Han Dynasty Relief Stone Sarcophagus

Author: Luo Erhu / Country:
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-05-01
Features: The stone coffin of the brick-chambered tomb at Changshun in Nanshi County, Nanshi City, Sichuan Province, is located in the suburban area of Nanshi County, Sichuan Province. There are two tombs in total, both of which are in ruins. They were discovered in 1985. The tombs are brick-chambered, consisting of a passage, a tomb gate, and a burial chamber. The burial chamber is rectangular, approximately 3 meters long and 2 meters wide, built with patterned bricks. The patterns on one side of the patterned bricks include five-coin patterns, persimmon-bud patterns, leaf-vein patterns, cloud patterns, oblique patterns, rhombus patterns, as well as 12 types of textual patterns such as "market" and "eighty." The age of the tomb is estimated to be the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Each tomb has two painted stone coffins, numbered 1-4 according to their arrangement. They are now stored separately in the Yibin City Museum and the Nanshi County Cultural Relics Collection. The author conducted field surveys and measurements of these four coffins with the assistance of the Yibin City Museum and the Nanshi County Cultural Relics Collection in 1994.
Coffin No. 1: The coffin body is 2.03 meters long, 0.61-0.68 meters wide, and 0.61-0.67 meters high. The coffin lid has an arched top, measuring 2.2 meters long, 0.63-0.68 meters wide, and 0.23 meters high. The top of the coffin lid: a double-fish design with persimmon buds (Figure 76), with a deformed persimmon bud carved in the center and a fish carved at each end. The front of the coffin body: the "Heaven Gate" (double towers) design (Figure 77), featuring a single-eaved, independent double-tower structure. Stars are depicted between the towers, and inverted mountain patterns and round jade designs are above the towers, symbolizing that these towers are the gates of Heaven. The rear of the coffin body: a phoenix design (Figure 78), depicting a phoenix. The left side of the coffin body: a white tiger design (Figure 79), divided into four sections by a border. A winged white tiger is carved in the center, with a rhombus pattern with jade beads on the left, a deformed persimmon bud pattern on the right, a rhombus pattern with linked jade designs above, and an inverted mountain pattern. The right side of the coffin body: a design of birds, fish, and turtles (Figure 80), depicting three large birds in flight, resembling phoenixes, dancing among them. A small bird resembling a swallow is also carved above the left. Between the two pairs of dancing birds on the left side of the center, there is a fish and a turtle. The birds, fish, and turtles are surrounded by a cluster of stars, as if in the sky. Above the border, there are inverted mountain patterns and stars. The coffin body is 2.04 meters long and 0.72 meters wide. The coffin lid has an arched top, with a length similar to that of the coffin body, and a width of 0.74 meters and a height of 0.21 meters. The designs are shallow reliefs. The rear of the coffin lid: a circular design (Figure 113). The front of the coffin body: a circular design (Figure 114). The right side of the coffin body: a design of the Azure Dragon (Figure 115), slightly damaged, with wings, and its front claws grasping a sash. The left side of the coffin body: a design of the White Tiger (Figure 116), with wings.
Stone Coffin from Tomb No. 1 at Dayibaba, Luzhou City: Discovered in 1982 at Tomb No. 1 at Dayibaba, Luzhou City, Sichuan Province, the details of the tomb are unknown. A small number of burial artifacts, such as pottery jars and boxes, were unearthed. The coffin is now displayed in the Luzhou City Museum, numbered as Stone Coffin No. 6. In 1994, the author conducted field surveys and measurements of this coffin with the assistance of the Luzhou City Museum. The coffin body is 1.98 meters long, 0.61 meters wide, and 0.64 meters high. The coffin lid has an arched top, measuring approximately 2 meters long, 0.64 meters wide, and 0.2 meters high. The designs are shallow reliefs with additional incised lines, and the age of the coffin is estimated to be the Eastern Han Dynasty. The top of the coffin lid: a persimmon bud design (Figure 117), with rope patterns on both sides. The front of the coffin body: the "Heaven Gate" (double towers) design (Figure 118), featuring a single-eaved, independent double-tower structure. The rear of the coffin body: a Nüwa design (Figure 119), depicting a human head with a snake body, holding a round wheel in the left hand (with a design inside) and an object in the right hand. Nüwa has a delicate face, wearing a crown with high hair. The left side of the coffin body: a tripod and a Taoist figure (Figure 120). On the left is a large tripod with ear-like handles and a round body, adorned with cloud patterns. On the right is a Taoist figure holding a ceremonial staff, with a halo behind his head, suggesting influence from Buddhist art. This design likely depicts alchemy for immortality. The right side of the coffin body: a design of an immortal, the Tianlu (Heavenly Deer), and a person holding a elixir (Figure 121). On the left is a Tianlu, a divine beast capable of carrying people to immortality. On the right is a person standing, wearing a long robe, holding a round object in the right hand, which is likely the elixir (immortal medicine) refined in the tripod.