Live appraising treasures, I became a national treasure expert?

The Liao people attached great importance to Feng Shui and advocated heavy burials. The higher the status, the more exquisite and extravagant the tombs, and the larger the tombs and the more accompanying burials.

This is influenced by the Han and Tang people, but it is not without its own characteristics.

First, no grave head is left, no tombstone is erected, and descendants do not visit the grave or sweep the grave. Even if they pay tribute, they also set up animal prisons and wine and food at home.

Second, no coffin is used for burial, but a corpse bed, which is a high platform made of stone or brick.

If it is a cremation, the clay pots, stone boxes, wooden barrels, etc. containing the ashes will be placed on the corpse bed. If it is a burial, the body will be placed directly. If the deceased was a noble, a curtain would be hung on the corpse bed, just like sleeping at home.

But inside, there is a very large coffin: nearly four and a half meters long, a little over two meters wide, and about one meter six high.

Li Dingan had only seen one such large coffin: the tomb of Liu He, the late Marquis of Han Dynasty.

Moreover, the two coffins are almost exactly the same size: eighteen feet long (Han ruler), nine feet wide, and seven feet high.

The burial chamber is just as big: almost four hundred square meters.

But after all, Liu He was the Emperor of the Han Dynasty (the deposed emperor of the Han Dynasty), and he was buried under the imperial system. So what about here?

Ma Xianming tried hard to recall, "How big are the tombs of Emperor Taizu of the Liao Dynasty (Yelü Abaoji, buried in BLZQ, Inner Mongolia) and Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty (buried in BLYQ)?"

Li Ding'an thought for a while: "Liao Taizu's tomb is relatively large, nearly 300 square meters, while Taizong's is much smaller, only 180 square meters."

Wei Zili took a breath: "Good guy, is this not just over the limit, but also beyond the limit?"

"It's not a matter of exceeding the limit or not!" Ma Xianming pointed to the coffin, "It's that the Liao nobles don't use coffins!"

Li Ding'an thought for a while: "Not absolutely: if it is cremation, if the ashes are contained in a stone box, the Liao people will also call it a 'coffin'. Of course, it is very small, one meter long and half a meter wide." It’s pretty big…”

But what about this one?

At a loss for a while, Li Dingan turned the camera.

Well, what is this, an epitaph?

Close to the tomb wall, the brick foundation is one meter and a half high, with a one meter square stone tablet embedded on it.

The square crown-shaped cover has patterns engraved on the four hypotenuses, which are also covered with dust. It can be vaguely seen that they are all in the shape of animals: some have feathers, some have hooves, and some have claws.

It should be the twelve zodiac signs.

In the middle of the Zhigai are inscribed Chinese characters in seal script, also covered with dust: The old government... presented to the King of Han... inscription.

The gray was too thick and only half of it could be identified, but combined with the official system and the nobility system of the Liao Dynasty, it should be: The epitaph of the old political order was presented to the King of Han.

Ma Xianming raised his fingers and said: "I know the king of Han in the Liao Dynasty. There was King Yelu Shilu of the Northern Court, Xiao Hui, the prime minister of the Northern Palace, Xiao Pu, the privy envoy, and Zhang Jian, the grand master... Among them, there is no political order as small as this. Official, not to mention no posthumous gift?"

Li Ding'an was very sure: "Yes, Hu Meili, the grandfather of Empress Dowager Chengtian Xiao Chuo (nicknamed Xiao Yanyan, known as Empress Dowager Xiao in history), was formerly Meili (the commander of the emperor's guards) during his lifetime, and Xiao Chuo was canonized by the Political Order and the King of Han. Posthumous title for the queen..."

"So if you calculate it this way, Xiao Shaoju, Chen's consort who was buried more than 20 kilometers away, is his great-grandson?"

Li Ding'an nodded: "Yes!"

"When did he die?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but it's earlier than Abaoji!"

"Then this is wrong?" Ma Xianming's eyes widened and he pointed at the computer screen, "Chinese characters?"

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Abaoji created the Khitan script, which became the official script. Although the Liao people also spoke Chinese and wrote Chinese characters, edicts, military orders, place names, inscriptions, epitaphs, talismans, etc. could only be written in Khitan script.

It was not until Empress Dowager Xiao (Xiao Chuo, known to the people as Xiao Yanyan) and Song Zhenzong formed the Chanyuan Alliance, and the Song Dynasty paid tribute to the Liao Dynasty, that Chinese characters became one of the official scripts of the Liao Dynasty.

It means that this tomb was built after the Chanyuan Alliance, but Hu Meili died a hundred years ago?

There was a gap of a hundred years.

