Eastern Zhou Period Buried With Carriage

Burialing with chariots is the representative of noble identity during pre-Qin Dynasty. Because of the difference culture and uses, chariots may be with complex producing process. It is a sigh of rank in the burials as the same as the ritual of Ding Gui. At present chariot pits of Eastern Zhou have been over 150, among which there are at least 100 carriages are relatively well preserved and with good shape during Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Variety carriages used in burials or chariot pits were an important manifestation of etiquette, and to some extent, they are symbols of chariots which are used in people's daily life during Eastern Zhou period. Carriages exist almost everywhere in Eastern Zhou field. Seen from the condition of carriages in various states, they are similar in many aspects, still strong differences can be found.There is a wide research on Carriages of pre-Qin and in academic field, researches have been carried out from different perspectives, such as the their quantity, classification and stage of their bronze decorations, carriage burial (sacrificial) system, carriage as gifts placed in noble's burial, carriage and war, the origin of the carriage, and the combination of ancient literature and characters research. Research on the physical state and the macro system of the carriages are gradually deepened. Based on those well-preserved carriages of Eastern Zhou, through the reviewing of the literature, this paper tries to research on the staging, placing and burial system of them. After all, carriages are different from other ritual objets and they are combinations of various factors. As a result, when discussing carriages used in burial, they should be traced back to the time they were used.The first part of the paper, which gives a general review of carriages in Eastern Zhou Dynasty and also an evaluation of researches made from the literature and archaeological perspectives. Finally, the importance, the purpose, researching methods and objects of this paper are given in this part.The second part mainly focuses on the research on the classification of carriages of Eastern Zhou. In the first section, attention is mainly paid to the classification, nomination and rituals about carriages, use, production, shape and the invention of carriages. And in the following section, the standard for the classification of carriages in literature are discussed. It was founded most attention were given to the description of carriages used in daily life in those literature. While, there was a clear lack of the condition of those burial carriages, and only some kinds are included. There is difference between carriage used in daily and burial.The third part is about the classification of carriages in literature of excavation. The first part discusses the brone used in carriages, "jin che" and "ju che"those characters casting on brones. And the second part describes the classifications of carriages which were written in bamboo and Shek Kwu. The third part is the image of carriages in Eastern-Zhou. Those ancient characters and pictures are of great importance to the research and understanding of Carriages used in late Shang and Western Zhou period.Based on various standards analyzed above, in the fourth part, a typology analysis of carriage is made and furthermore different periods are classified, with searching of features of them in different periods. Altogether, three phases are divided during Eastern-Zhou by carriage developing, with the first period the early and middle part of Spring and Autumn Period. The second period from late Spring and Autumn Period to early Warring States. And the third period is middle and late part of Warring States.Compared with chariots used in war of Western Zhou, chariot of the Eastern Zhou is more refined, with small tanks, heavy tanks and command vehicle. There are differences in both size and settings. "An Che" is quite often used in Eastern Zhou period. During late Spring and Autumn Period and early Warring States period, "An Che" is more luxuriously decorated. It is designed more comfortable in late Warring States period.In the fifth part, carriages used in tombs of Eastern Zhou are divided into the Central Plains region, Qin culture, Chu culture carriages and their shapes are analyzed. Kinds of Central Plains carriage are conservative and with almost the same shape and uniform size. Early Qin culture carriages mainly inherit the shape of carriages in Western Zhou and have a great breakthrough in the late Warring States, which become models of Eastern Zhou. Chu culture carriages focus more on the usefulness and comfort in its development.In the sixth part of the paper, carriages as funerary of the Eastern Zhou tombs can be analyzed from two system, the carriages used in daily life and those made by metals used for decoration. Carriages used for same purpose are different in grade. In the senior aristocracy, formal situations of social activities, the style of carriages are relatively fixed. However, the size and shape of daily used carriages are quite different. In noble's burials, carriages often be placed put of different functions in order. And there are also carriages in female's tombs though they are of smaller size. Carriages made by metals are a feature of Eastern Zhou in burial. From the metal carriages to the miniature of real carriages, and from them to the pottery, clay model of the real carBased on the review of carriages in literature and previous studies, we analysis the shape, size and standard of carriages used in burial in Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and a new understanding of the nature of those carriages are clearly formed in reader's mind. There also a division of phases during the development of carriages, and meanwhile features of them in different regions are discussed. The focus of this research is carriages as the funerary system and a conclusion at the end of this paper.