A Study On Decorations In Funeral Lacquerwares From Chu Tomb And Witch Culture Of Chu

With the continuous excavation of the Chu tomb,lacquer ware excavated from the Chu tomb is well conserved.Among them,the funeral lacquered wood furniture is exquisitely made and the large amount of patterns in the wooden artifacts are varied.The witchcraft culture was fairly popular in Chu Kingdom,the funeral wooden artifacts with lacquers in Chu tombs are the representatives of witchcraft culture in the sacrificial activities.The large amount of patterns in the wooden artifacts with lacquers which not only met the aesthetic needs but also had their unique symbolic meanings.So,the patterns in the funeral wooden artifacts with lacquers reflected the features of Chu Kingdom witchcraft cultures in some ways.Among these patterns,the animal patterns were considered as the assistants of wizards,which helped the master of the tomb bring his soul to heaven;the cloud or thunder patterns in natural scenery also reflected people's admiration for God,and so on.The different characteristics of these decorations and the changes in their development reflect the cultural characteristics of Witch Culture of Chu.The patterns in the funeral wooden artifacts with lacquers in Chu Tombs are analyzed,the kinds as well as unearthed situations of patterned funeral wooden artifacts with lacquers,including coffins,wooden backing corpse plates,antlered tomb beasts,sculptures of an antlered bird on a tiger,crouching deer,Yurens,divine trees are statistically summarized,the sculptures of the funeral wooden artifacts with lacquers are classified in this thesis.The classifications include the natural-scenery-based patterns such as cloud patterns,thunder patterns,vortex patterns and animal-based patterns such as long patterns,phoenix patterns as well as beast-face patterns;the analysis of archaeological typology is made in accordance with major features of patterns,including cloud patterns,dragon patterns,beast-face patterns,scale patterns,phoenix patterns,dot-shape patterns,circle patterns and vortex patterns.Under this basis,the cultural characteristics of archaeology reflected from ornamentation on funeral wooden artifacts with lacquers are comprehensively analyzed in the perspectives of periods,ranks and areas to discuss the cultural features of the archaeology in terms of the patterns.Under the comprehensive analyzing basis of archaeology,the Chu Kingdom Witch Cultures reflected from the patterns on the funeral wooden artifacts with lacquers are discussed.According to the times,grades,and regional characteristics of the ornamentation,combined with the symbolic meaning of the ornamentation,it was revealed that the Chu-Wizhan culture was widely distributed at the time,the level coverage was wide,and the time span was also extensive,and the Wu culture features in different regions were also different.The reflection of the Chu Wu culture in the Henan area was greatly influenced by the Central Plains culture,and it was relatively conservative and mysterious.The Chu Wu culture form and connotation in the Hubei area were rich,while the Chu Wu culture in the Hunan area was more creative.Finally,combining the changes of the historical and geographical environment of Chu and the development of the society in Chu,we briefly analyze the reasons for the patterns in the funeral wooden artifacts with lacquers reflected the features of Chu Kingdom witchcraft cultures.