[Consultation] Interpretation of Archaeological Terminology —— Tomb in the Front Hall and Back Room

The front hall and the back bedroom are the most common tomb structures in Han Dynasty. "Hall" is generally a place to receive guests' banquets. Wine vessels and musical instruments for feasting, singing and dancing are often unearthed in the front hall of Chu tombs in the Western Han Dynasty. In addition to the front hall, there are places such as kitchen, horses and chariots, and money. Small and medium-sized tombs don't have as detailed division of labor as big tombs, so the front hall concentrates on their activities before their death, especially the stone tombs in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Except for some small things for personal use, the funerary objects are basically placed in the front hall, from chickens, ducks, pigs and dogs to stoves, pots, spoons and cups for cooking and drinking, as well as warehouses, wells and grinding houses used. Therefore, it can be said that the front room reflects a microcosm of the tomb owner before his death, and it is not surprising that there are a lot of portraits of real life content here. At the same time, the concept of "ascending to heaven and becoming immortal" was extremely popular in the Han Dynasty. Immortals can not only live forever, but also travel three mountains, live in Kunlun, go in and out of Tianmen and live in Heaven. Therefore, from the emperor to the general to the common people, they all pursue immortality, and the portraits of rare birds and animals in the front room reflect the idea of the tomb owner. However, the main content of the stone relief in the front room is real life, and rare birds and animals only serve as a supplement to real life and play a role in setting off. The back room is the "bedroom" of real life, and the coffin of the tomb owner is located in the tomb, which has become the "fairy world" imagined by the tomb owner. In its view, human death is only the disappearance of the body, while the soul is immortal, just ascending to heaven. The portraits of rare birds and animals in the tomb reflect this fantasy: there are immortals, dragons, white tigers and suzaku, who can be invited to roam freely in the sky, full of.