北方地区魏晋十六国墓葬的分区与分期

TOMBS OF THE WEI-JIN-SIXTEEN-STATES PERIOD IN NORTH CHINA:A PERIODIZATION AND REGIONALIZATION

一、绪论 (一)时间和地域魏晋十六国是我国历史上战乱频繁的时期,前后二百余年各种战争贯穿其间。东汉末年爆发黄巾大起义后,地方豪强势力迅速发展,各地牧守间征战不已。到汉献帝初平元年(190年),董卓迁献帝于长安,焚洛阳,东汉政权名存实亡,历史进入了混战、分裂的时代。

Several hundred tombs of the period of the Wei Kingdom, Jin Dynasty and Sixteen States (220—439 A. D.) discovered in north China (i.e. to the north of the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River) have been published up to now. According to their differences in shape and tomb furniture, they may be divided into three regional groups: the Central Plains, northwest China and northeast China.Most of the tombs in the Central Plains have one or more brick chambers, one sloping tomb passage and funeral objects consisting of the pottery ox cart, warrior figurine and tomb-guarding beast and bronze mirror with the inscription 'wei-zhi-san-gon.' (it means: may you go smoothly in official promotion).In northwest China, the large-sized tombs of the period have a high elaborate screen wall over the tomb gate, and inside them there are small paintings on bricks or murals. Most of the pottery vessels unearthed are decorated with engraved wavy lines. Wooden objects have been discovered in large number.In northeast Chi, the tombs of the time are mostly built of stone slabs and blocks, the larger ones being decorated with murals. Among the funeral objects, the pottery vase perforated in the belly, the cup with a handle, the harness and the gold ornament for headdresses all exhibit unique local colour.All the three groups can be periodized according to the changes of tombs: the tombs in the Central Plains can be divided into four periods and those in northwest China and northeast China, rhree periods respectively. It is the author's opinion that the first year of Emperor Xian's reign Chuping (190 A. D.) of the Eastern Han Dynasty must be taken as the starting point of the tombs, which is 30 years earlier than the founding of the Wei Dynasty, ruled by the Cao family (220 A. D.), because the characteristic features of Cao Wei tombs had occurred by the very year.It is the purpose of the present paper that the periodization ami regionalization might provide 2 primary chronological scheme so as to facilitate further study of the tombs.