The geomantic process of husband and wife's joint burial
Guyuan is an ancient military town and trade distribution center, with locals, foreigners and outsiders ... Many nationalities, races and factions ... cultures of various countries complement each other.
For example, in 2004, a strange husband and wife buried tomb was unearthed in Guyuan. The couple are holding hands, as if it were a love affair that lasted for thousands of years.
Although holding hands makes people daydream, it obviously does not conform to the traditional burial custom, and the possibility of husband and wife dying at the same time is extremely small.
In these tombs, many strange gold wares have been unearthed, which is puzzling. ...
The content of this article is the cultural integration of the Silk Road connecting Europe and Asia, with Chinese civilization as the leading factor.
The detailed process of this matter should start from 2004. Because of the expressway from Fuzhou to Yinchuan, the construction team started intense construction, and everything is in full swing.
Jiulong Mountain in Guyuan, Ningxia is located in the highway construction section. All kinds of heavy machinery roared and the sound of engines was deafening. The workers split the mountain and crossed the river to clear the way
Suddenly, an excavator dug up a lot of black wood and immediately reported to the leader that an ancient coffin was dug, probably an ancient tomb.
The leaders reported to the cultural relics department and local archaeologists and rushed to the construction site of Jiulong Mountain.
The first step is naturally to explore the ancient tombs step by step. Experts suspect that a large group of ancient tombs are buried under their feet.
Furthermore, according to ancient geomantic omen, Jiulong Mountain is a treasure trove of geomantic omen, and there may be high-grade ancient tombs.
The preliminary exploration results show that there are nearly 50 ancient tombs with a length of about 200 meters and a width of 600 to 700 meters, including more than 40 tombs in the Han Dynasty and five or six tombs in the Sui Dynasty.
Of course, this is only a preliminary exploration. As for the specific age, accurate identification can only be given after excavation.
In order to cooperate with the construction of the expressway, the archaeological team began to get busy. Considering that there are few tombs in the Sui Dynasty and the Han tombs are too large, the tombs in the Sui Dynasty were excavated first.
After more expert archaeological teams come, we will excavate the Han tomb in Jiulong Mountain.
After discussion, tomb M33 was excavated for the first time. Although it is a small-scale soil cave tomb, it is roughly equivalent to a cave. But this small tomb brought many surprises to the archaeological team. ...
After cleaning for five or six days, when the brush slowly swept the owner's head, a little golden light appeared at a glance, shining in the sun!
The team members hurriedly called their superiors and said excitedly, "Yellow cultural relics have been dug up!"
Chen Wei, an associate researcher at Ningxia Institute of Archaeology, Ningxia, drove straight to the scene. He guessed that the players probably dug up the funerary objects made of gold.
Chen Wei rushed over and saw that the tomb owner's skull was covered with a yellow object as thin as gold paper. He guessed that it was gold jewelry on a woman's head, or it might be an ornament with a golden hairpin.
With the deepening of the cleaning, this golden object covered more than half of the tomb owner's head, which shocked the archaeologists present, because such a strange object had never been unearthed before. Then it is to rule out the speculation of Jin Chai and the speculation that the owner of the tomb is a woman.
This reminds people of the first trade route, so it is inferred that the gold wares may have been sold to China by foreign jewelry.
But on second thought, this is wrong. If the jewelry is sold to China through commercial channels, the tomb owner will wear it only when he is alive, and he will definitely not wear it on his head when he dies, which is not in line with the local burial custom.
Maybe the owner of the tomb is a foreigner?
Only after the gold was really dug up did it know that it was a golden crown, and there was no tradition of burial with a crown in the local area.
What's more, if the owner of the tomb is a noble, he can't be buried in a small grave.
Moreover, the golden crown extends all the way under the cheek, which is not like a local cultural element in China in terms of the shape of the objects.
The golden crown is a complete set on the forehead of the tomb owner. When the brush brushed the owner's chin, a metal strip made of gold appeared, which wrapped the owner's mandible.
Archaeologists are confused. He called scholars in various fields in China and said that he had never seen such a strange cultural relic.
Similar cultural relics have never been unearthed in domestic archaeological circles, unlike those in China.
Chen Wei turned to the local historical materials, and after a long time, he didn't find any relevant records. The gold wares on the tomb owner's chin were temporarily named as mandibular supports.
At first, experts speculated that the reason why the tomb owner took this thing may be to prevent the body from deforming, so he held his chin.
Because the owner of the tomb was buried with gold, it can be seen that the owner of tomb M33 is by no means an ordinary person. There may be a lot of precious funerary objects in the tomb. The expert was very excited at the thought.
When archaeologists were studying two gold wares, they found that there were two small holes in them, which means that the two gold wares were connected with a high probability. The gold on the chin and the gold crown on the head are connected by a rope.
It's just that the rope gradually decayed in the long years, so at first glance it was thought to be two pieces of gold.
The expert went to ask the members of the archaeological team whether they saw an epitaph on the tomb wall when excavating the ancient tomb. Are there any missing parts?
