The first stone cultural monument
Since the excavation of stone reliefs in the Eastern Han Dynasty in Suide, it has aroused enthusiastic response in news, philosophy, historical archaeology, art and folk customs. She has become an extremely precious living fossil for studying the politics, military affairs, economy, culture and folk customs of the society of the Han Dynasty, especially the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi.
Suide is located in the hinterland of the Loess Plateau, with Wuding River and Dali River running through the county. Mild climate and fertile soil are suitable for farming and grazing. Chinese cultural ancestors took a fancy to this treasure land, settled here, plowed and burned, stockbreeding and textile, and thrived, leaving behind rich Yangshao culture and Longshan culture sites, as well as immortal achievements of outstanding leaders of the Chinese nation such as Huangdi, Zhuan Xu and Shun. Shan Hai Jing records the story that the Yellow Emperor executed 0 in Shushu and unified the Central Plains. According to folklore, Shun and his sisters first came to Suihua civilization and personally taught Li people about animal husbandry. Suide became the birthplace of Chinese civilization. During the Zhou Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Suide became an important territory of the slave kingdom, and bronze culture nurtured this land. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, Suide became the northern gate of the royal family. These rich human geography and heavy historical accumulation have laid a solid foundation and a good creative platform for the emergence of Han stone reliefs.
Suide is connected to Hetao in the north, Guanzhong in the south, Shanxi in the east and Ningxia and Gansu in the west. The Yellow River, Wuding River and Dali River network have nurtured this land and naturally become a battleground for military strategists. Many ethnic groups of Han and Hu fought a tug-of-war here all the year round, and Huns and other ethnic groups seriously threatened the security of the northern gate of Qin and Han Dynasties. In order to maintain and consolidate their dominant position, the government implemented a concession policy at home and stepped up the development of productive forces in feudal society. Then concentrate troops and material resources to deal with foreign aggression. The Han Dynasty used flexible and effective political, military and diplomatic skills to rebel, conquer, pacify and negotiate peace with the Hu people, and gradually changed from weakness to stalemate and from defense to attack. In a certain historical period, it promoted the great integration and unity of many ethnic groups and laid a reliable social foundation for the emergence of Suide Han stone relief.
The Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi is assimilated by the grassland culture in the north and the advanced farming culture in the central plains in the south. Suide in the hinterland of the Loess Plateau is a fertile land. Because people who are remote, hardworking and intelligent insist on developing self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy, they have formed a unique cultural model and customs. Simple and honest people always stick to the birthplace of the Chinese nation and carry forward the pure mother culture and mother culture. Although the content of the Eastern Han Dynasty stone relief in Suide includes grassland culture and farming culture in the Central Plains, loess culture is always the dominant content of the Eastern Han Dynasty stone relief. The grassland culture and farming culture in the stone reliefs of the Eastern Han Dynasty were brought into the model of loess culture, which became the supplement and foil of loess culture. Suide stone reliefs in the Eastern Han Dynasty have unique contents and styles. Chinese mother culture and mother culture gave birth to Han stone reliefs, and East Han stone reliefs added fresh blood to mother culture and mother culture. Suide is the transportation hub of Ningmeng, the distribution center of materials on the Loess Plateau, and the commercial trade is relatively prosperous. During the first year of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a relatively stable and peaceful situation. Military and political dignitaries, businessmen, scholars and celebrities gathered. These rich and powerful landlords, scholars and literati have serious superstitious ideas and religious concepts, and their hope of praying for ascension and inclusion in the immortal class is stronger than that of ordinary people. In order to praise filial piety and show their power and fame, rich officials and businessmen kept up with each other, built tombs, and the wind of heavy burial became more and more fierce, which became the direct cause of the formation of stone relief art in Han Dynasty. Suide produced thin and uniform sand stones and a group of excellent masons, which provided positive and favorable conditions for the birth of stone relief in Han Dynasty.
More than 500 Han stone reliefs have been unearthed in Suide, which is the place with the largest number of Han stone reliefs unearthed in the Loess Plateau. These Han stone reliefs are exquisite and shine brilliantly, so it is difficult to see naive works in the enlightenment stage. The history of Suide Han stone reliefs is only about 50 years, and the overall level of Han stone reliefs is so high that it has left a mystery to future generations. Compared with Henan, Shandong and Sichuan, Suide's productivity development is relatively backward. Stone reliefs in Han Dynasty are unique in subject matter, content, composition and style. Her great cultural value and extraordinary artistic charm have attracted the attention of all parties and won endless praise. Mr. Qi Gong, a great calligrapher of the first generation, once wrote a couplet praising: "The real stone remains the Chinese culture today, and the ancient owners are remembered for a long time."
After careful investigation, some experts have deep feelings: it can be comparable to Dunhuang paintings.
