Chapter 38 Section 18 The Second Tomb of the Southern Tang Dynasty

In the Southern Tang Dynasty (937-975 AD), a small imperial court settled in a corner of the south of the Yangtze River, and its capital was established in present-day Nanjing.After the death of the first master Li Min [bianbian] (reigned for seven years, AD 937-943), he was buried with his wife Song at the southern foot of Niushou Mountain in Jiangning, which is called Qinling.After the death of the central lord, Li Jing (reigned 19 years, 943-961 A.D.), he was buried together with his wife Zhong in Niushou Mountain, which is called Shunling.The two tombs are about 50 meters apart. From 1950 to 1951, the Second Tomb of the Southern Tang Dynasty was excavated.The tombs of the Erling Mountains are all multi-chamber tombs with masonry structures.Its building scale, structure and layout are almost identical.

Qin Mausoleum (Tomb of Li Min) is 21.48 meters long, 10.45 meters wide and 5.3 meters high.The south of the tomb gate is 9° to the west.There is a circular door in the middle, 2.81 meters high and 2.38 meters wide.The tomb is divided into three main chambers: front, middle and back.There is one side room on the east and west sides of the front room and the middle room, and three side rooms on the east and west sides of the back room, totaling 10 side rooms. The front room is rectangular, 4.50 meters long from north to south, 3.85 meters wide and 4.30 meters high. The middle room is square, 4.56 meters long from north to south, and 4.45 meters wide.On both sides of the north wall, there is a statue of a warrior in relief. The warrior wears a helmet, wears a plum blossom fish scale armor, holds a long sword in both hands, and steps on clouds, acting as a guard.There is also a picture of "Double Dragons Playing with Pearls" engraved on the top of the north wall.

The back room is 6.03 meters long from north to south and 5.90 meters wide. There is a square door in the middle of the south wall, and the door is made of bluestone slabs.The interior walls are painted deep red.Columns, squares and bucket arches are all painted in color.The roof of the room is painted with lime, a picture of the sky is painted on it, and a picture of a river is engraved on the ground.The coffin bed is composed of six bluestone slabs, 3.80 meters long, 2 meters wide and 0.5 meters thick.There is a small rectangular well in the middle of the bed, which seems to be a relic of the antique waist pit.

Shun Mausoleum (Tomb of Li Jing) is 21.90 meters long, 10.12 meters wide and 5.42 meters high.The gate of the tomb is 5° eastward to the south.The tomb is divided into three main rooms: front, middle and back.There is one side room on the east and west sides of the front room and the middle room, and two side rooms on the east and west sides of the back room, totaling eight side rooms.The layout of the front and middle rooms is the same as that of the Qin Mausoleum, except that there are no pictures of dragons playing with pearls and statues of warriors in the middle room. The back room is 5.38 meters long from north to south, 4.35 meters wide and 5.42 meters high.The roof of the room is also painted with lime, and astronomical pictures are painted on it.The ground is paved with bluestone, and the coffin bed is made of four bluestone slabs, with a total length of 4.40 meters, a width of 2 meters, and a thickness of 0.40 meters. There is also a small rectangular well on the center line.

The side chambers are made of bricks, and the side chambers of the two tombs are exactly the same, only slightly different in size. The burial objects of the second tomb were stolen in the early years.Unearthed pottery statue pots, four-ear pots, pots with mouths, celadon pieces, white porcelain pieces, pottery figurines, jade mourning books, stone mourning books, etc. Terracotta figurines: male figurines, all wearing long gowns with square collar or round collar, open to the right, a long belt hanging down on the chest, a waist belt, wide sleeves, round-toed shoes, ingot-toed shoes, straw sandal-shaped shoes or boots.Standing or holding a coupon, holding a sword or a shield.Female figurines: high bun, cicada temples, or arched or holding objects.Dancing female figurines: wearing long-sleeved straight skirts and dance clothes with shawls.There are no dancing figurines in Li Jing's tomb.

Pottery animal images: horse, dog, chicken (rooster crowing; hen hatching eggs), frog, camel, lion, human-headed snake body, human-headed horse body, human-headed dragon body. Jade and stone mourning books: 23 pieces of jade mourning books (12 fragments) were unearthed from Qinling Mausoleum, with the words "Qinling Liye".40 pieces of stone mourning books were unearthed from Shunling.They are all from the top and bottom of the coffin bed in the back room. These two tombs, in terms of architecture, colored paintings, and sculptures, all reflect the residual style of the Tang Dynasty, and also reflect the economic and cultural conditions of this small imperial court.