| Tomb stabilizing beasts are typical artifacts in Chu tombs.Their functions are controversial and difficult to reach a consensus.As for its function,scholars mostly hold the view of guarding the tomb against evil spirits and leading the soul to heaven.There are also theories of symbolizing the dead and relying on the dead.Scholars rarely mention its ability of guarding against ancestors.Guarding the tomb against evil spirits means guarding against the evil spirits of the dead and protecting the souls of the dead;against ancestors means that when the alive are haunted by the ancestors,the ancestors would be trapped.Tomb beast is the material expression of the belief.The believers of tomb-guarding beast placed it in the tomb,and its function is related to the benefit of the ancestors and his descendants.This paper comprehensively explores the function of tomb-guarding beast to trap ancestors from the aspects of statistics,typology,cultural factors and situation.First of all,through statistics to explore the ancients’ belief in what functions were selected and highlighted about tomb-guarding beast.The tomb-guarding beast is the choice of a few people and is concealed by the collective,which shows its special function;Most of the nobles who with the tomb-guarding beast in the tomb were foreigners.They experienced migration,early death,death from illness,military expedition and so on.From these characteristics,we can see that the soul of dead is the restlessness.Scholars and nobles belong to the cultural community,with regional coexistence and cultural consensus.They have a consistent understanding of tomb-guarding beast.Due to their own class characteristics and different degrees of acceptance,their particularity is also suitable for the cultural community.Secondly,the tomb beast is not a single creation,but a composite creation integrating the advantages and characteristics of a variety of gods.Therefore,explore the cultural significance of these characteristics respectively,and then organically integrate them,so as to know the potential function of tomb-guarding beast.Through the analysis of typology,this paper studies the form evolution sequence of tomb-guarding beast,and summarizes the characteristics of birds,tigers,dragons and snakes,namely cultural factors;Through the analysis of cultural factors and organic integration,it can be seen that the tomb-guarding beast has the ability of summoning,trapping,calming,and carrying souls.Finally,through the analysis of situation to explore its function of the tomb-guarding beast.Summoning,calming and carrying souls,as well as protecting the souls,have universal significance;Besides this,the tomb-guarding beast is placed in the tomb of "restless souls".It can be seen that its special function is to defend the souls of the dead.In the context,we can know the origin of trapping the ancestor.During the late Zhou period,the ancients believed that people who died restless would be ghosts and it would sneak into the life of alive,thus needed to be trapped;It is difficult for the dead to be safe,which protecting the soul of dead is also needed.The bronze base,the predecessor of the tomb-guarding beast,also has the ability of summoning,calming,protecting and carrying souls;However,according to the material,it is only buried in the tombs of middle and high-level female nobles individually,which is denounced by the society;The owner of the tomb was a foreign woman.She married to a foreign country and was buried in a foreign land.The fallen leaves failed to return to their roots and thus the soul of the dead was restless.Therefore,under the universal functions of summoning souls,calming souls,carrying souls and protecting the dead soul,it also expresses the trapping of ancestors.The root of trapping ancestor is that the ancestor no longer blessing,nor become the only standard for class.Individuals can improve their social status through political and military achievements,so they no longer treat their ancestors as before. |
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