Brick-walled tombs were popular in the Song Dynasty, while stone coffins were relatively rare, mainly concentrated in the southwest and northeast regions. Song people regarded death as life, and the tombs must have the same carvings and objects as the houses they lived in during their lifetimes. Therefore, Song tombs are mostly imitation wood-style buildings with exquisite patterns and text carvings. In the Song Dynasty, a strange burial custom was popular. Couples were buried together in a two-chamber tomb, but the two chambers were separated by a partition wall. Su Dongpo, a scholar in the Song Dynasty, called it "burial in the same grave but different burials." The tombs of the Song Dynasty are shaped like a house structure, with windows, doors, beams and columns, and the patterns on the tomb walls are carved imitating wood structures. This is a major feature of the tombs of the Song Dynasty.
The tombs of the Song Dynasty are all located in the north and face south. There are three types of tomb passages: vertical caves, slopes and stepped slopes. The tomb chambers are mostly rectangular with rounded corners, but the scale is not as large as that of the Han and Tang Dynasties. Brick tombs are customarily decorated with carved bricks, and the tomb murals are exquisite and elegant, and mostly show scenes from the life of the tomb owner. In addition, the caisson roof of the tomb is located directly above the tomb, which is also a typical feature of Song tombs. Many tomb walls are also carved with pictures of phoenixes, chrysanthemums, fairy grass and other patterns, but the patterns carved on the tomb walls are mainly lotus. Comparatively speaking, the structure of the Ming and Qing tombs is relatively simple, far less complex than the Song tombs, and the carvings are mainly made of vanilla.
The order of the stone statues in front of the mausoleum of the Song Dynasty generally follows the following form: a pair of Chinese tables, forming a hexagonal body, decorated with relief patterns on the outside; a pair of elephants and figures, which seem to be homophonic for "auspicious"; A pair of redbirds, which are also imaginary birds; a pair of auspicious beasts, winged quadrupeds, to show nobility; two pairs of pommel horses and figures, representing the ceremonial guard; two pairs each of tigers and sheep; three pairs of envoys from the Fan Kingdom ; Two pairs each of the civil and military ministers are here. Further down are a pair of lions inside and outside the Shenmen; a pair of powerful warriors, a pair of officials, and a pair of servants. Its modeling style is different from that of the previous generation, with an obvious tendency to be realistic and pay more attention to the depiction of local details. Among the more representative tombs of the Song Dynasty, the Yongchang Mausoleum of Song Taizu is a model of the early system. The elephants in its statue group are not seen in previous generations; the Yongzhao Mausoleum of Song Renzong in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty has relatively slender figures and slender officials and generals. , while the later works are somewhat rough. This has a lot to do with the developed engraving and printing technology at that time, which enabled the widespread use of engraving technology.
In the selection of the location of the tombs, the tombs of the Song Dynasty are different from those of the previous dynasties. Taking the imperial tombs as an example, the terrain selection of the imperial tombs of the Song Dynasty is very different from that of other generations. The imperial mausoleums of the past dynasties were either located high up, or nestled against mountains and rivers. However, the Song mausoleum was on the contrary. It faced Songshan Mountain and had Luoshui River on its back. The topography of each mausoleum was high in the south and low in the north, with the mausoleum at the lowest point. It turns out that in the Song Dynasty, the "Five Sounds and Surnames" Feng Shui technique was popular in the Song Dynasty, which was related to the house painting technique of the Han Dynasty. This Feng Shui technique divided the surnames into five tones according to the five elements, and then selected auspicious directions according to the sounds. The surname of the emperor of the Song Dynasty is Zhao, which belongs to the sound of "jiao", which is conducive to the direction of Ren and Bing. It must be "the sky is dome in the southeast and the ground is hanging in the northwest." Therefore, the terrain of all tombs in the Song Dynasty was high in the southeast and low in the northwest.
Most of the burial objects in Song tombs are porcelain, lamps and other daily necessities of that time. Judging from the excavated Song tombs, there are very few valuables such as gold and silver jewelry.
