattern with staggered silver ornaments.

The middle part of the hollow cup is composed of six groups of symmetrical carved dragon patterns, each group is symmetrically arranged, the faucets are opposite, the cup body is curled up, and the posture is vivid, and fine triangular cirrus and scale patterns are cast on it.

The hollow Phoenix bronze mirror has a diameter of 0. 1 1 m, and the whole mirror is beautifully composed and vivid. The mirror surface and mirror back are made of bronze with two different alloy compositions, and then combined into a mirror. On the back is a three-string buckle, a round buckle seat, an oblique side and a narrow flat side. The mirror back is naturally divided into four areas, each area is decorated with a group of symmetrical hollowed-out phoenix patterns, and the two phoenix bodies in each group are curled up, and the curve is naturally soft.

The hollowed-out phoenix bronze mirror is centered on the small round mirror button, and the decoration is divided into 4 units according to the cross. Each unit consists of a pair of phoenix birds, with their heads facing each other, their bodies bent and their tails turned outwards.

The middle and tail between every two phoenix birds are connected by cirrus clouds, which makes the whole picture seamless and proportional. Because it is carved with flowers, it has a strong three-dimensional sense and strong artistic appeal.

Looking back at the high crown of the hollowed-out phoenix bronze mirror, the posture is lively, and the two phoenix necks and wings are connected and dance in pairs. The phoenix body is decorated with exquisite feather patterns.

A belt hook is a hook on a belt. In the eyes of Chu nobles, the hook is not only an ornament of clothing, but also a symbol of identity and status. There is a hook in the tomb of Jiangling Wangshan 1, with an arc length of 0.462 m and a width of 0.065 m, which is unique among the hooks in pre-Qin countries.

A large bronze chime combination was also found in Jiangling Chu Tomb. Most of the new clocks are piled up in the south of the East Room, while the new clocks are placed directly on the floor of the conference hall in size and order, and several small new clocks are hung on the beam of the clock frame.

During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, with the rise of Chu culture, the sculpture art was rich and colorful, and not only a large number of decorative art products appeared, but also a large number of specialized sculptures, such as town tombs, tiger seats and phoenix, wooden figurines and so on.

The Tiger Phoenix in Jiangling Chu Tomb, also known as Tiger Bird and Tiger Antlers Bird, is a symbol of Chu culture. Round carvings are painted with colors, mostly wood, and a few pottery tires. The phoenix bird flying high is standing on the back of the tiger, and a pair of elk horns are inserted on the back of the phoenix, which is magnificent and wonderful. About its significance, there are mountain gods, gods ascending to heaven and phoenix flying.

The figure sculptures in Chu tombs mainly include wooden figurines, humanoid chairs and trinkets. It was very common to replace the living with sculptures in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Most countries in the Central Plains are pottery figurines, while the wooden figurines in Chu have their own characteristics.

Most of the wooden figurines in Jingchu come from the tombs of nobles, including servants, musicians, chefs and warriors. Many wood carvings, some of which are tenon-mortise structures.

Generally, the height of standing figurines is about 0.5 meters, and the height of kneeling figurines is about 0.3 meters. Most of the figures in the statue have flat tops and oval faces. Some people add silk wigs or use real human hair. Painted with round carvings, some decorated with clothes and ornaments, some with books and characters on their bodies.

A pair of painted wooden figures in Chu Tomb No.6 of Yidi, Wuchang, Jiangling. There are two strings of long ornaments painted on the front of the wooden figurines, which are symmetrical left and right. The wooden doll is 0.566 meters high, with an integral wood carving on its head and mortise and tenon structure on its feet. One hand is crossed on the chest, and the other hand is mounted on it, showing a stick shape, with a long neck and a thin waist, and a beautiful and elegant posture.

The colored wooden figurines of Mashan 1 Chu Tomb in Jiangling are the best. * * * A total of four pieces, the height, shape, posture, appearance and clothing are basically the same.

One of the female wooden figurines, 0.596 meters high, has the best preserved silk clothes. The whole wood carving is round, with no hands and feet, and the face and neck are painted with meat red. After combing the black hair, the lips are painted with cinnabar, and the eyes are vivid. She wore a colorful silk robe with a narrow belt around her waist, and her robe and skirt swept the floor with bright colors.

