1,000 year old Chinese tomb reveals murals, stars & poetry

A 1,000-year-old tomb with a ceiling decorated with stars and constellations has been discovered in northern China.

This image shows the entrance to the tomb. The entryway is flanked by two gatekeepers. 
On the left is a man holding a staff, while on the right there is a woman holding a fan. 
Above the door is a Garuda, a mythical bird, which is depicted as watching over 
the entrance [Credit: Chinese Cultural Relics]

Found not far from a modern day railway station, the circular tomb has no human remains but instead has murals which show vivid scenes of life. "The tomb murals mainly depict the daily domestic life of the tomb occupant," and his travels with horses and camels, a team of researchers wrote in their report on the tomb recently published in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics.

The mural in this picture is located on the tomb's north wall and shows a black and white
 cat with a red ribbon on its neck and a silk strip ball in its mouth. People who worked
 as attendants to the tomb's occupant can be seen in the background. The cat would
 presumably have been one of the tomb owner's pets 
[Credit: Chinese Cultural Relics]

On the east wall, people who may have served as attendants to the tomb's occupant are shown holding fruit and drinks. There is also a reclining deer, a crane, bamboo trees, a crawling yellow turtle and a poem. The poem reads in part, "Time tells that bamboo can endure cold weather. Live as long as the spirits of the crane and turtle."

The same mural on the north wall also shows a black and white dog with 
a red ribbon on its neck, and a curved tail. More attendants can be seen
 and there is an empty bed between the cat and dog 
[Credit: Chinese Cultural Relics]

The tomb also contains images of what appear to be the occupant's pets. On the north wall, there is "a black and white cat with a red ribbon on its neck and a silk-strip ball in its mouth," the researchers wrote, with the same scene also showing "a black and white dog with a red ribbon on its neck and a curved tail." Male and female attendants are shown beside the cat and dog, with an empty bed lying between the animals.

Here is the whole scene on the north wall. The cat, dog and
 attendants are shown in a bedroom with an empty bed 
[Credit: Chinese Cultural Relics]

The tomb's ceiling contains stars painted in a bright red color. The "completed constellations are formed by straight lines connecting the stars in relevant shapes and forms," the researchers wrote.

The ceiling of the tomb, now damaged, contains stars painted in vermilion, 
a bright red color. The stars are connected together to form constellations 
[Credit: Chinese Cultural Relics]

Archaeologists also found a small statue of the occupant. The statue is 3.1 feet (0.94 meters) tall, and shows a smiling man who is wearing a long black robe while sitting cross-legged on a platform. It could be that the statue was used as a substitute for the body in the burial, the researchers said, noting this practice wasn’t unusual among Buddhists at the time.

Inside the tomb archaeologists found a small statue of the tomb owner measuring 
about 3.1 feet (0.94 meters) in height. The smiling owner is shown wearing a long 
black robe, and sitting cross legged on a platform. No human remains were found 
in the tomb. Although it had been robbed at some point in the past, the researchers
 say it's also possible that the statue acted as a substitute for a burial 
[Credit: Chinese Cultural Relics]

The tomb was found in Datong City and was excavated in 2011 by a team from the Datong Municipal Institute of Archaeology. The researchers reported their finds, in Chinese, in the journal Wenwu, and their article was recently translated into English and published in Chinese Cultural Relics. The excavation team was led by Junxi Liu.  

The east wall of the tomb shows attendants carrying food and drinks. There is also
 a horse saddle on a rack, a reclining deer, a crane, bamboo trees, a crawling 
yellow turtle, an axe and a snake. At top right, beside the saddle, there is a poem. 
Part of it reads, "Time tells that bamboo can endure cold weather. Live as 
long as the spirits of the crane and turtle."  
[Credit: Chinese Cultural Relics]

The tomb was robbed in the past and the name of the tomb owner has not survived. Judging by his statue, and the decoration of his tomb, researchers said it's likely that the occupant was a Han Chinese man of some rank and wealth.

The west wall of the tomb shows scenes of travel. At the top, a Bactrian 
camel pulls a carriage, while at bottom, a saddled horse is being led 
 by an attendant. At top left there are agricultural scenes 
showing  ploughing and men working with hoes 
[Credit: Chinese Cultural Relics]

At the time he lived, about 1,000 years ago, the area where his tomb is located was controlled by the Liao Dynasty (sometimes called the Liao Empire). This dynasty was controlled by people called the Khitan, who held territory in modern- day Mongolia, northern China and parts of Russia.

Historical records indicate that the Khitan ruled a multicultural empire that incorporated Han Chinese into the government.

"The Khitan system of rule worked on a principle of dual administration, with its nomadic, pastoral, and mostly Khitan subjects in the north under the northern government and its agricultural, sedentary, and largely Chinese and Bohai subjects in the south under the southern government," writes Nicola Di Cosmo, a historian at the Institute for Advanced Study, in a chapter of the book "Gilded Splendor: Treasures of China's Liao Empire" (Asia Society, 2007).

Although we may never know the identity of the tomb occupant, or the position he held, this unknown man has left behind a colorful tomb full of life.

Chinese Cultural Relics is a new journal that translates Chinese-language articles, which were originally published in the journal Wenwu, into English. The mural tomb was included in its inaugural issue.

Author: Owen Jarus | Source: LiveScience [November 11, 2014]