A spear from King Wu Fucha was unearthed from Tomb No. 5 in Mashan. The whole body was decorated with geometric dark patterns, and there were two lines of eight-character staggered gold inscriptions on the base of the spear.
Among them, this root carving to ward off evil spirits looks very simple, but it is of great historical significance because it is the earliest root carving work handed down from generation to generation.
This piece of evil spirit warding off evil spirits stands tall and majestic in all directions, just as it did when it was placed in the tomb more than 2,300 years ago.
It was originally an ordinary tree root, perhaps abandoned in a corner of Ying City.
But a smart craftsman saw its potential artistic value.
So he thought about it a little and modified it according to its shape, and the image of a tiger-headed snake-body strutting around stood out.
However, as if this image was not ferocious enough, he carefully carved out its facial features and added beards and teeth.
In order to make it more lifelike, he carved the wandering and flapping four legs into the shape of bamboo joints.
And the images of snakes, lizards, birds, and cicadas are carved on the feet.
It constitutes a precise explanation of the biological chain of snakes eating lizards, lizards eating birds, and birds eating cicadas, conveying a certain religious concept of the Chu people.
After the carving was completed, the craftsman painted the entire body with dark red paint, and painted with vermilion paint in some places.
More than 2,300 years later, archaeologists carefully removed it from Tomb No. 1 in Mashan, Jing City.
At this time, it is still as shiny as new and the color is bright.
Due to the lack of existing materials, the purpose of this root carving cannot be determined at present.
After all, it serves as a tomb-suppressing beast to "ward off evil spirits", frighten away ghosts and protect the spirit of the tomb owner.
Or in accordance with the tradition of "things die as things live", as a highly artistic basis for the tomb owner to enjoy in the afterlife, or both.
For this reason, its name cannot even be determined yet, but this does not hinder its exploration and appreciation.
This time I discovered that in fact, besides this wood carving, the most valuable thing is probably the clothes.
Ji Nancheng is the former site of the Ying capital of Chu State during the middle and late Warring States Period.
A total of more than 2,000 Chu tombs of various sizes were discovered there, including the tombs of some prominent officials and nobles.
Therefore, when I was sorting out the ancient tomb under the Mashan Brick and Tile Factory, I never thought there would be any unexpected gains.
But when I opened the coffin board, opened a gap, and saw the scene inside, I immediately realized that this was a huge discovery.
It turned out that they found many things similar to silk products inside the coffin.
If this is true, this is a major discovery in the archaeological world.
my country is the first country to use mulberry silk for weaving. It is said that my country has invented silk weaving technology as early as the Neolithic Age.
However, because silk fabrics are difficult to preserve in tombs and are highly perishable, we rarely see ancient silk crafts.
At that time, the plain gauze Zen clothes unearthed from Han Tomb No. 1 in Mawangdui were as thin as cicada wings and amazed the world.
Everyone is looking forward to finding ancient silk products in other places, but every time there are just some silk fragments, which is disappointing.
When the person in charge of the Jingshi Museum received the call report, he realized that this was likely to be a major breakthrough in archaeological history, so he immediately drove to Jinan City.
After arriving at the scene, they immediately verified the situation, and sure enough, they could see some silk fabric texture through the gaps between the coffin boards.
He immediately decided to put back the coffin board and wrap the entire coffin with thick plastic sheeting.
Then, the entire tomb was covered with tarpaulin, leaving only one or two staff members to take care of it, while the rest went back to discuss a more appropriate cultural relic protection plan.
Afterwards, he reported the situation to his superiors and requested experts to be sent for support. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage took the matter seriously.
At this time, many archaeological experts came after hearing the news and participated in the archaeological excavation work.
Among them was a silk conservation expert who had previously participated in the archeology of Mawangdui Han Tomb No. 1.
This expert and experts from the Beihu Museum jointly discussed a specific excavation and protection plan.
This plan was quickly approved by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. At this time, this small pit tomb had been named "Beihu Jiangling Mashan Tomb No. 1".
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was often a thick curtain outside the coffin, which was usually made of plain brocade fabric.
These seemingly complete desolate curtains in front of us are actually completely decayed. If touched even slightly, they are likely to break into pieces. What should we do?
More importantly, a silk painting with delicate texture is also adhered to the wild curtain.
Finally, after some research, I cut the wild curtain into several large pieces along each side of the coffin, numbered them, rolled them up and put them away.
When the barren curtain was completely removed, a complete coffin appeared in front of everyone. It was black and shiny, the color was as new, and it was quite well preserved.
Then I started studying how to completely open the coffin lid.
At this time, it was already past four in the morning, but no one felt tired. Everyone was looking forward to the moment when the coffin was opened.
The archaeologists tried to insert the blade into the gap in the coffin, looking back and forth for possible movable joints.
After more than an hour of hard work, the coffin lid could finally be opened.
Everyone watched nervously as the coffin lid was lifted little by little, not daring to express their anger.
Suddenly, someone shouted: "The silk is well preserved. Hurry up and close the coffin lid and bring it back indoors for cleaning."
Why can't it be cleaned up on site? It must be for fear of being destroyed.
Anyone who knows a little bit about archaeological work knows that many cultural relics excavated from ancient tombs have the problem of "die" when exposed to light.
It was still shining with gold in the tomb, but once it came into contact with the outside world, it suddenly lost its color.
These experts are naturally more worried about such problems than anyone else, because this batch of silk products is so precious.
However, other archaeological experts on site are also worried that the bumpy road will "crash" the silk in the coffin? This has happened before.
A heated discussion started at the "Beihu Jiangling Mashan Tomb No. 1" site.
Experts who have participated in the excavation of Mawangdui have a very good understanding of the characteristics of silk.
He said categorically: "I have confirmed that there is no fluid in this coffin, which will not cause the silk products to be broken during transportation."
Although other experts were not too reassured about this, they also understood that there were also huge risks in opening coffins in the wild, so they agreed to his proposal.
The coffin was transported to the large conference room of Jingshi Museum, where everyone will witness the historical moment when the mystery of this Chu tomb was unveiled.
At 9 a.m. on February 4, the “unveiling” of the coffin officially began.
When the coffin lid was completely opened, everyone exclaimed in unison.
Because the coffin is full of dazzling ancient silk products, it is really spectacular.
Such a discovery is a miracle, because silk that is impossible to survive has really been passed down through the ages for us to see.