The picture shows the pottery figurines on display. Photo by Alina
Xi'an, April 22 (China News Network) (Reporter Alina) On the 22nd, the "Light of ruling the world - Archaeological Achievements of the Western Han Emperor's Mausoleum and Tribute to Archaeology Centennial Exhibition" was completed, and 23 pieces (groups) of fine cultural relics excavated from the Hanwen Emperor's Tomb were exhibited to the public for the first time at the Hanjing Diyang Mausoleum Museum, including gilded carriages and horse ware, copper seals and various pottery figurines.
In 2021, one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in the country, the Han Wen Emperor's Mausoleum, with the Imperial Mausoleum (Jiangcun Tomb) as the core, the Tomb of Empress Dou, the Southern Tomb of Empress Bo and the Funerary Tomb have become arches. Scientific archaeological work began in the 1970s, and has successively explored and excavated outer reservoir pits in Nanling, Dou Empress Mausoleum and other areas, and there have been important discoveries such as giant pandas and rhinoceros bones. In this century, further protective excavations were carried out in areas such as the outer pit of the Jiangcun Tomb, and a comprehensive survey and exploration of the mausoleum area was carried out, and the local key revelation was combined with the overall mastery to determine the scope, shape structure and remains of the mausoleum area.
The picture shows the copper seal on display. Photo by Alina
According to reports, the newly exhibited Baling semi-plastic pottery figurines are clay red pottery, the upper body and lower legs of the characters are naked, the waist is under the clothes, and the facial features are clearly outlined. The wearing of a torture instrument "iron tongs" on the neck is compared with the skeletons excavated from the Tomb of the Emperor Yang of the Han Dynasty, which confirms the historical fact that the Imperial Tomb of the Han Dynasty was built with people serving sentences as important laborers. The practice of half-nude and semi-plastic is likely to be a development transition between the full-plastic ceramic figurines of the early Han Dynasty and the all-naked-dressed pottery figurines of the Jingdi Yang Mausoleum, which makes up for the lack of development and evolution between the two types of ceramic figurines.
The gilded carriage and horse ware on display was excavated from the outer tibetan pit of Empress Bo's Southern Mausoleum, including horse head ornament Danglu, bow bearing device, umbrella cover components and various body ornaments, etc., a large number of gilded techniques, ornamentation and images are very exquisite; some components still have wooden remnants, indicating that Empress Bo's Southern Tomb was buried with a real car, which became an important physical evidence of the "outer treasure" system of high-grade tombs in the Han Dynasty. The animal figure of the body ornament is extremely vivid and is one of the important embodiments of the early royal aesthetics of the Western Han Dynasty.
The picture shows the copper leaking pot on display. Photo by Alina
Copper leaky pots have been found in the Jingdi Yang Mausoleum, Emperor Wu Mao Mausoleum and other imperial mausoleum areas, and the Wendi Mausoleum excavation is particularly complete, which is an extremely precious kind of physical object.
Yan Huajun, director of the Exhibition and Storage Research Department of the Hanjing Emperor Yang Mausoleum Museum, introduced that the exhibition was originally designed to show the overall situation of the Western Han Emperor's Mausoleum, but the archaeological results of the Han Wen Emperor's Tomb had not yet been announced to the public at the opening. This time, the Baling cultural relics were added to the exhibition, so that the exhibition content was richer and the system was more perfect.
The picture shows the pottery figurines on display. Photo by Alina
It is reported that the exhibition reviews the century-old archaeological history of the Western Han Emperor Mausoleum, presents the century-old archaeological achievements of the Western Han Emperor Mausoleum, exhibits more than 100 fine cultural relics, "sees people through things" reproduces the social style and material civilization of the Han Dynasty, the beauty of the artifacts highlights the unique style of the Han Family, and interprets the strict national etiquette system of "Mausoleum Ruoduyi" with the planning of the Imperial Tomb. The new Baling cultural relics added in this adjustment are not only related to the Yangling Tombs and other Western Han Emperors' Tombs, but also have no lack of uniqueness of new archaeological discoveries, which further improves the exhibition's comprehensive interpretation of the history of the development of the Western Han Emperor's Mausoleum. (End)