A Study On The Funeral Customs Of The Yangtze River Basin In Tang Dynasty

Yangtze river basin is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization,is an important part of Chinese civilization.Discussion on funeral customs in the Yangtze river basin is an important aspect of study on the development of ancient funeral customs,which outlining the features of funeral activities there and then,analyzing funeral phenomena caused by various concepts,deeply understanding the heritage and development of folk custom.Tang Dynasty is universal dynasty after Sui where various funeral activities had full-developed.At the same time,society in the Tang Dynasty followed the traditions and absorbed all kinds of external communication factors,formed its distinctive characteristic funeral burial.Yangtze River is the longest river in China running from east to west with most extensive area.Yangtze River Basin plays a vital role in the Tang Dynasty,state economy center transferred to the Yangtze River basin in the Tang Dynasty.Yangtze River basin led fashion trends in many fields.Exploring the funeral customs of Yangtze River basin in Tang Dynasty can outline various funeral features there and then,analyzing individuality and commonness of funeral customs in different regions,and carding the development and evolution of funeral concept.The study analyzes diverse funeral customs in Yangtze River areas from the grave prospective,discusses funeral customs represented by graves in the areas of Tang Dynasty,including the upper Yangtze River(Minjiang,Xiajiang),middle Yangtze River(Jingjiang,Xiangjiang,Ganjiang),lower Yangtze River(Wanjiang,Yangtze,Qiantang Rivers),etc.Through analysis and discussion on burial contents of Tang Dynasty tombs in different regions,such as tomb form,type and space placement of funerary objects,tomb decoration,etc.,summarizing regional funeral characteristics of Yangtze River Basin in Tang Dynasty,analyzing local funeral concepts combined with the factors of social politics,economy and culture.On this basis,the study combs the evolution of funeral functions and analyses the commonness of funeral customs in Yangtze River Basin.In addition,doing researches on subject issues including the integration of religion factors(Buddhism and Taoism in funeral customs),interaction of funeral customs and ceremonies in Tang Dynasty,etc.In chapter of Eco-social Environment in the Yangtze River Basin,there is an analysis on evolution of natural and social environment and administrative regions of Yangtze River basin in Tang Dynasty which elaborating the eco-social environment background of funeral customs,looking at folklore phenomena from the perspective of development and connection.Chapter two,chapter three and chapter four make a study on regional funeral customs based on tomb information data.Dividing Yangtze River Basin into differentregions,establishing the regional tomb information database of Yangtze River Basin in Tang Dynasty.Doing an exhaustive study on tomb form,contents and placement of burial objects,information content of masonry,brick decoration,coffin bed,niche,window lattice and tomb decoration structure of the Tang Dynasty.Summarizing the regional characteristics of each contents,avoiding overgeneralization due to limited tomb information,referring to related documents as many as possible,analyzing characteristics of funeral custom.Chapter five: an exploration on similarities and individualities of funeral custom in the Changjiang River Valley in Tang Dynasty.The first part is further discussions on common characteristics of funeral customs caused by burial function based on chapters II to the fourth.Taking funeral functions of tombs in Tang Dynasty into consideration,discussing social and historical environment including politics,economy,culture,etc.;studying the relationship between the change of funeral concept,graves,funeral objects and burial decoration.Elaborating common characteristics of tomb customs in Yangtze River valley of Tang Dynasty.The second part is a deep discussion on personality questions of tomb customs in Yangtze River valley of Tang Dynasty: reflections of Buddhism and Taoism in funeral customs and interaction with funeral customs in Tang Dynasty.Based on exhaustive tomb information as the main material,the study makes an analysis on funeral customs at division of history into periods,filling the gap of a few history records of folk funeral activities in Tang Dynasty,providing strong support for studies about funeral customs in Tang Dynasty.The study not only analyses graves and burial articles,but also carefully examines the space characteristics of burial articles and its funeral burial ideas.Discussing funeral function of decorative structure including number,shape,location and function of niches in tomb walls and bottom masonry,elaborating the concepts and functions embodied in detailed tomb information.Thus,the project is a systematic study on funeral customs of the Yangtze River Basin in Tang Dynasty based on diverse archaeological materials and a unique field of vision.