Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional customs - The Daily Life of the Yelang People in the Han Dynasty from the Archaeological Sites of Hezhang Cola and Other Places
The Daily Life of the Yelang People in the Han Dynasty from the Archaeological Sites of Hezhang Cola and Other Places
Preface: Yelang is an ancient state that appeared from the Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty, and its approximate location is proved to be located in parts of present-day Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan Provinces. In the Records of the Grand Historian (史记-西南夷列传) and the Book of the Later Han Dynasty (后汉书-南蛮西南夷列传), the records of Yelang would have been few and far between. After the death of Yelang, the historical records about the Yelang area is even more disappeared. The mysterious Yelang culture, like a shooting star, flashed in the sky of China's history and then fell silent. What was the living condition of the people in ancient Yelang? We can seldom find the answer in the historical records. Fortunately, archaeological excavations have made up for this regret, and may to some extent answer this ancient mystery. Yelang country's general territory of the two Han Yelang area "Han Yi" mixed Western Han, the Central Plains has a considerable degree of understanding of the Yelang country: Southwest barbarians Jun long to the number of Shi, Yelang largest; its west of Mo Mo's genera to the number of Shi, Dian largest; from Dian to the north of the number of Jun long to the number of Shi, Qiongdu largest: this is all the Brown Bear Knot, cultivated fields, with the Eupjuju. The outside of the west from the same division to the east, north to the small dish Yu, named Cuckoo, Kunming, all the hair, with the animal migration, no permanent place, not the head, the place can be thousands of miles. -- "Records of the Grand Historian - Legend of the Southwest Barbarians" In the Records of the Grand Historian, Sima Qian systematically introduced the various ethnic minority tribes in the southwestern part of the Han Dynasty, of which the Yelang was the largest, whose mode of social production was farming, and whose people's way of life was sedentary. Since the 1950s, a large number of Han tombs have been discovered in Guizhou Province, distributed in two main areas: one is the area around present-day Qingzhen, Pingba and Anshun; the other is the area around present-day Hezhang Cola. Hezhang Cola Han Tomb Ruins The two Han tombs mentioned above are slightly different, with the former featuring Han-style tombs and the latter featuring local indigenous characteristics. The owners of the Han tombs in Qingzhen, Anshun and Pingba were mostly officials of the county system, Han soldiers from Shekou and Gandan counties, and the Han Chinese gentry who migrated and settled in the area. They modeled their tombs after the Han burial system in the Central Plains, with sealing soil over the graves and burial goods such as lacquerware, copper mirrors, belt hooks, swords, lamps, urn lamps and other daily necessities and five-baht coins, the currency common in the Central Plains. Experts speculate that the area around Qingzhen, Anshun, and Pingba may have been the main area of the Shekou County during the Han Dynasty. The relatively flat terrain, fertile soil and dense water network of the region were suitable for the development of the Han farming economy, so there were more Han immigrants, and it is only natural that the burials were in the strong style of the Central Plains. Brick Decoration in Han Tomb Burials In Hezhang Cola, there has been a piece of wadang, on which there is an inscription ""Jianshi"", ""Jianshi"" is the year of Emperor Chengdi of the Han Dynasty, which can be seen to the late Western Han Dynasty, the Han power has infiltrated the area of Hezhang. Wadang was generally used in the Han Dynasty for higher-level buildings such as official offices, so some experts combined with literature to deduce that the Cola area may have been the seat of the Han County, a vassal state of Gandhara, in the Western Han Dynasty. In addition, the burial forms in the area have both Han and minority styles, which indicates that at that time, Hanyang County was a "mixed Han and Yi", with officials and soldiers naturally being the rulers, and the vast number of minorities being the ruled. In summary, it can be seen that the Yelang area during the two Han dynasties existed in a situation of ""mixed Han and Yi"", and therefore the tombs also showed two different styles, which blended with each other, reflecting the unique Yelang culture. The reason why we use such a large paragraph to explain the situation of "Han-Yi mixed" in the Yelang area during the two Han dynasties is to distinguish the Han burials from the indigenous burials in the Yelang area, so as to facilitate the following section dedicated to the Yelang culture. Here we look at the daily life of the Yelang people in conjunction with the artifacts unearthed from archaeological excavations. The Daily Life of the Ancient Yelang People from Archaeological Data 1. The Image of the Yelang People. About the image of the Yelang natives, in fact, it is reflected in the TV series "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". In Zhuge Liang's conquest of the South, the local indigenous soldiers were usually naked on the upper half of their bodies, with grass skirts around the lower half of their bodies. Artifacts unearthed from Han tombs in Guizhou prove that the image of the natives of Nanzhong in Romance