The sound of camel bells on the Silk Road and the caravans are like paintbrushes, filling the Guyuan area of ??Ningxia with the splendor of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Guyuan was an ancient military town and trading center. There were locals, outsiders, and foreigners... multiple nationalities, races, and sects... and the cultures of various countries complemented each other.
For example, in 2004, a strange tomb of a couple buried together was unearthed in Guyuan. The couple held hands, as if it was a love that spanned thousands of years.
Although holding hands attracts people's imagination, this obviously does not conform to traditional burial customs. Furthermore, it is extremely unlikely that husband and wife will die at the same time.
Many strange gold objects were unearthed from the tombs, which are puzzling...
The content of this article is about the Silk Road Connecting Europe and Asia, a great cultural integration led by Chinese civilization.
The detailed story of this matter begins in 2004. Because the expressway from Fuzhou to Yinchuan was to be built, the engineering team began intense construction, and everything was in full swing.
Jiulong Mountain in Guyuan, Ningxia, is located exactly in the construction section of the expressway. All kinds of heavy machinery roared, the sound of engines was deafening, and workers cut through mountains and rivers to unload ridges to clear the way.
But suddenly an excavator dug out a large amount of black wood. They immediately reported it to the leaders, saying that they had found an ancient coffin, which was most likely an ancient tomb.
The leaders reported it to the cultural relics department, and local archaeological experts rushed to the Jiulong Mountain construction site.
The first step is naturally to conduct a step-by-step exploration of the ancient tombs. Experts suspect that there is a large group of tombs buried under the feet.
Furthermore, according to the ancient Feng Shui theory, Jiulong Mountain is a treasure land of Feng Shui, and there may be high-level ancient tombs.
Preliminary exploration results show that there are nearly fifty ancient tombs within an area of ??more than 200 meters long and 600 to 700 meters wide, including more than 40 Han Dynasty tombs , five or six Sui Dynasty tombs.
Of course, this is only a preliminary exploration. As for the specific age, an accurate identification will not be given until after excavation.
In order to cooperate with the construction of the highway, the archaeological team became busy. Considering that there are very few tombs from the Sui Dynasty and the scale of the Han tombs is too large, the Sui Dynasty tombs were excavated first. tomb.
After the more expert archaeological team arrives, we will excavate the Han tombs in Jiulong Mountain.
After discussion, the first thing to be excavated was Tomb M33. Although it was a small earthen cave tomb, it was roughly equivalent to a cave dwelling. But this small tomb brought many surprises to the archaeological team...
After five or six days of cleaning, the archaeological team slowly swept the brush over the head of the tomb owner, and a little golden light suddenly appeared, in the sun. Shining underneath!
The team members hurriedly called their superiors and said excitedly: "We found yellow cultural relics!"
Chen Wei, an associate researcher at the Ningxia Institute of Archeology in Ningxia, drove straight to the scene. It is speculated that the team members most likely dug up burial objects made of gold.
Chen Wei rushed to take a look and saw that the skull of the tomb owner was covered with a yellow object, which was as thin as gold paper. He guessed that it was gold jewelry on a woman’s head, maybe gold. Hairpin hanging decoration.
As the cleaning progressed, it was discovered that this gold artifact covered most of the head of the tomb owner. This shocked the archaeological experts present because such a strange artifact had never been unearthed before. Furthermore, the speculation of the golden hairpin has been ruled out, and the speculation that the owner of the tomb is a woman has also been ruled out.
This immediately reminds people of trade routes, so it is inferred that the goldware may be foreign jewelry sold to China.
But then I thought it was wrong. If the jewelry was sold to China through the trade route, the tomb owner would only wear it when he was alive and would definitely not wear it on his head when he died. This is not in line with the local area. funeral customs.
Could it be that the owner of the tomb is a foreigner?
After the gold artifact was actually dug out, we found out that it was a golden crown. There was no local tradition of burial with a crown.
Furthermore, if the owner of the tomb is a prince or noble, it is impossible to be buried in a small tomb.
