An Archaeological Study On Guarding Tomb Relics Unearthed From Song Dynasty Tombs In Yangtze River Basin

A large number of Song tombs have been found in Yangtze River Basin,with relatively abundant types of burial objects,especially the comparatively considerable quantity and types of guarding tomb relics.This paper analyzes the typical guarding tomb relics including tomb vouchers,tomb figurines and gods stacked ceramic bottles(jars)excavated from tombs mainly in the aspects of the shape,decoration,placement,function and origin,as well as the microscopic layout and macroscopic distribution and usage state among different groups.This paper is divided into the following eight chapters:The first chapter points out the object of this paper,combs through the archaeological findings and research overview of guarding tomb relics unearthed in Yangtze River Basin of Song Dynasty,and summarizes the academic achievements on tomb vouchers,tomb figurines and gods stacked ceramic bottles(jars)and comes up with the research purpose,methods,regions and stages of this paper.The second chapter examines the shape,decoration,placement,origin and function of the tomb vouchers.Tomb vouchers mainly include land purchase vouchers,Taoism scripture vouchers,Buddhist scripture vouchers,cypress vouchers and benediction vouchers,mostly distributing in the Sichuan Basin area and Jiangxi region,with a few discovers in the lower reaches.Land purchase vouchers are the core of tomb vouchers,which protect the legitimate ownership of the cemetery by the way of signing with gods.Taoism scripture vouchers are mainly used for communicating with deities and suppressing all evil spirits and ghosts by Taoism symbols or scriptures.Buddhist scripture coupons,cypress vouchers and benediction vouchers only appear sporadically,which also serve as tomb guarding and blessing.The third chapter examines the shape,placement,origin and function of various types of tomb figurines,comparing with guarding portraits in tomb murals,identifies the functional differences of some tomb figurines and clarifies the figurines into different gods systems.Most of tomb figurines can be traced back to the Han,Wei and Southern and Northern Dynasty,while a few were newly emerged from the late Tang and early Song Dynasty.Gods represented by tomb figures can be roughly divided into two categories: one is the gods in the traditional deity system,which includes gods overground and underground according to the time and space region they control,the other is the gods of Yin and Yang geography,including the god of celestial stem,the god of five elements,the god of eight trigrams,the inside and outside thirty-nine generals,the nineteen gods in the tomb and the ten gods with six armor and eight trigram to set tomb and so on.The coexistence of a variety of tomb figures in the same tomb chamber reflects the spread,conflict and integration of different gods systems in funeral culture.The fourth chapter examines the shape,decorative themes,placement,origin,contents and the function of gods stacked ceramic bottles(jars).These relics appeared in Han Dynasty and disappeared between later Eastern Jin Dynasty and early Tang Dynasty,and the main shape of them in Song tomb should come from dragon ornamentation on pan-mouth-pots in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.There is food,wine,money,cloth and so on in these relics,with the purpose of supplying tomb owner’s in the nether world.Tomb figurines on the bottle(jar)not only exorcise evil spirits and protect the tomb,but also guard foodstuffs and pray for abundant foods.The fifth chapter analyzes the whole and different regions characteristics and causes of the layout of relics in the tombs of Song Dynasty in Yangtze River Basin,and deems that the positions of tomb vouchers,gods stacked ceramic bottles(jars)and some of the tomb figurines are relatively stable,and the functions of guarding the tomb chambers are different.There are obvious differences in the layout of tomb relics in different regions of Song Dynasty,which can be divided into three periods in terms of time.The third period in Chengdu Plain area and Jiangxi region is divided into early and late stage and the characteristics of the layout of tomb relics in each period are summarized.The layout of tomb relics is formed under a specific "social system",which mainly includes geographical environment factors,economic factors and cultural factors.Cultural factors also include the inheritance of burial culture from the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties,geomancy culture,Taoist culture and Buddhist culture,which play different roles in the formation of the layout of tomb relics in Yangtze River Basin.The sixth chapter is about the layout of guarding tomb relics of Song Dynasty in Yangtze River Basin,inheriting from the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties and communicating with the surrounding areas in the same period and the communication among various regions in Yangtze River Basin.From the perspective of the inheritance of burial culture,the layout of guarding tomb relics of Song Dynasty in Yangtze River Basin has an obvious regional effect on the inheritance from the late Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties.From the communication with the surrounding areas,the combination and layout of the tomb relics in Yangtze River Basin are quite different from those in northern Central Plains,but more similar to those in Fujian and Guangdong.From the point of view of the communication of various regions in Yangtze River Basin,it is mainly manifested as the influence of Chengdu Plain region in Sichuan Basin except Chengdu Plain region,the influence of Jiangxi region on eastern Hubei and Hunan region and the mutual influence between the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River Basin.The seventh chapter analyzes the characteristics and causes of the layout of guarding tomb relics among different levels of people and deems that they are used by different levels of people similarly.The shape and decoration of land purchase vouchers in civilian tombs are more abundant.The shape of tomb owner figures used in the tombs of senior officials and their families are slightly different from those used in the tombs of lower officials and their families and the civilian tombs.The size of the warrior statues in tombs of some senior officials and their families are larger.The number of civilian tombs with guarding tomb relics is significantly more than that of officials and their families.It should be related to the fact that land purchase vouchers are more important as only relics marking identity information in civilian tombs,some officials opposed the excessive spread of geomancy and Taoism,and that there were fewer official burials in Sichuan Basin and Jiangxi region than in the political core areas of Song Dynasty and that large official tombs are more likely to be stolen.The last chapter is the concluding section,which summarizes the conclusions of this paper and the shortcomings of the study.