Suide Han Dynasty stone reliefs are not only unearthed in a large number, but also have a wide range of themes, including agriculture and animal husbandry, harvest, hunting, tourism, welcoming guests, visiting cabinets, feasting, giving lectures, dancing, hundreds of plays, rare birds, spirits and auspicious clouds, among which there are many fairy tales, reflecting that agriculture and animal husbandry activities have become Han Dynasty stone reliefs. Taking agriculture as an example, the stone reliefs include dung collection, artificial ploughing, single Niu Geng, double Niu Geng, sowing, summer sowing, harvesting, field feeding and storage. Agricultural activities in spring, summer, autumn and winter are closely linked, which reproduces the advanced agricultural production in Suide at that time and becomes the main theme of Han Dynasty stone relief. Han Dynasty stone reliefs depict the beautiful girls, handsome men, kicking fields, running dry boats and other literary forms in northern Shaanxi Yangko, which has become one of the distinctive local characteristics. The bold and graceful sexual worship in Han Dynasty stone reliefs is another feature. If measured by the current moral standards, this is the stain of our ancestors, which will make people stunned. In the eyes of the ancients, this is precisely the hymn of life and reception. These Han Dynasty stone reliefs truly and vividly reflect the politics, military affairs, economy, culture and folk customs of the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi, and become living fossils of the history of the Loess Plateau in Han Dynasty.
In terms of creative techniques, Suidehan stone reliefs mostly use plane relief ink lines, negative line pits, intaglio bas-reliefs, hierarchical reliefs and ink lines as outlines, intaglio, intaglio and intaglio, single-use coloring and dual-use coloring. According to the needs of content and plot, the thickness of artistic lines changes flexibly, and there is no lack of tenderness and rigidity. The whole picture is bright, smooth and exquisite. Stone reliefs in Han Dynasty have prominent themes, reasonable layout and concentrated plots. The combination of realism and romanticism makes full use of exaggeration, contrast and personification. Ancient craftsmen were skilled and skilled, and flying tigers, suzaku and galloping horses were lifelike. Bullfighting is tenacious, strong and unyielding, showing the brilliance of Qin and Han dynasties to the fullest. The figures in the stone reliefs in the Han Dynasty are even more varied: binge drinking.
Singing softly, talking loudly, raising your head and loosening your sleeves, bending your eyebrows, smiling, eating, being crazy, timid and all ears are amazing. Among the Han Dynasty stone reliefs unearthed in Silipu, there is a story picture of the Queen Mother of the West, and the image of the Queen Mother of the West is refreshing.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas
The ugly and harsh description of the half-man, half-beast Chinese and Western Empress Dowager makes people shudder. Yong Yunhua, the queen mother of the West in the Han Dynasty stone reliefs, is a sacred idol of addicts who want to become immortals and ascend to heaven. Among the Han Dynasty stone reliefs unearthed in Liujiawan, sheep, people, deer, Tianma and Xiangyun are lifelike. The war map in the Han Dynasty stone reliefs unearthed in the middle corner profoundly reflects the sharp and complicated social contradictions in the Han Dynasty, reproduces the fierce war scenes, and proves that Suide is a strategic place with Baotou in the north, Chang 'an in the south, Taiyuan in the east and Yinchuan in the west. The Han Dynasty stone reliefs (rare birds and animals) unearthed in Yanjiacha, on which stood a stag, with extremely long horns, a heroic posture, eyes in front, always on guard against the invasion of the enemy, didn't it reflect the real social situation of the Han Dynasty with enemies outside and inside? In another painting, the goat holds its head high, its eyes are bright, and its hooves are high and bold, symbolizing the prosperity of the Han Dynasty. In the two lark pictures, the male deer and the male sheep occupy a lot of space in the picture respectively, and their images are very prominent. Although the birds and beasts are small, they are comfortable and dance, lively and free, exaggerated techniques are used to the extreme, and their personality is greatly publicized. Bailingtu's conception is so bold and ingenious, and the knife method is so exquisite, which is a classic. Not only the above-mentioned Han stone reliefs are excellent works, but also more than 500 Han stone reliefs can be said to be masterpieces of a hundred flowers and a hundred schools of thought contend.
1953, Suide first discovered the stone carving of the king's tomb in Chengxi Mountain Temple in Mingzhou, and the relief of the later Han tomb was handed over to the Central Museum. The first discovery of Han stone reliefs in Suide not only shows that the stone carvings in Han Dynasty are widely distributed in China, but also fills the gap in Shaanxi stone carvings from Huo Qubing stone carvings in Western Han Dynasty to Xialian Stone Horse for 500 years. 1999, the state issued a set of commemorative stamps on Han Dynasty stone reliefs, among which the first Niu Geng stamp was selected from Suide Han Dynasty stone reliefs. Some people joked that the Han Dynasty stone reliefs in the Central Plains are of royal style, while those in Suide are of poor style. Suide Han stone reliefs are unique, with agriculture and animal husbandry as the main content and loess culture as the main feature. She is an archaeologist, historian, economist, folklorist and sculpture artist. She is the golden key to the social politics, military affairs, economy, culture and art of the Han Dynasty.
Suide Han stone relief has become the first monument of Suide stone culture and a bright pearl in the treasure house of Chinese culture and art. (Ma Jinlong)