Moreover, the golden crown extends down along the cheek. From the shape of the object, it does not look like a local Chinese cultural element.
The golden crown was placed entirely on the tomb owner’s forehead. When the brush reached the tomb owner’s chin, a metal strip made of gold appeared again, wrapping the tomb owner’s mandible.
Archaeological experts were puzzled and called domestic scholars in various fields. They all said they had never seen such strange cultural relics.
In the domestic archaeological community, similar cultural relics have never been unearthed, and they do not look like local Chinese artifacts.
Chen Wei opened the local historical materials, but after searching for a long time, he could not find any relevant records. The gold device on the chin of the tomb owner is temporarily named the chin rest.
Experts initially speculated that the owner of the tomb may have carried this object to prevent the corpse from deforming, so he supported his chin.
Since the owner of the tomb was buried with gold, it can be seen that the owner of tomb No. 33 is by no means an ordinary person. There may be a large number of precious burial objects in the tomb. Experts are very excited when they think of this.
When studying two gold vessels, archaeological experts found that there were two small holes on them, which means that the two gold vessels are most likely connected together. The gold vessel on the chin and the head The golden crowns on the top are connected by ropes.
It’s just that the rope gradually decayed over the long years, so at first glance, I thought it was two gold objects.
The experts asked the members of the archaeological team whether they saw any epitaphs on the tomb wall when they excavated this ancient tomb? Are there any missing parts?
The team members all shook their heads and responded that they had not seen the epitaph and that the walls of the tomb were covered with five-flowered soil. Everyone was very serious when cleaning the ancient tomb and paid attention to every inch of the tomb soil.
The archaeological work on Tomb No. M33 continued. When the location of the tomb chamber was cleared, that is, when the waist of the tomb owner was cleared, sparkling golden artifacts were unearthed again.
As the brush swept across the tomb soil, a long gold piece appeared in front of everyone. Because it was located on the waist of the tomb owner, it was initially judged to be a gold belt.
Then the gold belt buckle was cleaned out, and there were four opposite holes in the four corners, as well as the most important gold rivets. It can be seen that this is a gold belt nailed to the animal skin belt. superior.
This belt has practical value and is not simply a burial object in the cemetery. Because of the vicissitudes of time, the animal skin returns to dust and returns to dust, leaving only the gold on the outside.
It is not difficult to imagine that the owner of the tomb wears a golden crown and a golden belt. When he goes out, he is covered in golden light and is most likely protected by guards.
Judging from the artifacts, they are not women’s jewelry, and coupled with the evidence provided by the skeleton, it can be seen that the owner of the tomb is not a woman, but a man. Since he is wearing gold, he may be a noble of the Sui and Tang Dynasties with high social status.
Immediately next to the gold belt, another gold coin from the Roman period was unearthed. In other words, a Western currency was dug up in Ningxia, China.
Many Roman gold coins have been unearthed in China, which proves the prosperity of the Silk Road during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the frequent exchanges of caravans from various countries.
But what is puzzling is that every time Roman gold coins were unearthed in the tombs of high-level princes and nobles, the Roman gold coin in front of us was unearthed in an earthen cave tomb. It does not conform to normal funeral customs.
Judging from the pattern of the gold coin, it is Justinian I wearing armor.
After careful identification by experts, this Roman gold coin is an imitation gold coin, which means it is not a real Roman gold coin.
Furthermore, there is a small hole on this imitation Roman gold coin. Normally, a gold coin with a hole cannot be traded.
From this it can be concluded that this gold coin was intentionally punched and stringed, and was used by the owner of the tomb to hang on his waist as a decoration to show the noble status of the owner of the tomb.
Just like the popular jade pendants in the Central Plains, they are exclusive to the upper class of society.
Judging from several gold vessels, when the tomb owner was buried, his whole body was glittering with gold, exuding a sense of luxury.
When the archaeological team was cleaning to the right, they found another female skull, which meant that two people were buried in this tomb.
As the bones of the female owner of the tomb were unearthed, it can be seen that the two bones are at the same height at the shoulders, indicating that they belong to a couple's tomb buried in the same position.
