Research On The Burials Of Chu In The Region To The North Of Yangtze River

"The Region to the north of River"refers to the north to Yangtze River region. According to the present archaeological discoveries, the distributions of the burials of Chu in the region to the north of Yangtze River includes most of Hubei, southern Henan, central and southern Anhui, and southeast Shanxi areas.The thesis is concerned with the archaeological materials coming from 3133 burials around the areas. Based on the analysis about various periods, classification and different areas, the thesis mainly copes with the variaties of the Burials of Chu both in space and in time. It also reveals the way of the development as well as the features of their locations about the traditional customs of burials conducted by the Chu People.The thesis consists of six sections.The Prelude focuses on the time-space range, then gives a close look at the reseaching history and the method being used here of the topic.Charpter One illustrates the various phases about the burials of Chu. Archaeological reseach about the burials of Chu has been conducted for a long time, and such a period can be devided into five stages. For the first time, the thesis established a chronological order of the division about the Burials of Chu. A new research about phase-division on burials of Jingmenluopogang, Chibi mounds, ancient city of Danfeng, and so on. Simultaeniously, the writer adjusted the time-division about the burials of Zhaojia Lake in Dangyang, Mountain Yutaishan in Jiangling and Jiudian. In the analysis, some corrections were made to the exact year of the given burials.Cahrpter Two is about the classifications and the divisions. Grounded on the record from"The Ritual", the charpter insists on a thorough consideration about the categories, the lay-out and and the way to match with one another, thus corrects some of misunderstandings about the matter. Therefore five groups of the burials to the north of the River come into being, which are underlined by the analysis on the size and the assembly of the bronze wares from the burials,revealing the difference of the grades of the burials and the social status of the master of the burials. And then, on the historical watch of Chu Culture, a comprehensive consideration on the difference between different areas, the burials to the north of the River would be catagoried as the following: middle reaches of Han River, west and east ares along the low reaches of Han River, the upper and the middle reaches of the Huai River.The choice of the burial rites and the layout can be found in Charpter Three. Close attention was paid to the the regulations and features of vaious burials and their layout, especially the burial of the Wei Family of Xichuan.We can see the forms and the structures of the burials in Charpter Four.A thorough study on the measurable data from various burials provides a better way to research the tabernacles and the tomb passages and their fetures.The final section presents a summary about the whole thesis, and some deficiencies are pointed out.