Brief Report on the Excavation of a Song Dynasty Tomb at Xiawangcun Village, Dayang Town, Jiande City, Zhejiang Province   (3)

  In 1997, the Hangzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology conducted a salvage excavation upon a tomb of the middle Southern Song Dynasty in Jiande City. This burial is composed of graveyard, buildings in front of the mound and a brick double – chamber. The tomb has been looted and no human or coffin remains were recovered. The artifacts within the tomb are sets of gold ornaments, including bracelet, earring, ring, bronze mirrors, lacquer boxes, brown – glazed jingping vases and green – glazed jars. The exposure of the graveyard and the ground buildings provides significant information on the study of Song dynasty mortuary practices.

 

Brief Report on the Excavation of a Jin Dynasty Tomb at Dongwan Village, Qingshui County, Gansu Province   (15)

  In 1997, the Qingshui County Museum performed an excavation on a brick tomb at Dongwan village, Qingshui, Gansu. After excavation, the tomb was relocated and reconstructed at a new site for preservation. The tomb is a single chambered in imitation of timber buildings, comprising tomb – passage, main chamber and a coffin niche. Inside the main chamber is the skeleton of a male man, and inside the coffin niche is that of a boy. On the upper part of the walls of the tomb chamber are stories of filial children and brick sculpture and colorful painting in imitation of timber buildings, and the lower part is decorated with flowers, auspicious beasts and daily life scenes. The structure of the tomb and the decorations indicate that it was constructed during the middle to the late Jin Dynasty. The colorful paintings and brick sculptures are well – preserved which feature a variety of subjects. The excavation of the tomb at Dongwan Village is significant for studying burial customs during the Song – Jin periods in the northwest China.

 

Brief Report on the Yuan Dynasty Mural – Tombs in Xingtai City   (28)

 

Interpretation of Stone Sculptures along the Spirit Path in Front of the Mounds of Tang Dynasty Mausoleums   (34)

 

Preliminary Study to the Hierarchy of Northern Song Imperial Mausoleums   (40)

  Based on historical texts and archaeological excavations and investigation, this article discusses the hierarchy system of the Northern Song dynasty imperial mausoleums. A relatively strict hierarchy is found to exist in these mausoleums in terms of their formal titles measurement of various parts of ground architectures, as well as the quantity of the attendant stone statues. It can be further classified into five major ranks. The first rank is the shanling (lit. “Mountain Mausoleum”) built for emperors while they were in throne. The second is the shanling built for certain ancestors of the Northern Song emperors who was awarded a posthumous honorary title of Emperor after the Northern Song was founded, and this type primarily refers to the An – ling mausoleum of Emperor Xuanzu, the father of the first emperor Taizu. The third is shanling which was built for some empresses who had held the court as regent. These are larger in sizes in major parts of burial structure in comparison to yuanling, the Enclosed / Yard Mausoleum of most empresses. Compared with the An – ling Mausoleum of the second rank, they are identical in various regards, yet are different in some most significant aspects, such as the length of graveyard walls, number of steps of the mound and length of the Spirit Path in front of the mound. The fourth rank is yuanling for empresses. This is the basic rank and is roughly reduced by half in various funerary aspects such as burial sizes as compared with shanling of emperors. Other burials of this rank include the Kang – ling Mausoleum of Shunzu and the Ding – ling Mausoleum of Yizu, two “Emperors” earlier than Xuanzu. The fifth rank is the attendant tombs for the first – rank royal members of the clan, and these are reduced by half in various funerary aspects as compared with yuanling of empresses. Below this, those of the Second and Third Rank etc. diminish proportionally.

 

Study on the layout of Southern Song Dynasty Mausoleums in Shaoxing County, Zhejiang Province   (52)

  The earliest outline map about the seating arrangement of the South Song imperial mausoleums (Cuan Gong) was recorded in the Map of the Six Song Mausoleums attached to the Kuaiji County Annals at present. The seating arrangement of the South Song imperial mausoleums in this map not only goes against the burial custom of Song’s royal families, but also against the records of other materials in the Song Dynasty. It may be the presumed seating arrangement which is acknowledged in the early Ming Dynasty, in the other word, the place of mausoleums or other remains ruined by Yanglianzhenjia (杨琏真迦), rather than the original seating arrangement of South Song imperial mausoleums. The essential reason of having different views about the seating arrangement of the South Song imperial mausoleums is the monk’s destructive ruin in Yuan Dynasty. Based on the Compilation of Song’s Regulation, the related records in the Song and Yuan Dynasty, and the basic character of mausoleum institution about Song Dynasty, this research tries to conclude the seating arrangement of South Song imperial mausoleums in the northern and southern area. The seating arrangement from southeast to northwest in the southern part of the mausoleum includes the Cuan Gong of Empress Dowager Meng, the Yongyou mausoleum, the Cuan Gong of Empress Zheng, the Cuan Gong of Empress Wei, the imperial bedroom of Yongyou mausoleum, the Yongfu mausoleum, the Cuan Gong of Empress Xie, the Yongsi mausoleum, the Cuan Gong of Empress Wu, the imperial bedroom of Yongsi mausoleum, the imperial bedroom of Yongfu mausoleum, and the tomb and imperial bedroom of Yongchong mausoleum. The northern part is the mausoleum area of Wulianshan (雾连山), and the seating arrangement includes the Yongmao mausoleum, the Cuan Gong of Empress Yang, the imperial bedroom of Yongmao mausoleum, the Yongmu mausoleum and Yongshao mausoleum.

 

Types and Characteristic of Gold and Silver Jewelries and Ornaments Unearthed from the Song Dynasty Tombs in South China   (79)

 

Regional Study of Pankou Hu (dish – mouthed vases) and Duojiao Tan (Multiple horn jars) Unearthed from the Song Dynasty Tombs in South China   (92)