The most amazing thing is that the hand joints of the two corpses are overlapped together, giving people the feeling of holding hands.
If they were really buried at the same time, the couple would hold hands and go to hell hand in hand until they died. It would be a romance to the end of their lives.
But there is a logical flaw, that is, the death time of the couple is most likely to be staggered, and the possibility of dying at the same time is very small.
Since the couple in Tomb No. M33 held hands after death, and the possibility of dying at the same time was very small, the rumors of romance until death were ruled out.
The question is, why do the bones of the tomb owner hold hands in such a strange way?
According to the research of archaeological experts, the ancients attached great importance to funerals and would not open the coffin and put another person in the coffin many years after the death of one person, so the possibility of holding hands is completely ruled out.
Funeral is a very serious matter, and there is not much thought of romantic love. According to funeral customs, opening the coffin in the tomb will affect the luck of future generations.
The most likely reason why the two tomb owners of this husband-wife tomb were holding hands is that an earthquake may have occurred in ancient times, so the bones would have moved, causing A "hand in hand" coincidence.
After the entire tomb of a married couple was excavated, in addition to the gold objects on the male tomb owner, there was only a pottery basin and a pottery pot. If the owner of the tomb was really a noble, this cemetery would be really "shabby". In other words, the possibility of royal nobles is ruled out.
Since the identity of the tomb owner must be very special, there must be a lot of historical mysteries hidden behind it.
Judging from the pattern of the golden crown, the moon hugs the round sun and is surrounded by symmetrical patterns of flying birds, which must be the cultural characteristics of Central Asia, that is to say, foreign culture.
Experts from the laboratory identified the bones of the tomb owner and confirmed that the tomb owner was a Sogdian, which means he was a foreigner and was of the same race as An Lushan.
Then there are the small dots on the crown, which are unique patterns in Central Asia, called the Lianzhu pattern.
I never expected that a white couple was buried in the ravine-ridden Jiulong Mountain, and they were most likely priests, and the gold vessels were also used in sacrifices.
If the starting point of the Silk Road is Chang'an, then Guyin is a place for goods trading with prosperous economy and trade.
In the Sui Dynasty and the early Tang Dynasty, the Sogdians had an absolute advantage on the Silk Road.
When men reach their twenties, they have to go out to do business along the Silk Road. Over time, they integrate into China and settle down in various places.
Before the opening of the Silk Road, the Sogdians lived in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in Central Asia. After the opening of the Silk Road in the Eastern Han Dynasty, they gradually turned to business as a whole and went wherever they could make money. .
There is a saying among the people in the Tang Dynasty that wherever there is commercial profit, there are footprints of the Sogdians.
When the Sogdians entered China, they naturally brought Sogdian culture to China. The Tang Dynasty was an era of tolerance and openness.
For example, the Shehuo and fire stalls in the north may come from the Sogdians, which probably means worshiping light, so they worship flames. Especially in Shaanxi, Shehuo has become a festival.
The Sogdians’ worship of light was influenced by ancient Iran. This shows that a trade route ran through multiple civilizations.
In the process of cultural integration, the Tang Dynasty occupied an absolutely dominant position, or in other words, occupied a dominant position in trade, which naturally affected foreign merchants.
The Silk Road is long, and the Sogdians have traveled along the Silk Road for a long time, from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Song Dynasty.
They established Sogdian settlements in Dunhuang and Wuwei, similar to our foreign chambers of commerce today.
The Sogdians stand at the "crossroads" of the Eurasian Silk Road civilization. Their main activity is commercial activities. They will embrace different cultures according to social customs, such as chanting Buddha, studying yin and yang, and even Pick up the cross.
In order to make profits, businessmen will inevitably learn local traditions and then integrate their own culture. This is a trend of civilization.
The Sogdians influenced China and Central Asia. With the tide of the times, they were covered up by the dust of history. It was not until the end of World War II that a large number of "fire worship" sites and many tombs with "light elements" were unearthed in Central Asia.