There is also a wooden sword warrior, wearing a small sleeve coat, knee-wrapped, magnificent.

The Chu people worshipped deer, and antlers and woodcarving deer were popular during the Warring States period. For example, most of the tomb animals and the tiger phoenix have elk horns, and many utensils are also decorated with deer patterns, and there are many independent woodcarving deer.

The woodcarving of Chu Tomb in Mashan Mountain in Jiangling depicts a deer or deer drum lying on a drum, which is 0.33 meters long and 0.28 meters high. Lying on his side, he has four feet with internal fists, double antlers on his head, sideways to the left, and the whole body is decorated with plum patterns. A wooden drum with a diameter of 0.04m and a thickness of 0.03m was erected on the back. This is a musical instrument with a strange shape.

China's earliest root carving works were found in Jingchu. A root carving to ward off evil spirits was found in the Chu tomb of Mashan 1 Jiangling. According to the natural formation of the roots, it is painted on a circular sculpture. The overall shape is a long arc dragon with a length of 0.69 m and a height of 0.3 1 m to 0.4 m, with a round tail and a dragon head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, whiskers and teeth.

Among lacquer wood carvings, Jingchu painted animal seats are unique. Among many painted wood carving screens, the painted animal carving screen of Jiangling Wangshan 1 Chu Tomb is the most representative.

The carved screen is 0.5 18m long, 0.012m wide and 0.015m high. The carved screen is surrounded by a rectangular frame. The base of carved screen is suspended in the middle, and both ends touch the ground, which is wide, solid and heavy. The whole picture is a scene of a phoenix, a bird, a deer, a frog and a snake fighting.

Snakes dominate the waters of the Terrace, and two birds were trapped and defeated by snakes. At the bottom of the picture, the snake swallows the frog and bites the deer, and both deer pounce, and two groups of phoenix birds get up and peck at the snake. The base is connected with the content in the screen and integrated. The shape is complex and orderly. More than 50 animals fought to the death. The scene is extremely spectacular, full of magical and romantic colors.

Chu people live in a kingdom of lacquerware, and most of the practical appliances and entertainment articles used in daily life are lacquerware, and most of the funeral articles after death are lacquerware.

In China, the earliest bamboo lacquer ware was found in Chu Tomb. There was a painted lacquer plate with various moire and phoenix patterns painted in black inside and outside.

The painted lacquer sheath of the Chu Tomb in Wangshan, Jiangling is a kind of light bamboo lacquer ware. The patent leather sheath is completely bare, black, with a floral pattern painted by Zhu, and one end of the sheath is painted with moire and phoenix patterns.

In addition, there are leather tires, bamboo tires, metal tires, pottery tires and painted silk and linen fabrics.

Bamboo woven fabric is the most exquisite lacquerware in Chu State and one of the daily necessities of Chu people. Bamboo fabrics of Chu State have been found in many tombs of Chu State, among which painted bamboo wares include bamboo fans, small bamboo warehouses and round bamboo tubes.

The bamboo fan is well-made, well-preserved, new in color, trapezoidal, woven with red weft and black weft and three fine weft.

Among the lacquerware in Chu State, painted lacquerware occupies a considerable proportion. For example, there are 272 lacquer ear cups in Chu Tomb of Yutaishan, only a few plain ear cups without decorative patterns, most of which are painted ear cups, and the decorative colors on the ear cups are gold, yellow and red.

There are white patterns on the ear cups of the Chu tomb in Wangshan, Jiangling, and there are many painted patterns such as red, green, gold and silver on the painted wood carving seat screen, among which green is very bright.

The lacquerware of Chu Tomb in Yutaishan is black and red, and the surface is generally painted black and red. It shows that various colors of paint were used in the painting technology of Chu State at that time. To obtain color paint, it must be used in combination with vegetable oil.

The main object reflected by Chu lacquerware is not to transcend nature and supernatural beings. Chu people admire nature and have a strong worship of the movement of life and the harmony of all things in nature.

Therefore, Chu artists vividly described the creatures in nature, from deer and tigers to snakes and frogs, through sculpture modeling. These images are vivid.

Chu people are pantheists and believe that everything in the world has a God, so God has become the main object of their plastic arts image. The image of their gods is another expression of natural creatures.