The players shook their heads in response and didn't see the epitaph. The walls of the tomb are covered with colored mud. When cleaning this ancient tomb, everyone was very careful and noticed every inch of the tomb soil.
The archaeological work of tomb M33 is still going on. When it was cleared to the position of the tomb, that is, the waist of the owner, shiny objects were unearthed.
As the brush swept over the grave, a long gold bar appeared in front of everyone. Because it is located at the waist of the tomb owner, it is initially judged as a gold belt.
Then clean up the gold buckle, four corners and four holes, and the most important gold rivet, which shows that this belongs to nailing the gold belt to the belt.
This belt is of practical value, it is not a pure funerary object in the cemetery. Because of the vicissitudes of time, skins and dust return to dust, leaving only the gold outside.
It is not difficult to imagine that the owner of the tomb wears a gold crown and a gold belt, and when he goes out, he is glittering all over, and there is a high probability of being protected by guards around him.
Judging from the artifacts, it is not female jewelry, and the evidence provided by the bones shows that the owner of the tomb is not female, but male. Because he wears gold, he may be a nobleman with high social status in Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Then, next to the gold belt, another Roman gold coin was unearthed. That is to say, in Ningxia, China, a western currency was dug up.
Many Roman gold coins have been unearthed in China, which proves the prosperity of the Silk Road during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the frequent exchange of caravans from various countries.
However, it is puzzling that every Roman gold coin unearthed in the past is a high-level tomb of princes and nobles, but this Roman gold coin in front of us was unearthed in an earthen cave tomb, which does not conform to normal funeral customs.
Judging from the pattern of the gold coin, it is Justinian I in armor.
After careful appraisal by experts, this Roman gold coin is an imitation gold coin, which means it is not a real Roman gold coin.
What's more, this imitation Roman gold coin has a small hole. Under normal circumstances, gold coins with holes cannot be traded.
Therefore, it can be concluded that this gold coin was deliberately punched and worn by the tomb owner as an ornament to show the noble status of the tomb owner.
Just like Yu Pei, which is popular in the Central Plains, it is exclusive to the upper class.
Judging from a few pieces of gold, when the owner of the tomb was buried, he was glittering and had a luxury.
When the archaeological team cleaned up on the right side, it also cleaned up a female skull, which means that two people were buried in this grave.
With the excavation of the female tomb owner's bones, it can be seen that the two bones are shoulder-high and belong to the husband and wife buried together.
The most magical place is the hand joint of two bones, overlapping together, giving people the feeling of holding hands.
If buried at the same time, the couple will go to the grave hand in hand until they die, which is really romantic to the end of their lives.
However, there is a logical loophole, that is, the death time of husband and wife is greatly staggered, and the possibility of death is very small.
The couple in tomb M33, because they are holding hands after death and the possibility of death is very small, ruled out the rumor of romance to death.
The question is, why are the bones of the tomb owner so strangely "hand in hand"?
According to archaeological experts' research, the ancients attached great importance to funeral and would not open the coffin and let another person in many years after one person died, so the possibility of holding hands was completely ruled out.
Funeral is a very serious matter, and there is not much romantic love. According to funeral custom, opening coffins in graves will affect the fate of future generations.
The most likely reason why the two owners of this husband-and-wife burial tomb are holding hands is that there may have been an earthquake in ancient times, so the position of the bones will move, resulting in a coincidence of "holding hands".
After the excavation of the whole husband and wife burial tomb, except for the gold wares of the male tomb owner, there is only one clay pot and one clay pot left. If the owner of the tomb is really a noble, this cemetery is really "shabby", which means that the possibility of royal nobility is ruled out.
Since the identity of the tomb owner must be very special, there must be a lot of historical mysteries hidden behind it.
Judging from the pattern of the golden crown, the moon holds a sun and is surrounded by symmetrical bird patterns, which must be the cultural characteristics of Central Asia, that is to say, foreign culture.
Experts in the laboratory identified the tomb owner's bones and confirmed that the tomb owner was a Sogdian, that is, a foreigner, and An Lushan was a family.
Then there is the dot on the crown, which is a decorative pattern in Yate, called Julian pattern.
Unexpectedly, there is a white couple buried in the ravine of Jiulong Mountain. They are probably clergy, and gold is also used for sacrifice.
If the starting point of the Silk Road is Chang 'an, Guben is a place where goods are traded with prosperous economy and trade.
During the Sui Dynasty and the early Tang Dynasty, the Sogdians occupied an absolute advantage on the Silk Road.
When a man reaches the age of 20, he will go out to do business along the Silk Road. Over time, they will integrate into China and settle in various places.
Before the opening of the Silk Road, the Sogdians lived in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in Central Asia. However, after the opening of the Silk Road in the Eastern Han Dynasty, they gradually turned into all-people businesses and went wherever they could make money.
There is a folk proverb in the Tang Dynasty, where there are commercial profits, there are footprints of the Sogdians.
When the Sogdians entered China, they naturally brought their culture to China, just as the Tang Dynasty was an inclusive and open era.
