Tomb of Zhang Qian

Tomb of Zhang Qian

Zhang Qian's tomb is the tomb of Zhang Qian, an outstanding diplomat, explorer and pioneer of the Silk Road in the Western Han Dynasty. In the third year of the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (114 BC), Zhang Qian died of illness and was buried in his hometown, Bowang Town, Chenggu, Shaanxi Province.

Zhang Qian's tomb faces south, 35.6 meters long from north to south, 20 meters wide from east to west, and 5 meters high. In 1938, the Department of history of national northwest United University made a preliminary excavation of Zhang Qian's tomb. A piece of "Bowang Zuoming" seal mud was unearthed. In addition to the stone tablets in front of the tomb and stone carvings of the Han Dynasty, it was confirmed as the tomb of Zhang Qian, Marquis of Bowang in the Han Dynasty.

In 1956, Zhang Qian's tomb was listed as one of the first batch of key cultural relics protection units in Shaanxi Province. In May 2006, Zhang Qian's tomb was announced by the State Council as a national key cultural relics protection unit

. On June 22, 2014, at the 38th UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting held in Doha, Qatar, Zhang Qian's tomb, as a site in the "Silk Road: road network of Chang'an Tianshan corridor" jointly applied for World Heritage by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, was successfully included in the world heritage list.

Historical evolution

In the third year of Yuanding reign of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty (114 BC), Zhang Qian died of illness in Chang'an and was buried in his hometown. The cemetery is located in raojiaying village, Bowang Town, 3000 meters west of Chenggu County, Shaanxi Province. Since the Han Dynasty, the tomb has been recorded in historical documents and its evolution is clear.

In 1938, the national northwest United University carried out a preliminary excavation of Zhang Qian's tomb path, and unearthed some cultural relics, such as "Bowang Zuoming" seal clay, gray pottery, earthen jar and Han wuzhu coin, which proved the authenticity of the tomb from archaeology.

architectural composition

The tomb of Zhang Qian is located in the memorial hall of Zhang Qian, on the North Bank of Hanjiang River, about three kilometers away from Chenggu County.

Facing south, the cemetery is 15 meters wide from east to west, 15 meters long from north to south, and 8 meters high. It is rammed and sealed with earth, in the shape of a covered bucket, and the plane is rectangular. The whole cemetery covers an area of 12 mu, with the shade of ancient cypresses, rich green and solemn. In front of the cemetery, there is a pair of stone Huabiao, which is composed of three parts: a pestle and a bucket. On the front of the cemetery is a gate house with a typical architectural style of Han Dynasty: Double eaves, flying corners and generous pattern.

Zhang Qian's tomb is surrounded by stone foundations, which are waterproof and eroded. In front of the tomb, there are three stone steles and a pair of Han Dynasty stone carvings. The stone tablet, 182 cm high and 80 cm wide, is inscribed with the official script "Han Bo Wang Hou Zhang Gongqian tomb", which was erected by Bi Yuan, governor of Shaanxi Province during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. On the left side of the tablet is "Han Bo Wang Hou's tombstone", which was erected by Hu Yingtao, the county magistrate of Chenggu in the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. On the right side of the stele, the names of "the empress Shang of Zhang clan" are engraved.

Cultural relics

Lute.

It is 2.2 cm long, 0.4 cm thick and square. It was unearthed from the tomb of Zhang Qian. Zhang Qian's tomb has been robbed and damaged for many times in history. The remains on the ground were all built by people in the Qing Dynasty. There is no exact archaeological basis for whether this steamed bread shaped mound is Zhang Qian's tomb or not.

In 1938, the archaeology Committee of national northwest United University excavated the tomb of Zhang Qian, and cleared the seal with "Bowang (or inscription)" in the corridor. Zhang Qian was granted the title of Bowang marquis by Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. It is this seal that confirms the location of Zhang Qian's tomb.

On November 6, 2014, the large-scale cultural relics exhibition "Silk Road" was opened in the National Museum of China, which is the largest and highest specification Exhibition on the silk road so far. After the excavation in 1938, the seal clay of Bowang Hou was exhibited for the first time.

Shihu

There are two stone carvings of the Han Dynasty on the East and west sides of Zhang Qian's tomb, which are in the shape of "s", thin waist, high head and lying posture. The two stone carvings are similar in shape and system. They are made of limestone and adopt round carving technique. They are rough and abstract in style. They are excellent artistic creations of ancient sculptors and have high artistic value.

Two stone carvings of Han Dynasty are named Shihu and Xiongqi. The local people cherish the memory of Zhang Qian and give the stone tiger a mythical color: it is said that they are a pair of Zhiji stones that Zhang Qian got when he made a mistake. Before liberation, this pair of stone Tigers had always been the gods of local people praying for disease and rain.

