The Research Of Phoenix Ornamentations On Silk Fabrics In Chu Tomb No.1 At Mashan In Jiangling

Chu Tomb No.1 at Mashan in Jiangling was excavated at Jiangling County,Hubei Province(Jinzhou District,Jinzhou City at present)in 1982.The Southeast of the Tomb locates at about 8 kilometers to Jinan City,the former capital of Chu Dynasty.The tomb belongs to the subordinate nobility of Chu at the middle and advanced stage of Warring State.In the past,most of the Silk fabrics unearthed from the tombs of the pre-Qin period were fragments and complete clothes in batches were rarely founded.The silk fabrics in Chu Tomb No.1 at Mashan in Jiangling,however,are exquisitely crafted and perfectly preserved with various categories,abundant patterns and delicate ornaments.It has provided precious materials for the research of the workmanship and ornamentation of silk fabrics in the pre-Qin period.Phoenix is one of the major subjects of the ornamentation on the silk fabrics unearthed in the Chu Tomb No.1 at Mashan in Jiangling and phoenix in various shapes with highly distinctive images contributes to large amount of the patterns decorated on this batch of silk fabrics.It has shown the worship of phoenix of the Chu people.The social relations,religions and cosmology behind these phoenix ornamentations worth in-depth exploration and thinking.This paper will make a monographic study on the characteristics,connotation and functions of the phoenix ornamentation unearthed in the Chu Tomb No.1 at Mashan in Jiangling with the background of the history,culture and witchery myth system of Chu area in the pre-Qin period.The Introduction of the paper will make a briefing on the research value of the phoenix ornamentations in the Chu Tomb No.1 at Mashan in Jiangling,as well as introducing the previous researches on the Chu Tomb No.1 at Mashan in Jiangling by other scholars,so as to specify the methology of finding and exploring problems of this paper.Chapter ?has laid the foundation for the following research and discussion.It will introduce the basic information of the location,time,burial system,objects unearthed and the status of the tomb owner and give a briefing of the silk fabrics unearthed and their ornamentations.Chapter ? has made a research on the phoenix images of the phoenix ornamentations in the Chu Tomb No.1 at Mashan in Jiangling in categories so as to analyze the manifestation and morphological characteristics.Meanwhile,this chapter has made a discussion on the naming of the dragon and phoenix images.Chapter ? has concluded the organization mode of the phoenix ornamentations of the silk fabrics unearthed from the Chu Tomb No.1 at Mashan in Jiangling.Based on the conclusion,this chapter has analyzed the relations and distinctions between the mentality of Chu people's worship to phoenix and Shang,Zhou and Qin people's worship to birds.Chapter ? made a discussion on the origins,connotations and functions of the phoenix ornamentations of the Chu Tomb No.1 at Mashan in Jiangling based on the historical and cultural background of Chu area.