河南襄城茨沟汉画象石墓

A HAN TOMB WITH STONE RELIEFS AT HSIANG CH’ENG,HONAN

茨沟在襄城县东南约9公里处。汝河由西北注入,经此地折而南流。茨沟东北1.5公里处有一土岡,俗名"尧城",土冈顶上有东周至汉代的遗址一处,散布着绳纹筒瓦、板瓦、细把豆、瓮、罐、盆、鬴和米字纹空心砖的残片等。

Located at a place called Yao Cheng Kang on the north bank of the Ju River about nine kilometres southeast of Hsiang Ch'eng County, the present tomb was excavated in April, 1963. It was a Han tomb of a rather impressive scale, consised of the passage, an entrance passage and the chamber proper. Built of and bricks and stone, the latter attained a length of 11.6 metres and a maximum width of 9.22 metres. The ante-chamber, central chamber and back chamber were on the same axial line and connected with each o ther through a stone gate. The ante-chamber and central chamber were both provided with a side chamber on each side and the two side chambers on the left were also connected through a gate. Of particular interest is the diversity in the brick structure of the ceilings of various chambers.A two line inscription written in vermilion in the li shu script has been found under the white wash in the middle of the north wall of the central chamber. In addition to giving the names of the brick layer and mason who built the tomb, it shows that the tomb was 'built on the fourteenth day of the first moon in the seventh year of the reign of Yung Chien (A. D. 132).'The lintels on the front gate and the gates of central chamber and the left side chamber of the ante-chamber, as well as the ceiling of the back chamber, are all decorated with relief designs. These include a pair of inter-twining dragons, a combat scence involving a dragon, tiger and bear (?), and a scene representing a tiger, deer, elephantl and a winged man trying to catch a dragon. A circular stone on the ceiling of the back chamber is engraved with the design of a toad symbolizing the moon. Stylistically, these all bear a striking resemblance to those found on the stone reliefs unearthed at Nanyang.The tomb had been repeatedly rifled in the past and the tomb furniture unearthed consisted only of a few pieces. However, thanks to the presence of the abovementioned inscription giving the absolute date of the tomb, these few pieces can be used as a criterion in dating the finds from the Eastern Han tombs of this period brought to light in southwestern Honan.For the same reason,stone reliefs found in this tomb are also of some help to the dating of the stone reliefs unearthed at Nanyang.The elaborate structure of this tomb attests to the ingenuity of the design.By making full use of various types of small bricks,the builders succeeded in constructing the chambers in several different styles.Of these,the most ingenuous is the structure of the ceiling on the central and back chambers.But of even greater interest is the discovery of the names of the craftsmen responsible for its construction in the inscription found on the north wall of the central chamber.