For example, the social fires and fire stalls in the north may be from the Sogdians, which probably means that they worship light, so they worship flame. Especially in Shaanxi, social fire has become a festival.
The worship of light by the Sogdians was influenced by ancient Iran, which shows that a commercial road runs through many civilizations.
In the process of cultural integration, the Tang dynasty occupied an absolute dominant position, or occupied a dominant position in trade, which naturally affected foreign businessmen.
The Silk Road is very long, and the Sogdians walked along it for a long time, from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Song Dynasty.
They established settlements of Sogdians in Dunhuang and Wuwei, similar to our foreign chambers of commerce today.
The Sogdians stood at the "crossroads" of the Eurasian Silk Road civilization. Their main activity is business activities. They will embrace different cultures according to the social atmosphere, such as chanting Buddha, studying Yin and Yang, and even picking up crosses.
In order to make profits, businessmen will inevitably learn from local traditions and then integrate into their own culture, which is a civilized trend.
The Sogdians have influenced China and Central Asia, but they are covered by historical dust with the trend of the times. It was not until the end of World War II that a large number of "Zoroastrianism" sites and many tombs with "light elements" were unearthed in Central Asia.
According to the tombs of the Sogdians in different periods in China and historical materials in different periods, the culture of the Sogdians was initially heavily Iranian, and they introduced the cultural elements of ancient Iran into China along the Silk Road.
Their funeral customs, influenced by the traditional customs in China, have gradually changed. To put it bluntly, do as the Romans do.
At first, the bones of the Sogdians were buried in the sky, but cremation became popular in Central Asia, and they were put into special clay pots called bone-setting urns.
For example, Anya's tomb unearthed in Xi 'an is carved with scenes of people worshipping braziers. The epitaph clearly States that the owner of the tomb is a Sogdian. Anjia Tomb has five patios and five holes, belonging to the grand tomb.
Kang Ye's tomb unearthed in Xi 'an has evolved into soil cave tomb. The owner's bones are well preserved and his mouth is shouting Roman gold coins.
In a word, the culture of the Sogdians is diverse and will change with the social trend.
Guyuan is the military and commercial center of the Silk Road, and there are countless Silk Road histories buried underground, so the tombs of the Sogdians in the Sui and Tang Dynasties were unearthed here.
Businessmen pursue trade, and trade needs money, so the Sogdians love gold and silver very much, so they will make all kinds of utensils out of gold and silver for long-distance travel.
Therefore, many gold rings, crowns and belts were unearthed in the tombs of the Sogdians.
For example, a set of gold-plated funerary utensils that seem to be made of gold was unearthed in the tomb of Sogdian. The gold piece is sewn on the silk mask, and the cultural elements behind it are the integration of Central Asia, East Asia and even Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.
Take the beaded pattern mentioned above as the cultural element of Zhongyate.
In fact, the beaded pattern originated in China, but with the improvement of gold production technology in China, it is no longer used, but it has remained in Central Asia.
When the tomb of Sogdian was unearthed in Jiulong Mountain, experts confirmed that it was a foreigner's headdress through the beaded pattern of gold wares.
It can be seen that the Silk Road allows civilizations to blend with each other, which also proves that Chinese civilization is all-encompassing.
Many foreign currencies have been unearthed in Guyuan area, such as a large number of Persian silver coins and forty Roman gold coins.
Through the small holes in the gold coins, it was once again confirmed that the gold coins were originally traded by foreign investors. Because China people occupied an absolute dominant position in the transaction, the gold coins were gradually eliminated and became ornaments hung on foreign investors.
To put it bluntly, if gold coins are not used in exported goods, they will lose their trading value.
As can be seen from the ornaments hanging around the waist, the reason why foreign businessmen do this is to imitate Yu Pei, the upper class of China society, and show their identity through gold coins.
After excavation, it is confirmed that there are four tombs of Sogdians, and the owner and bones of each tomb are well preserved.
It can be seen that the Sogdians in this period gave up the tradition of cremation because of the influence of China culture, and the tomb owner was buried in the earth cave tomb.
Although there is no cremation, it still retains some traditions of the Sogdians, such as no coffin, no luxurious funerary objects, only objects worn by the tomb owner before his death. (Sogdians with high status will have sarcophagus and stone beds)
Taking tomb M33 as an example, the decoration of golden crown has obvious characteristics of Iranian fire worship. The moon holds the sun, covers half of the face with mandibular support, and then fills the blank with bead patterns.
At that time, China no longer carved decorative patterns on gold foil, so it was concluded that the gold wares unearthed from Tomb M33 came from Central Asia.
Referring to the gold crown of Afghan King Sasan's head collected in the United States, it is highly similar to the gold crown of Tomb M33, and has the sun, moon and birds.
Therefore, experts call it the "Sun-Moon Crown", which is a kind of crown used by the Sogdians when offering sacrifices.
The Sogdians are called "Jews of the East". The reason why it disappeared in the long history of northwest China is to refer to the Jewish experience during World War II.