There are also murals and burial objects in the front tomb chamber: Kunfa, golden flowers, and Zuo Zhen fur robes are all in the style of the Abaoji period. Cockscomb kettles and long-necked bottles are products of the period of Empress Dowager Xiao and later.

It's also a hundred years off.

It’s very strange: Which part seems to have traveled through time?

"Don't worry!" Li Ding'an thought for a while, "Nine times out of ten, the grave has been moved!"

Ma Xianming was stunned for a moment: "What?"

"From a genealogical perspective, this branch can only be regarded as a concubine branch of the Xiao family. The direct line is Abaoji's cousin, the brother of Empress Yingtian (Abaoji's first wife, the first generation Xiao Empress Dowager, known as the Broken Wrist Empress Dowager in history), the Khitan Emperor Xiao Dilu, the prime minister of the Southern Academy of the generation... Hu Meili was just Xiao Dilu's younger brother. According to the Han people, he had been in the fifth service..." "Hu Meili's son is Xiao Siwen, the eldest daughter of Emperor Taizong of Shangliao, Yan Guoda. The eldest princess later supported Liao Jingzong (the fourth emperor of the Liao Dynasty and the great-grandson of Abaoji) to succeed to the throne, and then married the third daughter Xiao Chuo, also known as Xiao Yanyan, to Jingzong as the queen. This lineage became prominent and became a concubine...

Then Xiao Chuocai posthumously granted Hu Meili the title of King of Han, and Naiman as the Xiao family's fief... So I estimate that Hu Meili's tomb was moved here at that time..."

This can be explained.

Ma Xianming pointed at the screen again: "But how do you explain such a big coffin?"

It’s really hard to explain…

"Let me think about it!"

Li Ding'an thought about it for a while, then clicked the mouse to enlarge the lens.

The stone coffin grew larger and larger, taking up the entire screen.

It is indeed a bit strange: Liao people only used coffins for cremation, but there were only so many ashes. Even if they were contained in a stone coffin, it would only be one meter square when it reached the sky. There was no need for such a large outer coffin.

If it is for placing funeral objects, it seems that there is no need for it.

Because there are many Liao tombs unearthed, including imperial tombs, but except for the personal burial jade, all other burial objects are placed on the corpse bed. If the corpse bed cannot fit, place it around the corpse bed. If it still cannot fit, place it in the front room. If it still cannot fit, build a middle room.

There is absolutely no need for such a large coffin anyway.

Unless, there are a lot of ashes?

"Old Ma, is it possible that there is a coffin in the coffin, and the coffin does contain ashes, but there is more than one person?"

"How many more can there be? The husband and wife are buried together..."

This is true.

Even if there are concubines, they will only build a tomb room or build a corpse bed next to it, instead of pouring the ashes of three, four, five, six or seven people into a stone box.

It is not limited to stone boxes. Porcelain jars, porcelain jars, copper jars, or wooden barrels can also be used to store ashes. They can be placed anywhere, and there is no need to crowd them together.

On the other hand, the "Qing Nang Book" records a more complicated burial method, which is called the burial of wooden figurines. If this is the case, it is possible to use a relatively larger stone cabinet.

Roughly speaking, a puppet is carved according to the appearance and body shape of the deceased, and the joints of the head, torso, and limbs are connected with wooden tenons, and then hollowed out, and the ashes are put into the puppet.

The head is placed in the head, the hands are placed in the hands, the feet are placed in the feet...and then put into the stone box...

Well, wait a minute...

The ashes can be used to hold wooden figurines, but why can't the bones be placed there?

Moreover, there are many more bones than ashes, and the wooden figurines must be made very large to accommodate the bones.

Therefore, the stone box that needs to be buried needs to be very big...

Haha!

"Captain Xing, use the camera and look at the end of the stone coffin... don't drill too deep, just drill open the lid!"

Zuo Peng came over and said, "Teacher Li, what's wrong?"

Li Ding'an breathed out and pointed at the computer screen: "I suspect this is a coffin, not a coffin... There are wooden figurines inside!"

"Human figurines...fake tombs?"

"It's not a fake tomb, but the bones are in a doll, that's why the coffin is so big!"

A group of people looked at each other: human bones inside the puppets?

This kind of burial method has never been seen or heard of.

But no one dared to say anything.

The drill started ringing again, for fear of damaging the stone coffin. This time it was slower, and it took nearly an hour to drill open.

The endoscope went down the steel pipe into the stone coffin. The moment Li Ding'an clicked the mouse to turn the camera, a series of exclamations rang out from all around.

Two wooden servants, a man and a woman, sit opposite each other. The man wears a cirrus crown and the woman wears a high-winged phoenix crown, both made of gold.

Both of them were wearing black robes, and their bodies were extremely large, one and a half times the size of an ordinary person.

Wooden figurines... (End of this chapter)