The Study On Forms Of Graves For The Period Of Mongolia Empire And The Yuan Dynasty In North China

This thesis is to discuss the forms, types and evolution of the tombs in north China from the period of Mongolia and the Yuan Dynasty. This thesis is based on the former studies in archaeology, which have discovered the materials for tombs from the Mongolian empire and the Yuan Dynasty; and drawing on results from other researches. Meanwhile, this thesis is to classify the types and forms of tombs in north China from the period of Mongolia and the Yuan Dynasty, and further to conclude the geographical features of those tombs as per the categories of the forms and evolution of the tombs and the composition of burial objects.The preface simply introduces the historical change from the period of Mongolia and the Yuan Dynasty, the geographical range of north China areas, and the recent research outline of the tombs in north China areas from the period of Mongolia and the Yuan Dynasty.In this thesis, tomb forms and evolution in north China from the period of Mongolia and the Yuan Dynasty are categorized into surface remains, tomb structures, tomb mural paintings, timber structures and others.Surface remains of the tomb are mainly distributed into six parts:graves, stone statues, stone monuments, top stones of the tomb, stone blocks and piles of stone blocks.Burial structure can be divided into six categories, which are pit tomb, brick structured tomb, stone structured tomb, cave-chamber tomb, stone mine tomb, brick and stone masonry tomb. Pit tomb can be further divided into six sub-categories on the basis of coffin status inside the tomb. They are earthen seaft pit tomb with brick inner coffin and wood outer coffin, earthen seaft pit tomb with wood coffin, earthen seaft pit tomb with urn, mortuary urn tomb, earthen seaft pit tomb of stone structure and earthen seaft pit tomb with no coffin. Brick structured tomb can be further divided into five sub-categories on the basis of tomb plan and structure. They are brick structured tomb with octagonal dome, hexagon dome tomb of timber structure, square and rectangle brick structured tomb of timber structure, square and rectangle brick structured tomb, round brick structured tomb of timber structure. Stone structured tomb can be further divided into four sub-categories on the basis of tomb plan and structure. The four categories are stone structured tomb with octagonal and hexagon corbel dome, stone structured tomb with square corbel dome, stone structured tomb with round corbel dome, square and rectangle stone structured tomb. Cave-chamber tomb can be further divided into five sub-categories, including rectangle, trapeze form, square, round, and natural ones. Stone'mine tomb can be further divided into two sub-categories, stone mine tomb with stone coffin and stone mine tomb with wooden coffin. Brick and stone masonry tomb can be divided into round tombs and square ones. The theme of tomb mural paintings and brick-carving decorations mainly has six categories, such as:image and motion painting of the tomb couples, server paintings, filial piety paintings, themes of dramas, themes of religion and other flower-and-bird paintings with landscape.Wood-imitation structure decoration basically has categories of inner bucket arch of tomb gate and tomb chamber, and architect decoration with flowers.This thesis divides north China into seven districts:area around upper capital of Yuan Dynasty, Damaoqi and Siziwangqi and the area around, northeast areas, Beijing area, Hebei and Shandong area, Shanxi, Henan and Gansu area, Shanxi area. The surface remain of tombs in the area around upper capital of Yuan Dynasty have a main feature of having graves. Some of the tombs even have piles of stones on the ground surface. Burial structures and furniture such as brick pagodas, stone tables and stone chairs are discovered in some of the graves in the Zhenzhishan Cemetery. The main burial type in this area is earthen seaft tomb; and funerary objects are mostly ethnic things, such as horse harness, weapons and articles for daily use. Tombs in Damaoqi and Siziwangqi and the area around are mostly Onggut tombs, having Onggut burial features. Most of the tombs have top stones or stone monuments inscribed with Syriac; and a few tombs'ground surface has stone piles. The burial type in this area is mainly pit tomb. And the funerary objects are mostly articles of very strong ethnic characteristics and for daily use and for production and some religious objects such as crucifix and goblets.The tombs in northeast are mainly brick structured and stone structured. As for the content of murals, it is mostly showing the host's Mongolian ethnic images, their living scenes and also some scenes with Buddhism theme. In Beijing district, tombs from the period of Mongolia and Yuan Dynasty are comparatively less, but have a more variety of burial types. Tombs discovered in the earlier stage have a bigger scale and more delicate murals; however, tombs discovered in the later stage have more important hosts, they were all important officials from the Yuan Dynasty. These tombs are mostly of a smaller scale and with no decorations. Typical archaeology discovery in this area is a set of small pottery burial furniture. They haven't been found anywhere else yet.Tombs in Hebei and Shandong area are mostly brick structured. Similar features of tombs in both provinces are rectangle earthen seaft tombs with parallel outer coffins and using plaster casting for protection. The content of murals and stone carvings is mainly about hosts sitting facing each other or next to each other, server paintings, filial piety paintings, and flower-and-bird paintings with landscapes.The common burial types in Henan and Shaanxi area a pit tomb and another timber-structured tomb. The timber-structured arch had been simplified a lot, even without in some tombs. In this area, the host images in the murals and the clothes and burial objects are all having very strong Mongolian ethnic characteristics. And the content of the murals is mostly about the living scenes of the Mongolian nobles, such as hunting, banquet and herding, etc. In north China, tombs from the period of Mongolia and the Yuan Dynasty are mostly found in Shanxi Province. The burial types are mainly stone structured and brick structured with murals inside. The themes of the murals are varied, representative content of tomb murals in north China from the period of Mongolia and the Yuan Dynasty.