The Archaeological Research On Jurchens Fishing-hunting Life Style In Liao And Jin Dynasties

Jurchen is one of the nationalities in northeast China. They have lived Greaterand Lesser Khingan mountains, Aumer basin and Songhua river basin since ancienttimes that with fishing and hunting as the main mode of production.This paper basedon the Jurchens Archaeological remains home and abroad in Liao and JinDynasties,and combined with the material of ethnology, Discuss the characteristicsand the differences of the Jurchens fishing and hunting lifestyle in Liao and JinDynasties,and try to analyze the causes of differences.This is a very common phenomenon to buryfishing-hunting-related relics intombs of Liao Jurchens(especially the male tombs). That means fishing-hunting is themain means of livelihood for them,and there should have been obvious social divisionof labor at that time.The fishing and hunting production shall mainly borne by men.The fishing and hunting production tradition for Jurchens in Liao Dynasty isinherited by the civilians in Jin Dynasty. These fishing-hunting-related relics arewidely found as funerary objects in the tombs of the hometown-left-behind Jurchenscivilians. Besides the tools for fishing and hunting, six-ear pots, iron farm tools andcarbonized grain applied to settling down are found as well in the site and tombs. Itcan be seen that compared to Liao Dynasty, the means of livelihood mode of JinJurchens have already started to change. In addition to fishing and hunting productionwhich possesses quite big proportion in economic life, agriculture is playing a moreand more important role in the production activities of Jin Jurchens.However, in the noble tombs of Jin Jurchens, funerary tools for fishing andhunting are few in number. The factors for learning and following central plain’sfashion are becoming more and more. Especially for the Jurchens noble tombs nearBeijing, it is already very difficult to see the legacy of a nation of fishing and hunting. But according to literatures, ancient paintings and unearthed relics, fishing andhunting activity is not totally out of the lift stage of the Jurchen noble, it is rather anentertainment and training way for them. In accordance with my speculation, thereasons why fishing and hunting tools are barely seen in the tombs are:1.Chinesization of the Jurchens;2. Changes in the living environment;3. The rising insocial status of the Jurchens.