Decorative patterns are mostly dragon and phoenix patterns and Yun Leiwen. Dragon and phoenix are the mother of Chu art, and phoenix patterns on Chu lacquerware are various and highly abstract. Some phoenix patterns even symbolize the crested or crested phoenix.

Yun Leiwen occupies an important position in the decoration of Chu lacquerware. Yun Leiwen and Shu Yun on Chu lacquerware are full of volume and elasticity. There are painted Yun Leiwen wooden combs and painted Yun Leiwen snakes in Chu Tomb of Yutaishan in Jiangling.

The lacquer paintings on Chu lacquerware objectively reflected the religious life and social life of Chu at that time. Such as the wizard map, music map and hunting map in the tomb of "Changtaiguan 1" in Xinyang.

Lacquered wood is a common form in the Chu tomb of "Tianxingguan No.2" in Jiangling, but there are also several new forms. One of the lacquerware called "Feather Man" is very distinctive.

This feather lacquer is the only one found in Chu tombs. 0.655 meters high, 0.336 meters high and 0.34 meters wide. It consists of three parts: a toad-shaped organ seat, a phoenix and a feathered man. Toad lying down, feather man naked, fat, human beak claw foot on the phoenix, the phoenix wings to fly.

The whole body is covered with black paint, and the pattern is painted in scarlet, yellow and blue. This lacquerware is a rare piece of lacquerware art with unique conception and rich imagination.

This artifact may reflect the intimate relationship between Chu people and phoenix birds. It is a statue of mutual transformation between man and phoenix. People can become phoenix birds, or fly to the sky through phoenix birds. It may also be an instrument used by wizards to sacrifice, or the image of Nu Wa in Chu people's minds, or a statue carved by the descendants of Sanmiao.

Silk fabrics are often found in Chu tombs in Jiangling, and they are often well preserved. There are 35 pieces of all kinds of clothes in Mashan 1 Chu Tomb in Jiangling, including 2 embroidered clothes1piece. These clothes are made of 8 kinds of silk fabrics, and 4 bamboo warehouses are filled with 452 pieces of 12 kinds of silk fabrics.

Among them, shroud 15, silk 4 beds. There are other varieties such as embroidery, brocade, silk, yarn, silk and tapestry, which are of good quality and well preserved.

Clothes and quilts are embroidered or woven with scarlet, crimson, eggplant purple, deep ochre, light green, dark brown, golden yellow, brown yellow and other colors. Symmetrical patterns such as dragons and phoenixes, beasts and dancers alternate with geometric patterns, and the colors are soft, which indicates that the textile industry in Chu has reached a fairly high technological level.

The fabric that best reflected the technical level of silk weaving at that time was brocade. Brocade is a warp jacquard fabric. In ancient times, only people with high status could wear brocade clothes, quilts and hats.

Jacquard technology of brocade is quite complicated. The bigger the pattern, the more complicated the technology. There are a large number of colorful tapestries in Chu tombs, with the most tapestries in the tomb of Mashan 1 in Jiangling, and there are many different patterns of 10, which fully shows that there were advanced jacquard looms and skilled weaving techniques at that time.

The colors of Chu silk fabrics are mainly red and brown, which is consistent with the custom of Chu people advocating fire. Only the silk fabrics of No.1 Tomb in Mashan, Jiangling are crimson, vermilion, orange, reddish brown, dark brown, brown, golden yellow, khaki, yellow-green, cobalt blue, bordeaux, grayish white, dark brown and black.

The hunting pattern on the "Mashan 1" tapestry of Chu Tomb is a completely realistic pattern, depicting the scene of aristocratic hunting activities. In brown, khaki and cobalt blue, field hunting tattoos weave dramatic life scenes, such as two men chasing prey, deer running for their lives, soldiers holding swords and fighting animals with shields.

Another representative woven silk fabric is the tapestry of animal dancers in Mashan 1 Tomb. The pattern consists of seven different groups of animals and dancers, among which, long-sleeved dancing figures, long-tailed crested birds and two groups of reptiles with different postures are full of fun.

