This is one of a kind museum in the world, where the whole tomb was uprooted and moved into the museum as an exhibit. The museum displays 25 tombs from Han to Jurchen dynasties.
Song Silang’s Tomb With Murals 北宋宋四郎壁画墓
Brick-built coffin chamber tomb | Built in 1126, Northern Song dynasty (960 – 1127 AD) | Luoyang Ancient Tombs Museum, Discover 1983 in Li Village of Shisi Town, Xin’an County, Luoyang, Henan Province. 仿木结构砖室墓｜建于北宋宣和八年/靖康元年（公元 1126年）｜洛阳古墓博物馆，1983年新安县石寺乡李村发掘
The tomb was built in the first year of Jingkang 靖康元年 (1176), under the reign of the last emperor Emperor Qinzong 宋钦宗 赵恒 of Northern Song (960-1127 AD). The brick-built coffin chamber imitates the wooden structure.
The tomb consists of the tomb passage 墓道, gate 墓门, aisle 甬道 and coffin chamber 墓室. The brick-built tomb gate imitates a timber-structure gate tower, embedded with a square tile in the middle of the lintel. The inscription tells that the tomb owner was Song Silang 宋四郎. Nothing else was known about him though.
To date nearly 200 Song and Jin tombs lie this one have been excavated in northern China, especially in the present-day Henan and Shanxi provinces. They consist of a stepped tomb path and a single or sometimes double burial chambers of varying sizes and layouts.
Octagonal shaped in plan, the coffin chamber is built with a brick column in each corner. The column top is built with brick-carved dougong sets 斗拱, from which layers of bricks taper into a dome ceiling.
Six-layer bracket sets appear on the upper register of the tomb walls, above which is an eight-sided domed ceiling. These all belong to a continuous tradition of tombs decorated as aboveground timber-frame buildings
The southeast and southwest walls show slat windows; a double-leaf door is constructed on the east and west walls; the northeast and northwest walls are adorned with brick reliefs representing theatrical performance and kitchen motifs; and four panels of lattice doors complete the decorations on the walls of the coffin chamber.
The murals depict scenes of the couple’s banquet, rent-collecting, cooking and performances. This is inline with Chinese burial tradition of mimicking life even in death. And the decorations are also similar to another tomb excavated in the same village. Funerary objects included one coffin on the coffin platform with pottery jars, porcelain bowls, bronze mirrors and coins.
About Chinese National Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese National Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
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