In December 2021, the Datong Archaeological Research Institute conducted an excavation of the Lv Xu’s tomb in Zhijiabao Village, Pingcheng District, Datong. The Lv Xu’s tomb is a newly excavated tomb of the Pingchen...In December 2021, the Datong Archaeological Research Institute conducted an excavation of the Lv Xu’s tomb in Zhijiabao Village, Pingcheng District, Datong. The Lv Xu’s tomb is a newly excavated tomb of the Pingcheng period of Northern Wei Dynasty, which contains a rare painted shallow relief stone coffin. On the northern side of the coffin, there is a picture of ascending owner flanked by an ox-headed bird with wings and a mouse-headed bird with wings on each side. There are also images of azure dragon, white tiger and vermilion bird in the lower part of the east, west and north walls respectively. The identity information and the roles these images played in the tomb are not to be clarified yet. This paper aims to use iconographic methods to interpret the painted shallow relief carvings of winged divine beasts on the stone coffin, to identify their characteristics, schematic sources, and cultural attributes, and to provide some foundational work for further research on the stone coffin of the Lv Xu’s tomb.展开更多
文摘In December 2021, the Datong Archaeological Research Institute conducted an excavation of the Lv Xu’s tomb in Zhijiabao Village, Pingcheng District, Datong. The Lv Xu’s tomb is a newly excavated tomb of the Pingcheng period of Northern Wei Dynasty, which contains a rare painted shallow relief stone coffin. On the northern side of the coffin, there is a picture of ascending owner flanked by an ox-headed bird with wings and a mouse-headed bird with wings on each side. There are also images of azure dragon, white tiger and vermilion bird in the lower part of the east, west and north walls respectively. The identity information and the roles these images played in the tomb are not to be clarified yet. This paper aims to use iconographic methods to interpret the painted shallow relief carvings of winged divine beasts on the stone coffin, to identify their characteristics, schematic sources, and cultural attributes, and to provide some foundational work for further research on the stone coffin of the Lv Xu’s tomb.