of the Three Kingdoms is not made up. Image of Yelang Aborigines In one of the artifacts unearthed in the Hezhang Han Tomb, there is an image of a figure holding a spear, barefoot and wearing an apron around his waist. This is clearly a Yelang aborigine. It is worth noting that this indigenous person, who was dressed in a very "trendy" way, also wore his hair in a chignon facing the sky. Archaeologists call this hairpiece the ""finger sky thorn"", also known as the ""heavenly bodhisattva"". Nowadays, the Yi compatriots in Guizhou still maintain such a hairstyle, and the area around Hezhang and Weining is still the main settlement area of the Yi, which indicates that as early as about 2,000 years ago, the Yi people had already settled in the area around Hezhang. In addition to the "Finger Thorn" hair ornament, "Silver Ingot Style" hair ornaments also appeared in the excavated artifacts in Xingren and Hezhang. This kind of hair ornament was also seen on the female corpse excavated from the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha. In this regard, Mr. Feng Hanji believes that the Yilang indigenous people's "silver ingot style" hair ornaments were influenced by the ancient Chu culture, which was the result of the exchange and fusion between the Southwest barbarian culture and the Chu culture. The hairstyle of modern Yi people In addition, a large number of copper hairpins have been unearthed from Han tombs in Guizhou, indicating that the hairstyle of the local residents was a chignon, which is consistent with the image of Yelang as a "people of chignon" as recorded in the literature. As for the material of the apron worn by that native, it can also be speculated through archaeological data. Archaeological staff through the identification and analysis of excavated textiles, found that the residents of the area have been using silk and linen fabrics, and also use woolen fabrics. 2, living house. Guizhou is humid and rainy, and many insects and snakes. In order to prevent moisture and insects, the ancestors of Yelang invented the dry bar type of construction. This kind of house is characterized by the use of wooden piles for the foundation, above the building to live, below the raising of livestock. The Han Tomb in Qingzhen has seen this kind of dry-structure. Dry-structured building is a primitive form of housing in the Yangtze River basin and the vast southern region of China, typically represented by the Hemudu site in Zhejiang. In the southwest of China, this kind of housing structure is still prevalent among the Dong and Buyi ethnic minorities. Dry bar type architecture pottery house model 3, agricultural production. Sima Qian mentioned in the Records of the Grand Historian that the ancient Yelang people were a sedentary farming people, and a cultural relic unearthed from a Han tomb in Guizhou also proves this point. This piece of evidence is a model of pond and field unearthed in Xingyi Han Tomb. In this small model, only to see the paddy fields connected, irrigation channels crisscrossed, and even control the water source of the gate. The paddy fields also have a pond on the edge of the pond, the pond lotus open, swimming fish can be clearly seen, the bank trees in the sky, it is really an idyllic scene. From the paddy fields to see, the night people's main food crop is rice, and there are ponds to raise fish, the development of agriculture and sideline industry. A large number of hoes, shovels, axes and other agricultural production tools have also been unearthed in the Han tombs in Guizhou, which symbolizes the spread of advanced Han farming culture in Yelang. Eastern Han pottery water field model 4, recreational activities. Southwest ethnic minorities can sing and dance, which is their tradition from ancient times. Archaeology found that the main musical instruments of the Yelang people in the two Han Dynasty were copper drums and reed sheng. The copper drum is a very popular percussion instrument among the ancient Southwest barbarian communities. The copper drums used by the Yelang people were of the Shizaishan style, which was the basic type of copper drums from the Spring and Autumn Period. In 1957, Hezhang Cola unearthed a copper drum, the drum body section was undulating carcass, waist, foot three drums decorated with birds, cars and boats, cows and horses and geometric decorations and other patterns, belonging to the Shi Zhaishan style of mature products. Copper drums The method of playing copper drums can only be inferred from modern times. Nowadays, the copper drum dance is still popular among the Miao in Guizhou, where the drum is suspended during the dance, one person beats the drum surface with drumsticks, and one person holds a wooden barrel against the bottom of the drum to increase the ****ing, and the sound is thick and deep. It should be noted that in ancient times, in addition to being used as a musical instrument, copper drums also play the role of ceremonial and sacrificial vessels, is a symbol of the status of the ruling class, the common man is not possible to have such a heavy weapon. In addition to the drum, reed sheng is also commonly used by the people of the night Lang musical instruments. 1977 fall, Hezhang unearthed some of the money tree debris, there are figures playing the reed sheng. Unfortunately, due to material reasons, after thousands of years of rusheng physical has been difficult to save to the current. 