Study On Stone Tree Images In Han Portraits In Southern Shandong

A total of 68 tree images and stone inscriptions were unearthed in southern Shandong,including Jining,Linyi,Zaozhuang and Rizhao.According to the morphological characteristics of the tree trunk,the trees can be divided into straight stem,oblique stem and curved stem,and these three trees can be divided into 24 types according to the tree branches,which shows the diversity of tree shapes in southern Shandong.Through sorting out the shapes of trees in the stone,it is found that these tree images are the reproduction of trees in real life to a certain extent.Straight-stem trees depict cypress,pine,and mulberry;Diagonal dry trees are depicted elm,pomegranate;The curving trees depict ginkgo trees and locust trees.Through the observation of the combination elements of tree images,it can be found that these images can be classified into four schemas and have different meanings.In the combination of trees and buildings to express pavilions worship theme;In the combination of tree characters,the characters under the tree are mostly ancient sages and sages;The combination of trees and horses,in addition to parking an empty car under the tree as a tool for the tomb master to raise fairy,but also in the car and horse travel map as a street tree.The combination of tree and animal is mostly used with phoenix bird,yellow dragon,feather man,white tiger,kirin and other auspicious beasts.Through sorting out the schema,we found that all kinds of images had appeared in the Western Han Dynasty,and in the Eastern Han Dynasty,more elements were stacked in the same schema and image connotation was increased.The reason should be the unique natural conditions,which not only created the rich tree resources in southern Shandong,but also provided the natural basis for the generation of tree images.The selection of different tree species in the tree images in southern Shandong jointly reflects two cultural connotations.One is the custom of tomb tree under the concept of thick burial,and the other is to construct real trees into fairy trees,which serve as a channel for tomb owners to pray for longevity and go to the celestial realm.