From May 18 to May 31, 2021, the Wanrong County Museum in Shanxi held an important exhibition entitled "Hedong Wang, Son of Fenyin| Exhibition of Archaeological Achievements of xue Huaiji Tomb of Wanrong Northern Wei, Shanxi".
This exhibition is the first time that the archaeological excavation results of Xue Huaiji's tomb have been published, and nearly 100 pieces have been exhibited. Several of these architectural components characterized by the Northern Dynasty caught the author's attention. The following will be combined with the pictures taken by friends to talk about these components.
Figure 1: Tomb of Xue Huaiji (Image reprinted from Archaeological Collection)
The excavation of Xue Huaiji's tomb between August and December 2017 recorded the life and deeds of Xue Huaiji, the assassin of Fenzhou. Xue Huaiji died in the fourth year of Northern Wei Zhengguang (523) in the fenzhou assassin shi, and xiaochang was buried in his hometown in the second year (526). Therefore, this is a late Northern Wei tomb (Figure 1).
Figure 2: One-foot, three-liter tree (photographed by Yan Xin)
Figure 3: Herringbone (photographed by Yan Xin)
Figure 4: Eight Prism (photographed by Yan Xin)
Figure 5: Partridge Tail (taken by Yan Xin)
The above shows seven architectural components excavated from the tomb, including three octagonal prisms with chestnuts, two broken partridge tails, a herringbone, and a three-liter pole (Fig. 2-5). These components are carved from brick rather than stone, with distinct Northern Dynasty features, and are an important material for studying the architecture of the time. The architectural images in the tombs of the Wei and Jin dynasties are very rich. The ancients used painting, sculpture and other means to shape the building in the tomb to express the mysterious scene of the ascension of the immortals or the rich life before their lives. For example, the stone rafter of the tomb of Shaozu of the Northern Wei Dynasty of Shanxi Datong and the Song Dynasty (Figure 6), that is, the combination of architectural images and burial utensils; the map of the tomb of Li Xian of the Northern Zhou Dynasty in Guyuan, Ningxia (Figure 7), which expresses the luxurious residence of the tomb owner before his death; and the M1 tomb chamber of the Wei Jin Tomb in Gaotai County, Gansu Province (Figure 8), which shapes the whole model into the interior of a building in a very imaginative way.
Figure 6: Stone rafter of the tomb of Shaozu of the Northern Wei Song Dynasty
Figure 7: Diagram of the Northern Zhou Dynasty Li Xian's tomb passing through the cave gate tower
Figure 8: Tomb M1 of the Wei jin tomb on the slope of the earth
So the question is, where are the architectural components excavated from Xue Huaiji's tomb used? According to official information, no chamber-shaped burial utensils were found in the burial chamber. Combined with the shape and size of the components and similar examples in the current Northern Dynasty tombs, it can be inferred that these components should come from the brick carved gate tower in the tomb cave.
Figure 9: Diagram of the jiuyuangang tomb gate tower
When it comes to the images of gate towers in tombs during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the most well-known one is the gate tower in the Jiuyuangang Tomb in Xinzhou (Figure 9). In fact, there are many images of gatehouses in tombs during this period, but they are rarely mentioned. These gate drawings generally represent the building through two ways: frescoes and brick carvings. The gate tower of the tomb of Xu Xianxiu of Northern Qi in Taiyuan (Figure 10) and the gate tower of the tomb of Li Xian of The Northern Zhou Dynasty of Guyuan adopt the method of murals. The M51 Eastern Wei Tomb in Area II of Anyang Gu'an Cemetery (Figure 11) and the Northern Qi Korean Tomb in Qixian County (Figure 12) use brick carving.
From the perspective of the evolution of the gatehouse image, the brick carved gatehouse practice appeared significantly earlier than the mural gatehouse. Combined with liu Xinna's conclusion in the "Northern Dynasty Sui and Tang Dynasty Tomb Mural Architectural Images Study", only 3 cases of mural gate tower images in the Northern Dynasty period have been found. Combined with the author's current collation of archaeological materials, more than 10 cases of brick carved gate towers have been found during the Northern Dynasty period. Therefore, it can be carefully inferred that the image of the gatehouse in the tombs during the Northern Dynasty period was dominated by brick carvings. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that the frescoed gatehouse became the first choice of the princes and nobles.
Figure 10: Taiyuan Northern Qi Xu Xianxiu tomb gate tower
Figure 11: M51 Eastern Wei Tomb in Area II of Anyang Gu'an Cemetery
Figure 12: Tomb of Northern Qi Koreans in Qi County
According to this logic, the excavated components of Xue Huaiji's tomb are from the brick carved gate tower above the north wall of the courtyard at the end of the tomb, but the gate tower no longer exists. Based on the information currently disclosed, the author draws the following figure (Figure 13) to explain the specific location of the gatehouse.
As shown in the figure below, "the tomb passage is not on the same axis as the burial chamber, and the tomb passage is rectangular and sloped, 26 meters long. The patio, 4.2 meters long, has a large opening, gradually adducts downwards, and is connected to the tomb passage with a raw soil crossing hole. The early cave was located in the north of the patio, 3.5 meters long and 2.2 meters wide, and destroyed the tomb gate on the north wall of the patio and the southern end of the Yongdao. "Combined with the above information and the usual location of the gatehouse, it can be judged that the early robbery cave destroyed the tomb door, the southern end of the Yongdao, and the brick carved gatehouse located on the north wall of the patio above the tomb door.
Figure 13: Floor plan of Xue Huaiji's tomb
The author is self-drawn, some details or do not match the actual situation, please understand
From the excavated components, it can be seen that the gatehouse should have been a relatively complex brick carved building, with a presumably four-pillar and three-bay ratio. The cornice is topped with a forehead, and there is a layer of fir on the forehead. It can be inferred from the exhibited three-tone stems and herringbones that they are staggered on the forehead. The width of the corridor reaches 1.6 meters, and it is inferred that it can fully accommodate three herringbone trees + two one-pole three-liter poles. There may be brick carved rafters, cylinders, and tiles above the maple layer, but they are not mentioned in the data. It is certain that there should be a positive ridge with bird feather-shaped tails at each end of the ridge.
Based on this information, the author himself drew a reconstruction of the brick gatehouse (Figure 14). The figure still has a large number of imaginary components, and the rafter part and the door opening part lack basis, which is only for everyone's reference.
Figure 14: Imaginary view of the restoration of the gate tower of Xue Huaiji's tomb
It is worth noting that the herringbone excavated from the tomb is a "curved-footed herringbone", rather than the "straight-footed herringbone" common in the Northern Wei Dynasty. This form of the maple is rare in architectural images of the Northern Wei Dynasty. In the past, it was generally believed that the Curved Foot Herringbone was first seen in the Xiaoliang period in the south and the earliest in the Eastern Wei Period in the north. This time, the appearance of curved-footed herringbone in the tombs of the late Northern Wei Dynasty is indeed surprising and needs to be further explored in the future.