A Study On Han And Jin Tombs In The Luoyang Area

The period when the "Han system" was gradually replaced by the "Jin system"was of significance for the evolution of Chinese ancient tombs.As the political center of the Han,Cao Wei and Jin dynasties,the Luoyang area is home to a large number of tombs of various status,including imperial tombs,which lays a solid foundation for the study of the tomb evolution of the Han-Jin period.With reference to historical texts and the latest archaeological findings,this paper analyses the types,burial goods,time periods,cultural elements,historical contexts of more than 3800 tombs from the Han to Jin found in the Luoyang area,as well as the burial systems.Through analyzing the types and shapes of the tombs and typical grave goods,these tombs are divided into 23 groups and 11 phases.Based on the tomb phasing,the author explores the sources and influence of cultural elements of tombs in Luoyang.In the early-middle Western Han,Luoyang's tombs were gradually influenced by those of the Chang'an area,and new cultural elements began to appear in the late Western Han.By the middle Eastern Han,Luoyang developed its local features under the influence from area such as Nanyang and Henei,and began to influence other areas.the early Western Jin were mainly of a continuation of Cao Wei tombs',while by the late Western Jin,new style formed by integrated cultural elements of the Eastern Wu.Most amalgamations of cultural elements between areas mentioned above were caused by large flows of population.From the perspectives of hierarchy and tomb phases,he "Han system" of the Western Han was quite different from that of the Eastern Han and its contents kept changing.By the period from the late Western Han to Wang Mang's reign,the high-status tombs and low-status tombs showed more similarity.In the Eastern Han,a typical tomb usually was built with bricks or stones and contained more than one bodies in the same chamber,and the burial goods usually included pottery models of objects for daily use,sacrificial objects and animal figurines.Unlike in the Han,the high status tombs were quite different from those of low status in the Western Jin.A high status tomb of the Western Jin was single chambered and longitudinally rectangular and buried with only household objects,while the chamber of a low status was square and buried mainly with pottery.Using the theory "great tradition and little tradition",the author tries to explain how the high status tombs and low status tomb interacted during the transition from the "Han system" to the "Jin system."Except when the Western Han overturned the Qin the "great tradition and little tradition" of the "Qin system" was continued,in other periods the little tradition of the former tomb system always grew into the great tradition of the latter system.For example,the great tradition of the "Eastern Han system" came from the little traditions of Luoyang and Nanyang of the "Western Han system;" the Cao Wei's came from the Jizhou little tradition of the "Eastern Han System;" the Jin's came from the little tradition of the "Wei system." That embodies the coherence of the development of tomb systems.The author also analyzes related questions about tombs of the Han-JIn period in the Luoyang area.The author discussed the distribution of the high status tombs of the Western Han and the Wang Mang period around Han Henan County,as well as of imperial tombs from the Eastern Zhou to the Northern Wei in the Luoyang Basin.The imperial tomb system was in decline from the Eastern Han to the Western Jin,but the elements representing the highest status remained.Joint tombs were mainly used by couples and in the Eastern Han multiple-occupancy tombs became relatively common.The practice of burying two or more bodies in one chamber began to decrease in the Western Jin while the family tombs were prevailing from the Eastern Han to the Western Jin.Sacrifice was offered inside and outside the tomb,and the latter gradually became the focus since the Eastern Han.Lavish tombs prevailed in the Han-Jin period due to the idea of "the immortality of the soul,"which was also the theoretical foundation of the practice of "treat death as life." The Han Dynasty based its official selection system on "filial piety",which made lavish tombs more and more prevailing,while the popularity of "modest tombs" in the Wei-Jin period was a rational return due to the lack of utilitarian needs.