Tang Dynasty cultural relics unearthed in hejia village

The agate cup of the golden beast head is 6.5 cm high, 15.6 cm long and 5.9 cm in diameter. The selected material is a whole striped red agate, which is rare in the world. Agate is dark red on both sides, light red in the middle, and slightly ruddy milky white interlayer inside. The color is clear and bright, which is already an extremely rare jade material. This cup imitates the shape of an animal's horn, with two raised strings on the outside of the mouth edge, and the rest of the decoration is concentrated on the animal's head. The beast is in the shape of a bull's head, with wide eyes, vivid and intense eyes, long horns bent spirally to both sides of the cup mouth, and huge ears erected high. The animal's mouth is inlaid with gold and also serves as a stopper for this cup. The lips are closed, the nose is bulging, and even the pores and moustaches on the lips are finely carved, which is very vivid. In fact, this kind of horn cup originated from a western wine set called "rhyton", which is very common in arts and crafts in Central Asia and West Asia, especially in Sasambos (now Iran). Therefore, this agate cup is probably made by craftsmen in the Tang Dynasty imitating the cultural relics of the western regions. It is an important evidence of cultural exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and western countries.

There are 130 plates, plates, cups, pots, feathers and so on in the treasure. 49 pieces of medicines such as pots, boxes, plates, vases and pomegranate cans, toiletries such as pots, basins and water containers/0/4 pieces of kloc, lamp holders, fuming stoves, smoked balls and other daily necessities. In hejia village's gold and silver wares, there is a chronological record. At the latest, in the 19th year of Kaiyuan in Anxian County (73 1), the silver cake was transferred by Yong. However, according to the chronology of patterns and shapes of gold and silver vessels in the Tang Dynasty, the upper limit can be as early as the middle of the 7th century, and the lower limit can be as early as the middle of the 8th century. There are many gold and silver utensils belonging to the middle of the 7th century, such as creeping dragon and phoenix silver bowl, double lion lotus petal silver bowl, sea animal cloud petal silver bowl, hunting high-legged silver cup, figure octagonal gold cup, musician octagonal gold cup, filigree flower gold cup, double lion pattern single handle gold pawn and so on. The decorative surface of these objects is divided into twelve petals, with many S-shaped or U-shaped petals; The appearance of decorative plates with welded bottoms, especially octagonal objects, was obviously influenced by Sassanian silverware technology, reflecting the characteristics of the times of gold and silver wares in the early Tang Dynasty.

The production process of gold and silver wares is complex and fine, and cutting, grinding, welding, riveting and electroplating have been widely used. There are big welding, small welding and wire clamping welding, which are skilled and the weld is not easy to find. It is particularly noteworthy that there are obvious cutting marks on plates, boxes, bowls and other utensils, and the starting point and falling point of the knife are obvious, and the blade beating is also vivid. The thread of the small gold plate has strong concentricity and fine grain. The sub-button of the box is machined on a tapered surface, and the contact between the sub-button and the mother button is sealed. There are few cases of objects swinging axially, which proves that the cutting technology is mature that day, which should be an important discovery in the history of China machinery industry.

Many gold and silver utensils use ink books to indicate the weight of each item, which reflects the methods of managing gold and silver utensils in the Tang Dynasty and provides conditions for the weights and measures system in the Tang Dynasty. According to the measurement, the average value of every couple in the Tang Dynasty was 42.798 grams, and a catty was 684.768 grams. This is the most accurate measurement data of Tang Dajin after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

A complete set of medicines and a large number of medicines were unearthed in hejia village cellar. Among them, the medicinal materials in the Tang Dynasty are precious, such as cinnabar, Ziyingshi, Bai Shiying and stalactites. Cinnabar alone has seven specifications. As well as the alchemist's pomegranate pot, the silver pot with double ears for hand protection, the silver pot with single folding handle, the gold pot with single flowing, and many medicine boxes and drinking utensils, etc., which show the development and achievements of pharmacology in the Tang Dynasty, reflect the prevalence of alchemy in the Tang Dynasty and are important evidence for studying the medical history and chemical history of China. This is also the most systematic and complete discovery of contraceptives and drugs in the Tang Dynasty so far, and it is a major discovery in the history of ancient Chinese medicine.

In addition, there are several foreign gold and silver currencies, such as Chiralio (6 10 ~ 640) gold coin in Eastern Rome and Kusrou II (590 ~ 627) silver coin in Persia, which should be the symbol of the prosperity of Chinese and foreign transportation and trade at that time.

There are as many as 39 kinds of coins alone, including Kaiyuan Bao Tong, which was popular in the Tang Dynasty, Gaochang Geely in Gao Changguo in the Western Regions, Hetongkai, which was minted by the Japanese Yuan and Ming emperors, Sassanian silver coins in Persia and East Roman gold coins. The time span is more than 1000 years, stretching to the Sea of Japan in the east and the Mediterranean Sea in the west, reaching thousands of kilometers. This is the first time in the history of coins, and it is an unprecedented discovery in the history of coin collection.

The words on the unearthed silver collars, silver cakes and silver plates relate to the year number, region and type of taxes, which fully reflects the economic system of the Tang Dynasty. Among the 22 silver cakes, there are 4 Yongtiao silver cakes, which is the first discovery of Yongtiao silver. After drilling by archaeologists and comparing with literature records, it is preliminarily judged that the gold and silver cellar in hejia village is located in Xinghua Square, Chang 'an City in Tang Dynasty. These treasures belong to the Tang Dynasty. Shen Qinyan, director and researcher of the Tibetan Department of Shaanxi History Museum, said that the discovery of hejia village's gold and silver wares is of great significance in the history of academic discovery, because An is the seat of Chang 'an, and it is the first time to find such a concentrated and rich treasure of Tang Dynasty's gold and silver wares in Beijing, and it is also the only time so far. Hejia village's treasures also show strong cultural factors. In addition to the exotic coins mentioned above, there are also plain pot-shaped silver cups imported by the Sogdians, gold-headed agate cups in Western Asia, Roman hunting goblets, white jade and gold-and-silver patterned baguette cups made by imitating Persian baguette cups, and so on.

In the past archaeological excavations, it was great to occasionally find one or two cultural relics about the Silk Road, and it was very rare to find such a concentrated discovery as hejia village. Shen Qinyan said that hejia village's treasure cellar is a treasure house on the Silk Road, and many highlights on the Silk Road are concentrated here.