In particular, the picture on a stone tablet is exactly the same as the picture on the jade pendant that Han Peacock just got.
The theme of this stone panel is to send souls across the Chenute Bridge. At the bottom of the screen is a procession with people and horses. At the top of the screen is a priest in Hufu, wearing a mask and holding a staff on the bridge to keep fire. There is a fire altar at the end of the bridge.
and fruit plate offerings.
Behind the priest, four people walked across the bridge to express their condolences and farewell.
There are five people standing at the top, two women in the lead, and one carrying a bag at the head of the bridge.
Behind the priest and below, a dog faces the bridge head. Only a section of railings is carved out of the bridge head. The two-humped camels running parallel on the bridge only show their hind legs.
According to Zoroastrian customs, the soul of a person has to pass through the Chenute Bridge after death. Good deeds cross the bridge, and the bridge deck is wide and flat. Bad deeds, the bridge deck is like a knife blade and as thin as a hair, making it difficult to pass.
Therefore, 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, and drives camels, sheep and livestock across the bridge to sacrifice to the gods, so that the soul can successfully enter the gate of heaven.
The composition of this picture is simple, with not many characters, but the main plot is very complete.
Another image on the stone slab has a four-armed statue of the goddess Nana engraved on the upper part. Two arms hold up the sun and the moon, and two arms lower caress the lion. Two days before the lion, the goddess stands on a lotus seat and plays the harp and pipa.
The lower part of the picture shows a scene of human music and dance to entertain gods. The performers sit opposite each other under a tree, and a woman dances in front of them. The figure is obviously smaller than the gods in heaven.
This sarcophagus bed is obviously a product of the Northern Qi Dynasty. The image of a woman with a flying bird bun on the screen is a sign of the era.
Looking at these harvests, even Han Peacock, who was used to seeing treasures, was so happy that he couldn't open his mouth from ear to ear.
There is not just one sarcophagus here, but a row of five or six sarcophagi. Even without looking carefully, Han Peacock knew that every sarcophagus here is a fine product.
"Brother Han, look, is this also a sarcophagus bed?" Wei Changqing shouted from the side.
Everyone dispersed, everyone was looking at the sarcophagus they were interested in.
Han Kongque walked over and saw that this was also a sarcophagus bed base, using high relief. The facade was engraved with guardian gods and lions, and the eaves were engraved with neat decorative patterns. The surface was polished and clean, which was also the carving style of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
"This seems to be a Buddhist portrait, right?" Wei Changqing asked, pointing to the picture on the screen.
The screen of the sarcophagus bed adopts the method of line carving, which clearly shows the funeral plot of the Sogdians. Although there are no images of Zoroastrian gods on the screen, it is similar to the above-mentioned Northern Qi sarcophagus bed screen in many plots.
"This sarcophagus bed also has obvious characteristics of Zoroastrianism. Look at the facade of this bed base. The image of the protector engraved on it is not a commonly seen Buddhist theme. It is also a Zoroastrian god. This should be a Zoroastrian god.
After the Te people integrated into our lives, they absorbed the Han burial system while still retaining the representative works of their own customs in their funeral images." Han Kongque said.
"Boss, come and take a look. There are actually many tombs here." At this time, he was not interested in the sarcophagus. Huangshan, who was walking ahead to explore the road, came back and reported his findings to Han Kongque.
When we got here, it seemed that there was no danger anymore. It was just an empty underground mausoleum.
"What do you mean by many tombs?" Wei Changqing asked first.
At this time, Zhaodong came out and said: "To be precise, there should be many mausoleums, not tomb chambers. I think the styles of the tombs there are different, and they should not be built in the same era. Even if they are in the same
It should have been built step by step over a long period of time."
"So this is an underground tomb complex?" Han Peacock said in surprise.
"It should be like this. This is probably a secret underground tomb complex of Zoroastrianism." Zhaodong Ke said.
Following Huangshan, Han Kongque walked into a tomb. The tomb was a single-chamber brick tomb with a long slope. The semicircular stone-carved tomb door was ornately carved and painted. There was only a stone-carved coffin bed in the tomb. The coffin was empty, not to mention the burial objects.
Not even the body.
However, this sarcophagus is as exquisite as ever. There are 12 screen paintings on the coffin bed, which are made with relief and gold painting. The composition is full. The pictures include banquets, music and dance, hunting, travel and other themes, showing the funeral customs of the tomb owner.
Related content.
Scenes with Zoroastrian themes are carved on the semicircular forehead stone of the tomb door, with a symmetrical composition. The fire altar has a unique shape in the center, a brazier with an upturned rosette on top, and an altar stand with three camels in the middle.
Below is the lotus base altar base.
The flame in the basin is raging, and lotus flowers and flowing clouds are carved above the flame tip.
On both sides of the fire altar are carved fire priests wearing masks. Different from the priests on the sarcophagus bed in the Northern Qi Dynasty, the priests in this tomb are carved with human faces and bird bodies.
Above the priest is engraved a flying figure playing a pipa and a harp. Its flying posture echoes the dynamics of the priest's bird body, forming a set of symbolic images with divinity.
There is a confession table in front of the priest, with offerings and supplies placed on it; at the bottom two corners of the door, there are two kneeling barbarians, one wearing a hat and one with hair disheveled, each looking after the offering. They should be the chief priests.
assistant.
According to the primary and secondary relationship of the image, the bird priest and the assistant can be regarded as a true portrayal of the Zoroastrian Ceremony.
