"Let's go in and take a look!" After saying that, Wei Changqing opened two identical stone doors in succession before officially entering the main room of the underground palace.
"So many sarcophagi?" Wei Changqing exclaimed as soon as he entered.
"These sarcophagi are so beautifully made," Zhaodong Ke also said.
"Why do I seem to have seen these patterns somewhere?" Wei Changqing looked at the patterns on the sarcophagus and asked doubtfully.
Han Kongque directly handed the jade pendant in his hand to Wei Changqing.
"Why are you giving me this? This is a treasure." Wei Changqing didn't know why.
Han Kongque said: "The pictures on these sarcophagi are very similar to the pictures on this jade pendant."
"Ah?" Wei Changqing took the jade pendant and compared it carefully.
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be a religious ceremony." Han Peacock looked at the paintings on the sarcophagus and said.
"Is this a Zoroastrian religious ceremony?" Wei Changqing asked curiously.
"That should be it. This is the four-armed goddess Nana. You see, in the Zoroastrian ceremony to bid farewell to the deceased, a ceremony must be held in front of the bridge. The priest sets up a fire altar at the end of the bridge to offer offerings, drives camels, and sheep and animals across the bridge to offer sacrifices.
Gods and souls can successfully enter the gate of heaven." Han Kongque said.
"Xiao Han, come here and see if this is a sarcophagus bed?" At this moment, Zhaodong Ke shouted from the other side.
"Sarcophagus bed? This thing is rare." Han Peacock was very happy and walked over quickly.
This is also a sarcophagus, but this sarcophagus is much more complicated. This sarcophagus is surrounded on all sides, with a mother-in-law gate on the front. The outer facade of the door wall and the inner wall of the sarcophagus are intricately carved with intricate patterns.
There are 2 eaves boards on the bed base, 2 screen stones, each with 3 pictures, and 1 screen stone on the coffin bed, with 3 pictures. There is another screen stone at the left and right gate stones.
A sarcophagus like this can be said to be a large stone bed, so it is called a sarcophagus bed.
The figures on the bed of this palace-shaped sarcophagus are "simple and beautiful". The relief figures under the eaves of the mother-in-law palace are symmetrical. There are 24 people in total, and there are 22 flags. Behind the queue are gorgeously decorated horses, leading a group of people wearing tight-fitting Hu robes with lapels.
The figure wears a mask, holds a staff in his hand, and has a brazier carved under the head of the staff.
The remaining walls of the coffin bed are divided into columns in a symmetrical layout, with six paintings on the front and three on the left and right side of the bed. The composition of the paintings is dense and neat. Most of them are lively scenes of barbarians feasting, singing and dancing, and the subject matter is obviously related to the funeral customs of Zoroastrianism.
In particular, the person wearing a mask and holding a staff above must be a priest in the Zoroastrian ritual. The image characteristics are very obvious. This was once one of the main images on the ossuaries of the Sogdians in Central Asia.
"Such a complicated and exquisite sarcophagus bed shouldn't be easy to make, right?" Wei Changqing asked while taking photos of the sarcophagus bed.
Han Kongque said: "Of course they are rare now, but in ancient times, there were still many. Although the production of sarcophagi is a bit troublesome, it is less likely to decay than wood, so the period of using sarcophagi in ancient times was not short.
.”
"These Zoroastrian believers seem to be very rich!" Wei Changqing said with a smile.
"Of course, who in the ordinary family can afford such a sarcophagus?" Han Peacock said with a smile.
"Brother Han, can you tell which period this is from?" Wei Changqing said with shining eyes.
The sarcophagi here are very well preserved. The most important thing is that each sarcophagus is very exquisitely made. Such sarcophagi have risen to the rank of works of art, even if they are displayed in a museum.
"Looking at the image of the priest, it should be from Zoroastrianism. It is very similar to the image of the priest on the relief of the bone pottery urn unearthed in Mora-Korgan. However, this sarcophagus bed is more likely to come from the Central Plains area."
Han Peacock looked at a painting on the sarcophagus bed and said.
"Central Plains Region? Who would transport a sarcophagus bed from the Central Plains Region here when they have nothing to do?" The weight of this sarcophagus bed is not light. Besides, who would be willing to use a sarcophagus that has been used by others? No matter how good it is.
, and no one uses what others have used, right?
"You see in this banquet picture, all the women wear their hair in a bird's bun. According to historical records, the bird's hair bun was a fashion for women in the palace of the Queen of the Northern Qi Dynasty. It later spread to the people, and people at the time took this as a symbol of the demise of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
"Book of the Northern Qi Dynasty" records this incident: Also, all the women were shaved and wore false buns, and the dangerous appearance was like a flying bird. As for the south, the center of the bun was facing the west. It started from the palace and was spread far away. God's will is like
He said that if the head of state cuts him off, he should go west if he is in danger.
This woman with a flying bird bun has distinct characteristics of the times. There are other images unearthed from Wangjiafeng in Taiyuan and a woman enjoying herself in the murals of Xu Xianxiu's tomb in the Northern Qi Dynasty. Comparing the two with each other can prove that this Que-shaped sarcophagus bed is a burial tool from the Northern Qi Dynasty.
The owner should be a Sogdian leader who believes in Zoroastrianism." Han Kongque pointed at a picture of a banquet and analyzed.
"Northern Qi? How many years has it been?" Wei Changqing was speechless.
"It must be more than 1,500 years ago!" Han Kongque said.
"Fortunately, this is a sarcophagus. If it were made of wood, it would have rotted into mud, right?" Zhaodong said in surprise.
"However, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, were there any barbarians in the country who embraced Zoroastrianism?" Wei Changqing asked.