(1) Type
The small and medium-sized Northern Song Dynasty tombs in Luoyang area can be divided into two categories: earth cave tombs and brick tombs. Earthen cave tombs are generally rectangular shaft tomb passages or narrow and long slope tomb passages. Some slope tomb passages have patios and passage holes. The caves have rectangular arc tops, square vaults, etc., and the burial objects are usually wooden coffins. There are also many earthen cave tombs called "boot-shaped tombs". The plane of the tomb is an irregular narrow rectangle or a horizontal rectangle. The angle between the vertical tomb passage and the tomb is often at an acute angle, and the overall plane is roughly like a boot. Burial tools are usually wooden coffins or clay pots for burning bones. Rectangular cave tombs are generally 2 meters long and 1 meter wide, while boot-shaped tombs are shallower and smaller. Earthen cave tombs may have no grave goods, or some may have them, and the quantity is also small. White porcelain, pots, black-glazed coarse porcelain bottles, pots, copper coins, etc. are commonly found, and occasionally iron oxen and so on.
Brick chamber tombs can be divided into two types: flexible type and imitation wood structure type. The shape of the tomb passage is the same as that of the earth cave tomb. The ordinary type usually has a square dome with a length of about 2 meters or less. The burial equipment is usually a wooden coffin, and stone boxes are also used to burn the bones. The imitation wood-framed brick chamber tombs come in various forms, including circular, square, hexagonal, octagonal and so on. The top of the tomb includes a dome top, a multi-cornered stacked top, a multi-cornered top, a lotus top, etc. In addition to the brick carvings such as brackets, doors and windows, there may also be coffin beds with figures attached, and wooden coffins placed on top.
There are some tombs where one person is buried, some where couples are buried together, and some where more than one person is buried. There are also very few burial objects in the brick chamber tomb, including porcelain and copper coins. There are only a few exceptions where many valuables such as gold and silverware are buried.
Archaeological data show that the number of brick chamber tombs and earth cave tombs is still very small. According to incomplete statistics, the number of imitation wood-structured brick chamber tombs from the Northern Song Dynasty that have been excavated and cleared in the Luoyang area over the past 40 years is small, and there are 15 tombs with relatively detailed data. Among them, 10 are in Luoyang City: Jianxi M9.7.21, Manglu Street M12, Longmen M13, Qilihe M14, Luonai M135, Luotuo M1796, Luozhou M157, Shabei Road M18, Luonai M19, Longquan Ditch IM23510; 3 blocks in Xin'an County: Licun M111, Licun M212, and Gucun M113; 1 block in Yanshi County: Jiuliugou M114; 1 block in Song County: Beiyuan Village M115. In addition, the "Dingdu Sai" carved brick 16 and four other carved bricks 17 were unearthed from a Northern Song Dynasty tomb in Yanshi County before the founding of New China, and they were collected in the Chinese History Museum. In 1973, the Luoning County Cultural Center collected 22 brick carvings 18 unearthed from the Northern Song Dynasty tomb in Jie Village. In June 1993, the Yichuan County Cultural Center collected a batch of 19 brick carvings unearthed from the Northern Song Dynasty tomb in Potou Village.
(II ) There are two ways to construct a brick chamber tomb
. One is to build it secretly. The outline of the tomb is dug into the shape of the tomb to be built, and a gap of 30-50 cm is left between the earth wall and the surface of the proposed brick wall. Small bricks are transported through the tomb passages, and brick chambers are built in dark caves. This construction method is relatively common. One is open construction, which involves digging from the ground down to the ground and then laying it out. This method is easier to build, but the amount of excavated materials is large, such as the Song Dynasty tomb in Beiyuan Village, Song County. Brick tombs generally consist of a tomb passage, a corridor, and a tomb chamber. Some of the tombs have patios and holes dug in the tomb passage, or a gatehouse built outside the corridor, or a side chamber.
Mr. Su Bai said: "The underground tomb is a reflection of the room in the middle above the ground." Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the living rooms in our country have been mainly made of brick and wood. By the Song Dynasty, small wooden works were widely popular. Those with financial resources would almost completely imitate wooden buildings to build brick tombs to show their luxury and pray for eternity.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, in order to meet the needs of large-scale construction projects, Li Jie, a young craftsman, wrote a standardized architectural classic "Building Methods", which was promulgated in the second year of Chongning (1103). According to Mr. Su Bai, who compared this book with three Baisha Song tombs, he believed that many parts of the interior structure of the tomb imitated small woodwork in wooden architecture. The detailed dimensions of the brick structure paving are mostly inconsistent with those recorded in the "Building Methods". Due to the limitations of the size of the small bricks themselves, they cannot be as long as wood, nor can they be as far across as wood. This was the general rule for brick tombs at that time.