What is the funeral custom of Liao people? Why do people wear gold masks after death?
1On June 5, 986, in a small mountain village in Naiman Banner, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, hundreds of millions of excavators under construction accidentally dug up several very old blue bricks, and then an ancient tomb appeared in front of the world. This ancient tomb is located halfway up the mountain called Miao Zi Mountain in the village. In the eyes of local people, Miao Zi is a treasure trove of geomantic omen, and this mountain is like a plush chair. But thousands of years ago, this mountain became the graveyard of a prominent family because of its unique shape.
According to the preliminary research of the archaeologists on the spot, this ancient tomb should belong to Liao Dynasty. However, experts are not excited about this. Therefore, a large number of tombs were discovered in Liao Dynasty, and people became accustomed to it. Secondly, there is a great possibility that the Liao tomb will be stolen. Judging from the tombs discovered in the Liao Dynasty, there is not a complete tomb that has not been destroyed.
However, when the archaeologists cleared out the general outline of the tomb, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the tomb seemed to be complete, and the tomb door was intact, with no trace of theft. When archaeologists opened the tomb, the strong sunlight made the whole tomb completely clear to people and inspired everyone present.
The murals on both sides of the tomb road, although colorful for thousands of years, show a rich nomadic life scene, and the grassland customs come to my face. This is a world-famous Liao tomb mural comparable to Dunhuang mural. It vividly describes the splendid civilization of the northern Khitan Empire.
Although the ancient tomb is small in scale, there are many beautiful things buried inside, and everyone present is dumbfounded.
A lot of gold, silver, jade, amber and agate are piled up on a mountain, and archaeologists have almost no place to stand. They are worried that if they are not careful, they will damage the priceless treasure under their feet.
After careful examination by archaeologists, more than 3,200 precious funerary objects were found. Only the total amount of gold products exceeds 1700g, while the weight of silver products exceeds 10000g.
What excites archaeologists most is that two bodies, a man and a woman, are placed side by side in the middle of the tomb. They wore gold-plated silver crowns on their heads, gold-plated chrysanthemums on their faces, silver wire nets on their bodies, amber wreaths on their chests, amber pearl necklaces on their necks and silver boots on their feet.
These two semi-relief-shaped Jin Mianju were made according to the face of the tomb owner before his death, which aroused great interest from experts. The face of the mask is plump, the lips are tight and the forehead is stretched, showing the distinctive characteristics of young women. The mask is connected to a silver net. Its face is 20.5cm long and17.2cm wide. Its ears are 7.6 cm long and 3 cm wide. The mask is 0.05cm thick and weighs 184g.
So, who is the owner of the tomb? Why can you enjoy the grand funeral like the death of the emperor?
The discovery of a complete epitaph at the scene solved people's doubts. According to the inscription, the owner of this mausoleum is Princess Chen Guo, the granddaughter of Emperor Jing Zong and Empress Xiao Yanyan of Liao Dynasty, and the daughter of Wang Luye of Qin and Jin States.
Liu Ye Qin Long is the second son of Jing Zong and the younger brother of Sanzong. Thus, Princess Chen is a real royal family.
Buried with her husband Xiao Shaoju. Although Xu is rarely introduced in the epitaph, it is not difficult to see from Liao History that Xiao Shaoju is the son and younger brother of the virtuous queen Zong Rende.
From these complicated relationships, we can see that Xiao Shaoju is actually Princess Chen's uncle, and they are closely related.
However, this is nothing in the history of Liao Dynasty. As a royal family, the marriage with the Xiao family has always been the marriage of the Xiao family, which is more conducive to the rule of the Liao Dynasty.
Princess Chen/kloc-married Xiao Shaoju at the age of 0/6. Two years later, she died of illness. Soon after, Xiao Shaoju followed her beloved wife.
Then, why did the two tomb owners cover their faces with Jin Mianju after their death?
This is mainly due to the unique funeral customs of the Khitan nationality.
Qidan is a nomadic people. They live on water and grass, fishing, grazing and hunting. They are a real people on horseback. In the long-term struggle against the harsh environment of nature, a kind of awe of nature has gradually formed. Therefore, after death, the Khitans will return to nature and form a unique custom of "tree burial".
As the name implies, the so-called "tree burial" refers to hanging a corpse on a tree for less than one month to six months or even longer after death, so that the corpse can naturally rot. In the process of tree burial, the body will inevitably be eroded by animals and birds, so that it will become unrecognizable. In order to maintain the dignity of the deceased and facilitate the collection of the bones of the deceased, people made metal masks to cover the deceased, while the deceased was kept in a cage with barbed wire.
Because Princess Chen had a distinguished life and was a relative of Liao Dynasty, neither the mask nor the net could be careless, so the golden chrysanthemum and the silver net came into being. This is similar to the "golden thread and jade clothes" in the Han Dynasty.