However, due to the absence of head and limbs, only the trunk is left, which makes the scholars of literature and history dispute about the name of the beast. Whether it is tiger, lion or Tianma, and whether it is the Western Han Dynasty or the Eastern Han Dynasty, are not conclusive.

According to the analysis of experts, from the perspective of the realistic animal modeling, it is far from the more abstract stone carving in front of Huo Qubing's tomb in the Western Han Dynasty, so most experts believe that it is the stone tiger of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

According to experts, first of all, the local people call it Shihu because the place where it was originally located is known as "shihutian", which is called "Shihu" in Hanzhong Prefecture annals and Chenggu county annals. Secondly, in the ancient mausoleum culture, the tiger is a supernatural animal to ward off evil spirits and protect the soul and corpse of the dead from ghosts, especially the winged one, which proves the essence of the supernatural animal as a tiger. In addition, some experts believe that the carving size of the beast in front of the tomb is close to that of the real tiger. In terms of carving details, it reflects realism, from which you can experience the tight waist and abdomen of the stone tiger, and the ribs are indistinctly visible, so that the viewer can feel the strength of the stone tiger.

Monument to the United Nations General Assembly

In July 1938, the archaeology Committee of the Department of history of the northwest Associated University conducted an archaeological excavation of the tomb of Zhang Qian.

However, this move attracted the descendants of Zhang family to think that it was digging the ancestral grave of Zhang family. More than a thousand people arrived at the cemetery with hoes and red cloth. Finally, the professors stopped digging and renovated the tomb. Apart from finding pottery pieces and five baht coins, the most precious thing was to find a piece of seal mud with Han Li character "Bowang", which confirmed that the tomb was true.

In front of Zhang Qian's tomb, there is a rare stone tablet engraved with the national flag of the Republic of China. Li Jinxi Shudan, a professor of United University, describes the process of the renovation and discovery. The words "northwest United University" appear many times in the inscription, which is one of the few Steles related to the United University in Chenggu.

The renovation of Zhang Qian's tomb by the professor of United University is the most important contribution to Chenggu. It not only verifies the authenticity of Zhang Qian's tomb, but also provides an important material basis for the declaration of world cultural heritage on the silk road.

Cultural relics protection

In 1956, Zhang Qian's tomb was listed as one of the first batch of key cultural relics protection units in Shaanxi Province.

In 1983, the people's Government of Chenggu County set up a special protection agency, Zhang Qian Memorial Hall.

In May 2006, Zhang Qian's tomb was announced as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council.

In April 2007, after Zhang Qian's tomb was listed in the preparatory list for the Silk Road World Heritage application, Chenggu County, in accordance with the relevant standards of world heritage, prepared a series of plans and individual work implementation plans, and comprehensively protected, improved, renovated and upgraded the cultural relics protection, infrastructure, exhibition, greening of the museum area, and the surrounding environment of the heritage.

On June 22, 2014, at the 38th UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting held in Doha, Qatar, Zhang Qian's tomb, as a site in the "Silk Road: road network of Chang'an Tianshan corridor" jointly applied for World Heritage by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, was successfully included in the world heritage list.

Commemorative activities

Zhang Qian culture and Art Festival

Since 1994, Zhang Qian culture and Art Festival has been held for several consecutive times, and the public sacrifice ceremony is one of its indispensable activities.

The performances at the ceremony include traditional Chinese dragon dance, powerful gongs and drums, and modern song and dance performances. The whole activity is solemn and solemn, cheerful and warm. Nowadays, Chenggu holds Zhang Qian culture and Art Festival once a year.

During the national day from September 29 to October 01, 2007, the 14th Zhang Qian culture and Art Festival was held in Chenggu County. CCTV sings China's "starry night" concert to boost the fun. At 8:00 p.m. on September 30, CCTV's "sing China" column group held a "starry night" star concert in the playground of Chenggu No.1 middle school.

symposium

In 1986 and 1993, two sessions of "Zhang Qian international academic seminar" were held in Chenggu, Shaanxi Province, vigorously carrying forward Zhang Qian's pioneering spirit of "being the first in the world", which attracted extensive attention from the cultural, tourism and academic circles at home and abroad, and had a great impact on the international community.

The first Zhang Qian Symposium:

From November 21 to 25, 1986, in order to commemorate the 2100 anniversary of Zhang Qian's death, "the first Zhang Qian academic seminar" sponsored by the people's Government of Chenggu County, the Journal Department of Hanzhong Normal University, the History Research Institute of Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences, the History Department of Northwest University and the History Department of Shaanxi Normal University was held in Chenggu County. More than 120 scholars from 87 units in 14 provinces and autonomous regions, including Beijing, Shanghai, Lanzhou, Shandong, Xinjiang and Henan, as well as a group of scholars from the cultural history and local records system of Hanzhong region were invited to attend the seminar. During the conference, the delegates paid a visit to Zhang Qian's tomb. After the meeting, it was printed

Chinese PinYin : Zhang Qian Mu