The Trapezoid Coffin Before Tang Dynasty

Along with the development of Xianbei archaeology, the burial custom of trapezoid coffin with its "head broad and tail narrow" has currently been acknowledged as one of the cultural characteristics for Xianbei tombs. Xianbei trapezoid coffin was originally distributed within Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Jalainur's birch coffin firstly broke through the simple pattern of enclosed birch plates represented by completed tombs; not only the frame of coffin was produced, but also the style of coffin with its head broad and tail narrow was available. Hence, there appeared Xianbei trapezoid coffin. Coffins unearthed from Xianbei tombs of the past dynasties after Jalainur's tombs were generally trapezoid ones, including the Northern Wei Dynasty tombs in Meidai, Inner Mongolia Guyang, Southern Suburbs of Datong and the Northern Qi Dynasty Lourui Tombs in Taiyuan. The pattern for this sort of trapezoid coffin spread from the Three Kingdoms, Jin Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, enabling its scope of application to be increasingly enlarged. It had become the major type of coffin in Tang Dynasty and has continued to be used until now. This paper, on the basis of the published archaeological excavation reports and briefings for tombs throughout China over the years, probes into the development of trapezoid coffin across the country in Qin and Han Dynasties, the Three Kingdoms, Jin Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties in sequence by combining with Xianbei's migratory pathway and range of activity documented and starting from the trapezoid coffin unearthed in Jalainur's tombs, with the aim of exploring the transmission and development process into mainland China of trapezoid coffin typical of minority group as well as the reflected cultural communication among all nations.