Research And Collating On Inscriptions On Tombstones Of Cremation Graves In Tonghai

Tonghai,located in Yunnan Province,has a long history.It was a county set up during the Han and Jin dynasties,and in the Tang and Song dynasties,Yunnan was mainly governed by the Nanzhao & Dali Kingdom.The Tonghai Governor and Tonghai County were successively established in Tonghai to manage the vast area south of Tonghai.It was the military,administrative,and cultural center of the regime in southeast Yunnan.It was also an important immigration destination for outsiders during the Yuan,Ming,and Qing dynasties.In recent years,many archaeological discoveries of cremation graves have been made in Tonghai County.The inscriptions on the tombstones indicate that this group of cremation graves dates back to the Dali Kingdom until the early Ming dynasty.The unique tombstone form and inscription writing method contain local funeral customs and culture,reflecting people’s living standards and religious beliefs.There are two types of information that are more prominent in the inscriptions.Firstly,a large number of inscriptions on tombstones are engraved with the Jun Wang or surnames of the tomb owners,which are closely related to the migration of specific ethnic groups during certain historical periods and ancestral narratives.Secondly,the Buddhist information carved on the tombstones is more obvious.Combining with the entire historical background,it can be seen that Buddhism was popular in Tonghai due to the influence of the Nanzhao & Dali Kingdom and the prevailing Buddhist culture in the Central,which is also an important reason for practicing cremation.Therefore,analyzing the inscriptions on tombstones of cremation graves in Tonghai from a holistic perspective can improve the study of cremation graves in Yunnan’s history.Based on the systematic sorting of existing cultural relics and archaeological data and supplemented by materials obtained by the author during field investigations,this article comprehensively collects and classifies the inscriptions on the tombstones of cremation graves found in Tonghai.By combining archaeological and ethnic history methods,and integrating historical records and relevant research results,this article explores the social and historical scenes,ethnic migration,ancestral narratives,and religious beliefs in Tonghai since the Tang and Song dynasties up to the Yuan and Ming dynasties reflected in the inscriptions on tombstones of cremation graves in Tonghai.It provides a rich and authentic historical basis for ethnic cultural research,and is a useful attempt to interpret the history of Yunnan through the specific material culture of tombstones.