Many well-preserved embroideries were found in the tomb of Mashan 1 in Jiangling. Animals and plants are the main themes of embroidery, and dragons and phoenixes are the main animals. There are 10 embroidery patterns. Including dragon embroidery, phoenix embroidery, flower embroidery, one phoenix and two dragons embroidery, one phoenix and three dragons embroidery, phoenix embroidery, phoenix embroidery, phoenix embroidery, phoenix embroidery, phoenix embroidery, phoenix embroidery, phoenix embroidery, three phoenix embroidery, crown embroidery, phoenix embroidery and phoenix embroidery.

In addition to the dragon and phoenix theme, some patterns also have tigers. Animal patterns with flowers, branches, vines, or as an organic part of the pattern, or as a gap and filler of the pattern, show the vitality and harmony of nature.

There is a chariot pit 3.7 meters north of Tomb No.9 Chu 104 in Jiangling. Chemakeng and Tomb 104 are located on the north-south central axis and should be buried as burial pits. There are two cars and four horses buried in the pit.

The pit is a rectangular vertical hole pit with a north-south direction. The shaft and the horse's head face north. This pit is 5.9m long, 3.9m wide and 0.8m deep.

There are four semicircular wheel grooves dug at the bottom of the pit for placing wheels. The parking space is made of wood, painted brown and rotten, leaving only traces. Among them, the No.2 logo is well preserved, the structure is clear after peeling, and the parking space is single and two wheels.

Among the Chu tombs in Jiudian, Jiangling, 700 bamboo slips were found in five Chu tombs, and their contents were generally farewell, blessing or recording. Bamboo slips are cut from broken bamboo and are dark brown.

The bamboo slips in the tomb of "Nine Halls, No.56" are close to the Japanese books in Yunmeng Qin slips, and mainly choose auspicious days or auspicious days. These books explaining the choice of auspicious and unlucky dates in Chu bamboo slips were popular as early as the Warring States period.

Valuable inscriptions and a large number of bamboo slips have also been found in the Chu tomb of Tianxingguan in Jiangling. There are 450 words in bamboo slips, most of which are clearly written and recorded as "Fan Junli" many times. There is no place for divination in all bamboo slips.

Qin Ke Gongsun Yang's mission to Chu was an important event in the diplomatic activities of Chu State in the year of "Chuli". The date of "Qin Ke Gongsun Yang" in bamboo slips should be before Shang Yang was sealed in Qin Dynasty, that is, from 36 1 year to 340 BC.

In addition, combined with bamboo slips and funerary objects in the tomb, it is speculated. The owner of the tomb may have been a military attache before his death, with a title of Shangqing and an official position of Lingyin and Yahweh.

Among the Chu tombs in Jiangling, especially the bronze weapons are various and exquisitely made. Common are swords, daggers, spears, halberds and arrows. Most of them are swords, and almost all adult men are buried with swords. There are many bronze swords buried in noble tombs, such as the tomb of "Tianxingguan 1", and there are 32 bronze swords buried with them.

Many important weapons of wuyue have been unearthed from Chu tombs, which is an important manifestation of other countries' hegemony. The broadness of swords at all levels is unmatched by other countries, which embodies the martial spirit of Chu people.

There are weapons in Jiangling Chu General Cemetery, among which bronze swords are the most, accounting for about 35% of the total weapons with thorns. Among them, there are more than 20 small tombs, and other funerary objects have nothing but a bronze sword.

The most famous Chu tombs in Zhangjiashan, Jiangling are "Betty Wong Lu Yingjian" and "Betty Wong Gully Jian Peijun Jian Peijun" used by Gou Jian's son, also known as "Jane Yue Shuang Jue".

Bronze utensils unearthed from Chu tomb

Hollow phoenix bronze mirror in Chu tomb

Goutougouyunlong

Wooden figurines in Chu tombs during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period

Wood carvings and painted figurines in Chu tombs

Bronze staghorn crane in Zeng Houyi's tomb

Lacquerware of Chu tomb

Chumu bamboo mat

Lacquerware Unearthed from Chu Tomb in Jiuliandun

Legend of Yun Leiwen's Tomb on Ancient Bronzes: The King of Yue in Jiangling Chu Tomb.

Feather lacquerware in Chu tomb

Silk brocade robe

Clothing unearthed from the Chu tomb in Mashan

Chemakeng site of Chu tomb

Bronze swords in Chu tombs