A Study On The Funeral Of The Upper-class Figures In The Northern Wei Dynasty

Since the Northern Wei Dynasty ended the turmoil in the north in the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty,with the development of the regime and the actual needs,the funeral of the upper-class people(especially the emperors,empresses,and noble officials)also had made timely changes and adjustments.About the funeral of Northern Wei emperors,it basically presented a state of burial over the month in the funeral time.The burial ground can be mainly divided into two burial areas,Jinling and Luoyang.With the Xiao Wen emperor moved to Luoyang as the dividing point,before that,all the emperors were buried in Jinling burial area,and after that,all the emperors were buried in Luoyang burial area.About the funeral of Northern Wei queens,it mainly can be divided into three types,buried in the mausoleum of hadrian,another tomb,died or buried in buddhist temple,in the burial ground.The Yaoguang temple gradually became a place for the empire-wives who lost in the political or harem struggle in the later period of the Northern Wei Dynasty,and it had an important influence on the later period of the Northern Dynasty.About the funeral of Northern Wei noble officials,in terms of the funeral stories,the middle period of Xiao Wen emperor's Tai He was the cut-off point.Before that,the funeral rites were mainly based on the stories of Shusun jun and Lu luyuan.After that,the funeral rites were gradually in accordance with the Han Jin Story(Jin Anpingxianwang Fu Story,Qiwang You Story,Langyawang You Story).Others followed the story of their father,grandfather,brother,or a similar official position.On the funeral articles,after the middle period of Xiao Wen emperor's Tai He,funeral rewards given to noble officials gradually revealed the basic fixed combinations with secret,royal apparel,clothing,money,cloth,wax on the basis of the original.To a large extent,the funeral of the upper-class people in the Northern Wei Dynasty,which was influenced by the political,cultural and social custom at that time,showed some important characteristics.Such as,under the influence of politics,the funeral changes were basically the same as the reform's direction in Tai He period.Influenced by Buddhism,there were many buddhist cultural factors in its funeral.Influenced by the custom of mass burial,the funeral was mainly composed of mass burial.