Judging from the Sogdian tombs of different periods in China and the historical data of different periods, it can be seen that the Sogdian culture initially had a strong Iranian color, and along the Silk Road, they brought the ancient Iranian culture elements, introduced to China.
Their funeral customs have gradually changed due to the influence of traditional Chinese customs. To put it bluntly, they just follow the local customs.
The bones of the Sogdians were originally buried in the sky. In Central Asia, cremation became popular, and they were put into specially made clay pots, called bone urns.
For example, the Anga tomb unearthed in Xi'an is carved with scenes of people worshiping the brazier. The epitaph clearly states that the owner of the tomb is a Sogdian. Anjia Tomb has five patios and five passage holes, making it a large tomb.
As for the Kangye Tomb unearthed in Xi'an, the tomb has evolved into a cave tomb. The bones of the tomb owner are well preserved and he is shouting about Roman gold coins.
In short, Sogdian culture is diverse and will change according to social trends.
Guyuan is a military and commercial center on the Silk Road. Countless Silk Road history is buried underground, so Sogdian tombs from the Sui and Tang Dynasties were unearthed here.
What merchants pursue is trade, and trade requires currency, so the Sogdians particularly love gold and silver, so they use gold and silver to make various utensils to make them easier to carry when traveling long distances.
Therefore, many gold rings, gold crowns, and gold belts were unearthed from Sogdian tombs.
For example, a set of gold-covered masks was unearthed from the Sogdian Shidaode Tomb. They seemed to be funeral vessels made of gold. Gold sheets were sewn on silk masks. The cultural elements behind them are It integrates various cultural elements from Central Asia, East Asia, and even Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc.
Take the pearl pattern mentioned above, which is a unique cultural element in Central Asia.
The Kelian bead pattern actually originated in China. With the improvement of gold making technology, China no longer uses this type of decoration, while Central Asia retains this type of decoration.
When the Sogdian tombs were unearthed in Jiulong Mountain, experts confirmed that they were foreign headdresses through the beaded patterns on the gold vessels.
It can be seen that the Silk Road allowed civilizations to blend in seamlessly, and it also proved that Chinese civilization is all-encompassing.
Many foreign currencies have been unearthed in the Guyuan area, such as a large number of Persian silver coins and forty Roman gold coins.
Through the small holes on the gold coins, it was once again confirmed that foreign businessmen initially traded gold coins. Because the Chinese occupied an absolute dominance in the transactions, gold coins were gradually eliminated and became a symbol of foreign businessmen. jewelry.
To put it bluntly, gold coins are not used for exported goods, so gold coins lose their transaction value.
It can be seen from the ornaments hanging on the waist that the reason why foreign businessmen do this is to imitate the jade pendants of the upper class in Chinese society and use gold coins to show their status.
After excavation in Jiulongshan Cemetery, it was confirmed that there were four Sogdian tombs. The bones of the tomb owners in each tomb were well preserved.
It can be seen that the Sogdians during this period gave up the tradition of cremation due to the influence of Chinese culture, and the entire body of the tomb owner was buried in an earthen cave tomb.
Although there is no cremation, some Sogdian traditions are still preserved. For example, there is no coffin and no luxurious burial objects, only the utensils worn by the tomb owner during his lifetime. (Sogdians of noble status will have sarcophagi and stone beds)
Take Tomb No. 33, for example. The gold crown ornament has obvious Iranian fire worship characteristics. The moon hugs the sun, combined with the chin rest to cover it. Cut out half of the face, and then use the bead pattern to fill in the blank space.
At that time, China no longer carved patterns on gold foil, so it was concluded that the gold objects unearthed from Tomb M33 came from Central Asia.
Refer to the gold crown with the head of the Sasanian king of Afghanistan collected in the United States. It is highly similar to the gold crown in Tomb M33, with the sun, moon and bird gods.
Therefore, experts call it the "Sun and Moon Crown", which is a kind of head crown used by the Sogdians when offering sacrifices.
The Sogdians are called the "Jews of the East". The reason why they disappeared in the history of the northwest is based on the experience of the Jews during World War II.