Judging from the overall picture on the forehead of the door, the image is not only based on actual Zoroastrian rituals, but also gives the picture a religious and sacred meaning. The gorgeous decoration technique is to highlight the status of the owner of the tomb during his lifetime.
Just a dozen meters to the right of this tomb, there is another tomb. It is a single-chamber tomb with a long slope. The tomb door is made of stone. The door lintel is engraved with four-armed gods and spiritual beasts. The doorpost is engraved with grape branches and Ji Le Tianren.
Decorative pattern, there is a lotus flying in the sky between the breast nails of the tomb door.
This tomb seems to be even more gorgeous than the one just now, but there seems to be nothing here except a stone coffin in the tomb pond, and this stone coffin is also called a stone hall, which is different from the stone coffins just now.
different.
The stone coffin is in the shape of a stone house on the top of a hill. The top of a hill has a hill-style roof. In the Song Dynasty, it was called Jiujidian, Caodian or Xiadoudian. In the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed today, also known as Jiujiding. It is one of the ancient Han architectural roof styles.
First, it is second only to the veranda roof in terms of specifications.
Xieshan has also been introduced to other parts of East Asia. In Japan, it is called Irumaya-zukuri. Therefore, the appearance of this style here clearly reflects the combination of Chinese and Western styles.
This was obviously not built when Zoroastrianism was first introduced to the mainland, but a unique funeral system formed after the integration with Han culture.
In addition to this, the stone coffin is three rooms wide, and the four outer walls and base facade are carved with reliefs and decorative patterns of different themes.
The two doors in the middle of the facade are decorated with breast nails, and bilingual epitaphs in Sogdian and Chinese are engraved on the stone on the horizontal frame of the door.
Of course, the Zoroastrian features of this mausoleum are more obvious. There are five steps in front of the tomb, and there are a group of beards hugging and playing on each of the double lion gates. On both sides of the door stand four-armed gods in high relief, with open-mouthed figures carved on their shoulders.
It has a pig's head, the trouser leg is carved with an elephant's head, and there are ghosts supporting it under its feet.
There are square mullioned windows between the two windows. There is a waiter on each side of the window. A band of four people is carved on the window. Under the window is the priest in charge of the fire altar. The priest has a human face and a bird's body. He is tied with a sun and moon crown and wears a
Mask, belt.
This group of images engraved on the door and window facades has a clear theme and shows the ritual scenes of Zoroastrian funerals.
And here, Zoroastrian sacrifices, guardian gods, and earthly ghosts all appeared.
If these things appeared in other places, Korean Peacock might not pay much attention to them, but if they appeared here, Korean Peacock would naturally have to focus on studying them.
Many religions are very good at the study of earth ghosts, evildoers, or to put it bluntly, the study of souls, and the study of Zoroastrianism seems to be more in-depth. This can be seen from the evildoers and the Pisces Jade Pendant.
, you will know.
The outer walls of this stone coffin in the east, west and north are decorated with bas-reliefs in columns depicting scenes such as banquets, music and dancing, camel transport and hunting, the Zoroastrian Lord preaching, and images of souls crossing a bridge and ascending to heaven.
The scenes on the north wall center on palace banquets, with banquets, travel, camel transport and other scenes arranged in a generally symmetrical form, showing the strong religious beliefs and life customs of the Western Regions peoples.
The picture on the north wall next to the east end is divided into upper and lower layers, divided by clouds. The upper layer is engraved with an old man in a cave giving a sermon to a rabbit.
Under the clouds, a winged angel descended from the sky with a food plate and fruits in his hands, and two other angels flew below with their hands stretched out to guide a man and a woman who had crossed the River Styx.
According to Zoroastrian funeral customs, on the way to the underworld, the soul of the deceased must wade across the river. The river will take away the "karma" and "memory" before him and become a clean soul, so that he can live in peace.
Enter the Chenute Bridge leading to heaven.
This scene follows the bridge-crossing scene on the east wall, showing exactly what happened after the deceased crossed the river and landed ashore.
There are three pictures on the east wall of the stone coffin, all connected by bridges. They are the images that best embody the Zoroastrian concept that the soul of a dead person returns to heaven.
There are two pictures engraved with bridges. The composition can be divided into upper and lower parts, with mountains and flowing clouds as the dividing line.
The theme of the image on the lower level is to send souls across the Chenute Bridge. Two priests in Hufu and masks stand at the bridge. They hold staffs to light the fire. Only the rising flames are carved in front of them, omitting the details of the fire altar.
The upper part is bounded by mountains, and above the clouds on the top of the mountains are the god Mithra and his assistant gods.
The god Mythra who rides on a bull is surrounded by light. He is the savior and guide of the soul.
On either side are the helper gods Slosha and Lashnu, who assist Mythra in judging the undead.
Below it, five heavenly beings wearing crowns and holding offerings of flowers and fruits look down, as if they are accepting sacrifices and offerings from the mortal world. The plot is exactly as described in the Zoroastrian holy book "Avesta".
Mythra, who is as bright as the sun, is the head of the gods. He was the first to climb Mount Hera (the "Mountain of Justice") and overlook the Arrian territory.
The two dogs in the mountains were assigned by the gods to guard the Chenute Bridge.
A procession of sacrificial horses, cattle, sheep, and camels was passing on the bridge. At the front of the procession were the male and female tomb owners and their horses with saddles and saddles. Above them were the tomb owners and their horses who had returned to heaven.
, the winged horses above the flowing clouds and the figures held up by lotus flowers represent the journey of the soul of the tomb owner ascending to the sky on a stilt. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!