5, primitive worship and totem. Pangu is the great god who opened up the heaven and earth in Han mythology, but the Pangu worship, which is popular among the minorities in Southwest China, is another ancient primitive belief. Ying Shao of the Eastern Han Dynasty first recounted the story of Pangu in his book "The General Meaning of Customs," and it became popular after the Wei and Jin dynasties. Fan Ye recorded the story of Pangu in a more complete way in his book "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty" (后汉书-南蛮西南夷列传). According to the book, in the past, the tribe of Gaoxin Clan (帝喾) was often attacked by the Injun, and he could not get an advantage in repeated battles with the other side. So, he promised to reward ten thousand gold to whoever could kill General Wu, the general of Injun, and to marry his daughter to him. After the order was given, a dog owned by Emperor ?iü suddenly broke into the hall with a human head, and the ministers saw that it was the head of General Wu. The dog's name was Pangu. As the saying goes, the king is not a joke, ?i?cu had no choice but to speak of his daughter married to Pangu, the descendants of the two became the future of the Wuling barbarians ...... This is a legend, only as a joke, but from this we can see that the image of Pangu should be related to the dog. Pangu image unearthed in Xingyi Han Tomb A money tree unearthed in Xingyi East Han Tomb has an image of a dog head and body. He rides a plum blossom deer and holds a spear, looking down on the living beings in a majestic manner. Combined with the legend of Pangu, experts speculate that this dog-headed general is Pangu, the object of worship of the Yelang people. Pangu's image appeared in the money tree, just shows his lofty position in the hearts of the Yelang people. 6, the underground world. Night Lang people and the Han Chinese as popular burial, there are also burial goods, including pottery, agricultural tools and copper and iron weapons and so on. But in Hezhang Cola, a unique burial after archaeological excavation shocked the world, this kind of burial method in addition to the discovery of Cola, there is no second, this is the mysterious "" set head burial ". On the south bank of the Cola River, archaeological staff found 20 tombs in the 168 excavated "Nanyi tombs" to be particularly peculiar - no coffins or bamboo mats wrapped around the bodies in the tombs, the heads of the deceased were put into a copper or iron kettle, and some of the kettles were scattered with some burial goods, including various kinds of burial goods. Inside some of the cauldrons were scattered with burial goods, including various daily necessities, weapons and five-baht coins. The earliest "head burials" can be traced back to the late Warring States period. The earliest dated "head burial" can be traced back to the late Warring States period. What is the meaning of this mysterious "head burial"? Many experts have also interpreted. Experts believe that Hezhang Cola in the era of the Yelang Kingdom lived the ancestors of the Yi people, and the ancient Yi people originated from the Qiang ethnic system, which used the tiger and fire as totems. In part of the "head-set burial", some tomb owners have copper kettles on their heads and feet separately, and the head-set kettles are large and beautifully crafted. In the shoulder of the copper kettle decorated with a pair of standing tigers, tiger head out of the mouth of the kettle, the two tigers facing each other, making a long whistling, the burial goods include copper go, copper handle iron sword and other weapons. The other part of the "head burial" only has a copper kettle over the head, and the burial goods are mostly grains such as rice and soybeans and two pieces of agricultural tools. The identity of the two can be deduced from the different ""head covering burial"", the former may be the Night Lang country's military generals, the latter may be a side of the prestigious family. Their ****similarities are both more prominent people in the Yelang Kingdom. Because the copper drum comes from the copper kettle, since the copper drum is a heavy weapon, then the copper kettle is not ordinary people can use. The main pattern of the drum is the sun pattern, in the center of the drum, symbolizing the sun, the sun and fire related, which reflects the worship of the Yi ancestors of fire. And isn't the decoration of the tiger on the copper kettle a more direct illustration of the worship of the tiger by the ancestors of the Yi people? Therefore, the meaning of "head-covering burial" can be understood in two layers: one is to symbolize the status, and the other is to express the beliefs and worships that people hold on to even after death. Conclusion: Since the discovery of the first batch of unearthed relics in 1958 in Kele Township, Hezhang County, the archaeological department has conducted nine excavations. One of the archaeological excavations carried out in 2000, *** excavated more than 80 burials, from the Warring States, Western Han Dynasty, Eastern Han Dynasty have a large number of cultural relics unearthed, Cola site thus won the 2001 annual "" China's top ten new discoveries in archaeology " one. However, it can be asserted that the Cola Site is still the tip of the iceberg of the Yelang culture. The culture of the Yelang people is mysterious and profound, and this article can only show several aspects of the daily life of the Yelang people in a slapdash manner, leading the readers into the world of the Yelang people. In the future, there will be more secrets about the Yelang culture waiting for us to explore.
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