Hejiawan Yue People’s Tomb

Hejiawan Yue People’s Tomb

Hejiawan Yue People’s Tomb

A burial site from the Spring and Autumn period. It is located in Hejiawan, Changfeng Village, Dongjiao Township, Xiangxiang City. In 1982, three tombs were excavated. Tomb No. 1 is an earthen pit vertical shaft tomb with a niche. Among the eight bronze artifacts unearthed, one bronze ding (tripod), one fu (jar), and one xiao (knife) came from the niche. The lid of the bronze ding features a hollow, disc-shaped knob, with the surface densely decorated with incised concentric ring patterns. At the center of the lid are four whirlpool motifs, surrounded by 11 different patterns including thundercloud motifs, interlocking cloud patterns, coiled serpent patterns, and raised ridge rope patterns, all supported by sturdy animal hoof-shaped feet. The bronze fu has a large bulging belly and an extremely short ring foot. The other three bronze dings are similar in shape and size, with nearly straight bodies, flat bottoms, three outward-splayed legs, and three ears standing on the rim slightly outward, with their ends shaped like mountain peaks (i.e., bull horns). The inner sides are fully decorated with folded-line patterns and feature opposing protruding circular eyes; the lower parts of the upright ears are adorned with thundercloud patterns and have flat lids. The contact area between the lid and the ears is indented to fit snugly together; near the rim, there are three semi-circular knobs, with the handles decorated with incised thunder patterns, triangular thunder patterns, and coiled serpent patterns. The ding was cast using three molds, and its bottom shows triangular casting marks. Two bronze dui (food vessels) are joined by four trapezoidal pegs on the upper and lower sides, forming a spherical shape overall. Near the mouth, there is one ring-shaped ear on the upper and lower parts, decorated with relief cloud patterns forming a beast face. The upper part has three beast-head-shaped knobs, with the lower halves as rings and the upper halves composed of cloud patterns. The lower part has three hollow animal hoof-shaped feet, with knees and feet formed by cloud patterns depicting beast faces. Tomb No. 2 has a head niche but no burial objects. Tomb No. 3 only yielded one bronze ding, which has a sloping body, a nearly round flat bottom, three straight legs with slightly splayed roots, and triangular casting marks at the bottom where the three legs are positioned precisely at the three vertices of the triangle. The slender, outward-splayed bronze dings with triangular casting marks at the bottom, as well as the xiao, found in Tombs No. 1 and No. 3, are typical bronze artifacts of the Yue people. The narrow tomb pits often feature niches and head niches, which are characteristic of Yue tombs. Therefore, it can be determined that these are Yue tombs from the late Spring and Autumn period. However, the animal hoof-shaped leg dings, dui, and fu unearthed are typical artifacts of the Central Plains or Chu culture, indicating a significant influence from Central Plains and Chu cultures. This suggests that during the late Spring and Autumn period, the power of Chu was gradually expanding southward, and Xiangxiang, located in central Hunan, was already directly bordering the Chu territory.

Source: "Huxiang Culture Dictionary"

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