A Study Of Sixth Dynasty Burials And Related Issues In Jiangxi Region

The Six Dynasties,inherited from the Qin and Han dynasties and initiated by the Sui and Tang dynasties,were both turbulent and divisive times in China’s history,and a period of great change and development.More than two thousand Sixth Dynasty tombs have been found in China,concentrated in Hunan,Hubei and Jiangxi areas in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River,Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River,Guangzhou and Fuzhou areas in Fujian and Guang Dong,and parts of Sichuan and Yunnan in the southwest.Therefore,the burials of the Six Dynasties can be divided into three main areas: the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River,Fujian-Guangdong and the southwest,with emphasis on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Fujian-Guangdong.Jiangxi is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River,with rivers and mountains surrounded by hills.In the fourth year of Jian’an(199),Sun Ce occupied Yuzhang County,and soon afterwards the whole territory of Jiangxi was occupied by Sun’s regime.Since the establishment of Jiangzhou in the first year of Emperor Hui’s reign(291),the political status of Jiangxi has been further enhanced and the political area has been gradually expanded.With the exception of a brief period of unification during the Western Jin Dynasty,Jiangxi has been under the successive rule of the six dynasties,and against this historical background,the development of the Jiangxi region during this period has been relatively stable.In this article,through the collection of basic materials such as archaeological briefs,reports and related articles published in Jiangxi,more than 200 Sixth Dynasty tombs were counted,and on the basis of typological analysis,the Sixth Dynasty tombs in Jiangxi were divided into four phases: late Han to Eastern Wu,Western Jin to early Eastern Jin,middle and late Eastern Jin,and Southern Dynasty,and the characteristics of tombs and artifacts of each phase were systematically summarized;At the macro level,firstly,we compare and analyze the Sixth Dynasty tombs with those of neighboring provinces to explore the unique appearance of Sixth Dynasty tombs in Jiangxi,and find that tombs with brick pillars are extremely common and developed,but the curved wall tombs found in neighboring areas are basically missing.Secondly,through the burial materials and historical data,the socio-economic and religious cultural characteristics of the Six Dynasties period in Jiangxi are summarized.Socio-economic aspects mainly include the development of agriculture,animal husbandry and porcelain handicrafts.Some of the agricultural tools and livestock-related artifacts excavated from the archaeological site confirm the prosperous development of agriculture and animal husbandry in Jiangxi during the Six Dynasties.Most of the celadon wares excavated from the tombs were produced at the Hongzhou kiln,and some of the celadon wares with local characteristics were found.Religious culture is mainly reflected in the thought of Buddhism and Taoism,and more artifacts with lotus decoration were unearthed in the Southern Dynasty,which is consistent with the situation of the flourishing of Buddhism in the Southern Dynasty.Some of the burials unearthed artifacts with Taoist nature,the tomb owner was most likely a Taoist believer.Combined with the local historical and geographical characteristics,it can be seen that the Jiangxi area was a sacred place for the development of Buddhism and Taoism during the Six Dynasties;On the mesoscopic level,some family tombs are examined and studied,and the characteristics of family tombs in the Six Dynasties period,such as gathering and burial of clans and arranging by generations,are derived;finally,on the microscopic level,the dating of Tomb No.1 in Jishui County,the "first large tomb in Jiangnan",is discussed for each of the three different views,and it is inferred that its reasonable dating range should be from the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty to the Eastern Wu Dynasty.In general,the overall systematic study of Sixth Dynasty burials in Jiangxi is a little weak compared with other regions in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River,and this paper aims to enrich the archaeological study of the Sixth Dynasty period in Jiangxi.