Han Kongque said: "It really does exist, and Zoroastrianism spread very widely at that time. You must know that Zoroastrianism spread to the Sogdian region of Central Asia very early, and it was the main religion believed by the Sogdian people during the Sasanian Dynasty.
It is recorded in Hui Chao's "Biography of the Five Tianzhu Kingdoms": Anguo, Caoguo, Shiguo, Shiguo, Miguo, Kangguo... The general manager Huo Zuo did not understand Buddhism. This is enough to show that Zoroastrianism was popular in the country at that time.
circulated."
The Sogdians, who are good at doing business, have been active on the Silk Road for a long time. After entering China, they gradually formed settlements in Dun, Huang, Wu, Wei and other important towns in Hexi, and practiced their local religion.
Since the Zoroastrian believers who entered China were mainly Hu people from the Sogdian region of Central Asia, the gods they worshiped were also called "Hu Tian".
The earliest Zoroastrian activities recorded in Chinese historical materials were in the late Western Jin Dynasty in the first half of the fourth century AD. The "Book of Jin. Shi Jilong Zai Ji" attached to the "Shi Jian Biography" said: "Long Xiang's grandson Fudu, Liu Zhu and other three Jieshi
Thousands, lying in Hu Tian.”
The Hu Tian worshiped by the three thousand Jies here refers to the Zoroastrian God.
In 1907, Stein found ancient letters in Sogdian script under a beacon in the northwest of Dunhuang. The date of the writing was determined to be around 311. The author of the letters was a Sogdian businessman who believed in Zoroastrianism in the Hexi Corridor.
Prefecture is the base camp, and its footprints have penetrated into Chang'an, Luoyang, and Yecheng.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, as the number of Sogdian immigrants to China increased, records of Zoroastrian activities were frequently found in "Book of Wei", "Book of Liang", and "Book of Sui".
During the reign of Emperor Xuanwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the worship of the Zoroastrian God Hu Tian in Luoyang had already reached a large scale. At that time, the Empress Dowager Hu Ling "fortunately had hundreds of followers ascended to the top of Mount Song, and abolished all obscene sacrifices, but the God Hu Tian was not among them."
Even in the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasties, the emperor personally went to worship Hu Tianshen.
"In the last years of the Qi Dynasty, the emperor sacrificed people who were not his ghosts, but bowed his head to encourage himself in order to serve Hu Tian. The obscene sacrifices were carried out in Yezhong, and they continue to this day. When the later Zhou Dynasty wanted to attract the Western Regions, they also worshiped Hu Tianzhi, and the emperor personally accepted it.
His etiquette follows Yi customs, and his licentiousness cannot be disciplined."
In Yu, Khotan, Gao, Chang, Shu, Le, Yan, and Qi in Hexi and west of Yangguan, there are more customs of worshiping Zoroastrian God and folk worshiping Zoroastrianism. The custom was still followed in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Chinese historical records and Dun and Huang Tu
, there are relevant records in the documents unearthed from Lufan.
Nowadays, Zoroastrian temples with shrines and images can no longer be seen. However, since the 20th century, some tombs and burial tools belonging to the Sogdians have been unearthed. Some of the images decorated on them belong to Zoroastrian content, and some are
Funerals and burial customs with Zoroastrian elements provide clues to the evolution of this religion in ancient China.
Most of these burial objects are sarcophagi. However, those sarcophagi discovered before were incomplete, and more were smuggled abroad.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the use of stone burial tools was popular, and the most common ones were sarcophagi, stone coffins and sarcophagus beds. Many have been unearthed, but not many have actually remained in China.
On some stone beds and sarcophagus coffins, pictures related to the tomb owner's beliefs or living customs are often carved, which are of great research value.
But it is rare in China, and abroad, it is now in the Ningmao Stone Chamber of the Boston Museum of Art in the United States, the Dutiful Son Sarcophagus in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas, the United States, and the Minneapolis Museum of Art in Minnesota, the United States.
The Yuanmi sarcophagus and others are all representative stone-carved burial tools of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
These stone-carved burial tools are all precious cultural relics, so don't look at Han Kongque. They have only discovered some sarcophagi, but they are all very precious.
In particular, this complex sarcophagus bed is even more precious, because it is absolutely rare to find a sarcophagus bed in such good condition that has been preserved to this day.
Among the stone-carved burial objects lost overseas, there is a sarcophagus bed once called "Cao Cao's Bed", which is very similar to the sarcophagus bed found here, but that sarcophagus bed was divided up among several museums.
It is a sarcophagus bed unearthed in He, Nan'an, Yang in the early 20th century. The coffin bed is surrounded on all sides, with a mother-in-law gate on the front. The outer facade of the door wall and the inner wall of the sarcophagus bed are intricately carved with scenes.
Lu Qinzhai's collection was later dispersed.
Different components are stored in several museums in Europe and the United States. Two cornices on the bed base are stored in the Freer Museum of Art in the United States.
Two coffin bed screen stones, each with three pictures, are in the collection of the Boston Art Museum in the United States.
One coffin bed screen stone and three pictures are in the collection of Jimei Museum in Paris, France.
The left and right gate stones are in the collection of the Cologne Museum of Art in Germany.
Now after comparison and piecing together, the original appearance can be basically restored, but there is another piece of screen stone that is missing.
There are also many incomplete sarcophagi collected in other museums. Some sarcophagus beds are missing the base and bed stones, some are missing the gate stone, and some are missing the screen stone, or the screen stones are not neat.
But this one here is very complete. There are 12 relief scenes in total on the screen slates. The themes include banquets, hunting, traveling, bullock carts, funerals, entertaining gods, etc. Zoroastrian images are almost all seen on the facade screens.
(To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novels are better and updated faster!