四川汉代陶翼虎研究

A Study of Han Dynasty Pottery Winged Tigers Discovered in Sichuan

近年,在四川崖墓当中发现了新奇、罕见的陶翼虎,年代为东汉中晚期。陶翼虎背部方形或者圆形的孔洞模仿自商周时期的铜虎尊,显然,其用途应为陶牺尊,而不是以往学者们所说的陶器座;其羽化造型的思想渊源来自两汉时期的升仙思想,既有本地因素的直接影响,也有关中因素的间接影响;其写实的模塑表现方式与本地崖墓当中的动物俑完全一致。总的来看,四川汉代陶翼虎是融合了早期牺尊造型、本地升仙思想和陶俑艺术的复古创新产物,颇具时代特征和地域特色。这类器物被随葬于崖墓当中,不仅是仙境模拟之物,也反映了个别墓主人的思古之情。

Tiger is a fierce animal in real life which has been in existence since antiquity and is hardly surprising.However,winged tiger is an astonishing imaginary animal created through adding wings on the sides of an actual tiger.In recent archaeological excavations of cliff tombs in Sichuan Province,two pieces of such curious and rare winged pottery tigers have been discovered,which provide a very good entry point to explore the origin of winged tiger from the Han dynasty.With resembling overall shapes and postures,the pottery winged tigers were moulded with clay,hollow on the inside,and date to the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty.There are two significant characteristics particularly worthy of further investigation.Firstly,there are square or round holes in the back.Analysis indicates that they should be imitations of tiger-shaped bronze Zun,which were wine containers from the Shang and Zhou dynasties.Obviously,they should be regarded as pottery Xi Zun(vessel in the form of an animal)rather than pottery vessel bases as previously believed.Their appearance in Sichuan region,which was a remote area of the Han culture,should be considered as a manifestation of"restoring ancient ways".Secondly,the tigers bearing wings belong to the important theme of winged mythical animals in ancient China.As regards ideological origin,they were products of the thought of"becoming immortal"that prevailed in the Han dynasty.Local influential factors played the dominant role,while those from the Guanzhong area also had lesser effects.Some argue that they were variants of western winged lions,however,we can't reach such conclusion based on existing archaeological materials.In terms of their visual origin,we should eliminate the misunderstandings of"Bi Xie"(辟邪)and"Qiong Qi"(穷奇)in the first place.Through careful observation and analysis,we can perceive that they originated from the local image of"Bai Hu”(白虎,white tiger),which also inspired the emergence of wingless pottery tigers.In particular,the realistic expression of modeling is exactly the same as pottery animal figurines buried in local cliff tombs.In general,pottery winged tigers of the Han dynasty unearthed in Sichuan Province were products of retro-innovation,combining the shape of early Xi Zun,the native thought of immortality and the art of pottery figurines in the Han dynasty,with unique distinctions of the times and region.This genre of artifacts was buried in tombs not only to simulate the celestial world,but also reflect the nostalgia of a few tomb owners.