"Carrying a Basket of Dreams - An Account of a Journey to Xinjiang"

Author: Shang Jiucan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-05-01
Features: About two li north of the ancient city of Gaochang, under the shade of a forest belt, there is a bare, grassless area. The scorching sun pours flames directly onto the desert gravel, further intensifying the searing heat of the ground. Walking here requires the skill of a street performer. This is the realm of mystery—the Astana Ancient Tombs. The name is quite peculiar. It is a burial ground for the dead, yet called Astana—the Old Uyghur term for "capital." Could people of that time also have a concept of two realms, the living and the dead? Emperors and officials in life, rulers in death! Here lie officials and commoners from the Western Jin to Tang dynasties in Gaochang, covering a vast scale and a long span of time. Due to the high elevation and the extreme hot, dry climate, bacteria find it difficult to thrive. The tombs preserve a wealth of artifacts, serving as a treasure trove for scholars studying the civilization of Western Regions, as well as a great place for visitors to appreciate and understand the ancient world. A large number of unearthed documents, figurines, and vessels are of great quantity and value. Among them, the world is more familiar with the mummified remains, which differ from Egyptian mummies. They have been exhibited both domestically and internationally, creating a sensation. We saw them too—sleeping in glass cases, their hair and facial features intact, their skin texture still preserved. But to be honest, I really don’t know the secret behind it. Instead, the documents are more intriguing: Cen Shen’s voucher for horse feed from the frontier poet, Zhang Tian’s labor contract for selling his services, sparking endless speculation. The puppet theater figurines unearthed from the tomb of Zhang Xiong and his wife each display different expressions—some eerie, some humorous—truly exquisite.
What is unforgettable are the six murals from tomb No. 216, like a series of wordless celestial scripts, even more mysterious under the dim light of a flashlight. The six murals are arranged in a row. The first and the sixth murals have no figures. On one side, there is a container resembling a bell or jar, open at the top with a small, circular base, hanging on a stand. On the other side, there is an object with a slit in the middle, resembling a money box, with a bundle of grass and a roll of thread beside it. The middle consists of four murals, each depicting a person:
- One person sits cross-legged facing forward, with "Tiren" (local people) written in a square in front of their chest.
- Another person has their side face shown, with a cloth covering their mouth, and "Jinren" (golden people) written in a square behind them.
- A third person kneels half-bent, mouth open with an intense expression, with "Shiren" (stone people) written in a square in front of their chest.
- The last person is an elderly man sitting, with long white hair, and no writing—was it originally blank, or has it been worn away by time? No one knows.
Archaeologists have compared them to traditional Chinese ethical and moral tales or studied them from a literary and artistic perspective, but no convincing explanation has been made. It is even more challenging because this tomb was looted, and items like epitaphs were lost, making decipherment even more difficult. Besides this series, other murals, such as flower-and-bird paintings and silk paintings of Fuxi and Nüwa, were also unearthed. Fuxi and Nüwa are depicted with human heads and snake bodies, their tails intertwined. Fuxi holds a carpenter’s rope and ruler, while Nüwa holds a large compass. Above their heads are suns, below their feet are moons, and around them are stars. The paintings are exquisite, with the clothes of the divine figures appearing thin as cicada wings, their expressions kind yet dignified. Similar murals have been found in Han and Tang dynasty tombs in the Central Plains, but the artistry in tomb No. 216 is slightly inferior. However, what I cannot forget are the enigmatic murals of tomb No. 216. Though photography was not allowed, this puzzle has deeply imprinted itself in my mind.
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