Study On The Small And Medium-sized Tombs In The Suburb Of Chang’an City In Tang Dynasty

Sellecting the representative tombs dated Tang dynasty excavated in Shang Tapo in southern Xi’an,this thesis studies and analyse the small and medium-sized tombs in the surburban Chang’an city in Tang.Primarily,archaeological typological analysis methods are obtained to establish the evolution and developing sequence for Shang Tapo tombs in Tang;secondly,the comprehensive comparison and statistical methods,as well as time-space analysis are employed for the shape,size,funerary objects,burial style and distribution characteristics studies of the tombs,and to further discuss the factors affecting the development;finally,the layouts of Chang’an City,imperial tombs and large tombs,together with small and medium-sized tombs of Tang are intergrated,to further explore the relationship between the tombs in the suburbs and the city,base on the historical literatures.The content is mainly divided into four parts:The first part:A historical review of the academic developing,including the discovery,excavation and relavant researches of the Tang tombs in Xi’an and Guanzhong area,to indicate the current inadequacies,describe the potential demand of this study,and to specify the research object,scope and methods.The second part:An archaeological analysis of the Tang tombs in Shang Tapo.Firstly,the geographic location,surrounding environment,and the historical development of the tombs are sorted;secondly the typological methods are utilised to analyse the shape and the funerary objects,the group classification with the shapes,evolution of the artifacts,to summarise the stages and development of the tombs based on the classification;lastly the study of the geographic location and coverage of"Biyuan"(毕原)region,combined with the chronological tombs unearthed from Shang Tapo;and the location discussion of the"Former Cemetery"(旧茔)of"Duke Xiaoyaos"family(逍遥公房)of"Capital Wei Clan"(京兆韦氏),based on the other tombs of the clan members excavated elsewhere.The third part:An extended discussion of small and medium-sized tombs in the suburbs of the entire Chang’an City,based on the analysis in Chapter 2.Firstly,the tombs excavated in the suburbs of the city are sorted and introduced respectively in the eastern,western and southern areas,and are classified by the types and stages of Shang Tapo tombs;secondly,the discussion of the characteristics of the tombs by statistics and spatial analysis,with which the features of the tombs and the combination patterns of the relics are explored in views of the shape,size,burial objects,burial style,and the distribution.The funeral ritual is also explored based on the statistics and analysis of the burial forms.Meanwhile,the distribution pattern of the tombs are summarised by the ulitisation of GIS analysis.Finally the discussion of the influnce factors of the burial development of the small and medium-sized tombs in the suburbs of Chang’an,with the aspects of spatial,social and personal factors,to explore the impacts of the natural environment,urban layout,national decree,social economy,personal identity and family backgrounds to the burial developments.The fourth part:A discussion of the relationship between the tombs in the suburbs and Chang’an City in Tang Dynasty.Firstly,the space division inside and outside the city is sorted,as well as the functions;secondly,taking the city as the center,the distribution of surrounding tombs in a larger space are sorted,with a proposed hypothesis"the tomb distribution law had the consistency with the planning of the entire city".The small and medium-sized tombs of surburb Chang’an are mainly located in the area within the distance from 3 to 6 kilometers.Finally,the connection between the urban space and the surburb burial area is discussed,the"reside-burial space"(居葬空间)connecting with dynamic burial activities are representated based on historical literature and the discoveries along with urban archaeology.Taking Shang Tapo tombs of Tang Dynasty as an example,with the extended analysis of small and medium-sized tombs in suburban areas of Chang’an,the characteristics of the tombs are clarified,as well as the evolution and developing laws during 300 years of Tang.The burial processes and ritual customs of ordinary people are revealed by the studies,and to further discuss the influnce factors of the evolution and developing of the tombs.The integral planning and management functions of the city,and the surrounding burial areas as components of the city are combined to explore the dynamic relations in between.