Innermost Asia : vol.2 / Page 146 (Color Image)

0146	Innermost Asia : vol.2

The hands of the dead, as in all other bodies found at Ast. ix, were by tight wrapping made to
close round rough Vajra-shaped pieces of wood.⁵

Woman's
body in
coffin
ix. 2. c. The third coffin, c, nearest to the back wall, was covered with a sheet of ' Khām ', and was like
that of b without paint. The body of a woman which lay in it was dressed in a shroud of cotton.
Over this was extended a garment of silk, ix. 2. 025 (Pl. LXXVII), now discoloured, ornamented
with a broad band of striped silk recalling the patterns common in modern silks from Margilān.
Below this there lay a small Chinese manuscript roll, Ast. ix. 2. 053, tucked into the fold of the
left arm. This, according to information kindly communicated by Dr. Lionel Giles, contains
a record with a date corresponding to the 8th December, 667, to the effect that several Sūtras were
copied and recited by monks on behalf of the Lady Tung, whose name in religion was Chên-ying,
wife of the official Fan Yen-shih of Kao-ch'ang. A face-cover made of figured polychrome
silk, ix. 2. 022 (Pl. LXXVIII), showing a ' Sasanian ' design, stuck to the shrivelled skin and
could only in part be removed. Of a pair of ' spectacles ' placed over it the metal portion had
completely decayed, while fragments ix. 2. 09 of their silk damask covering survived along the
edges. To the right of the head were found a number of glass beads, ix. 2. 05 (Pl. LXXXIX),
once probably strung ; small corroded fragments of iron, ix. 2. 07, which probably belonged to
a pair of scissors, and a number of thin bronze plates, ix. 2. 04 (Pl. LXXXIX), of varying shapes
and evidently parts of a pendant.

Hanging of
painted silk. While this coffin c was being opened, the silk hanging ix. 2. 054 (Pl. CIX), previously mentioned,
fell down from the rough wooden pegs by which it was fastened to the back wall, merely through
the movement of the air caused by that operation.⁶ It fortunately fell on the ' Khām ' cover of the
coffin and hence suffered damage only in the bottom portion. The two figures of Fu-hsi and his
consort shown in embrace and with entwined serpentine bodies below are fully described by
Mr. Andrews in the List below. For their representation in the tomb Sinologist scholarship will
be able to account. Here it may suffice to draw attention to the mason's emblems in the hands
of the two figures and the constellations marked around them. I may also note that the width of
the silk used, 17⅜ inches, differs both from that ascertained by me to have been usual in silk textiles
of Han and Chin times and that prevalent in the silk banners, &c., recovered at Ch'ien-fo-tung ;⁷
this possibly indicates non-Chinese manufacture.

Sepulchral
inscription
of Ast. ix. 2. The fortunate circumstance that this tomb had remained absolutely intact since the last of
its inmates was laid to rest may claim all the more importance, because one of the inscribed slabs
of burnt clay [for a translation of the inscription see Dr. Giles's App. I, under No. XII] supplies us
with some exact details about the dead man buried here, and in particular with the date of his decease,
A.D. 689. [The second inscribed brick, also translated by Dr. Giles in App. I, VIII, records the
burial of Chên-ying, Fan Yen-shih's wife, who died A.D. 667. It is her body which was found
in coffin c with the document relating to the Sūtras which had been copied on her behalf; see
above.] The special interest of these inscriptions lies in the fact that they allow us to connect
certain burial customs widely represented among these tombs of Astāna with a definite period and
with a local population of undoubtedly Chinese origin.

Finds in
tomb
Ast. ix. 3. The tomb ix. 3, next opened in the same enclosure as ix. 1, contained little besides two badly
battered bodies with heads severed. But we recovered from them two very interesting pieces of
figured silk. One, ix. 3. 02 (Pl. LXXX), which probably had served as a large face-cover but was

National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

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National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Citation Information

OCR Text

National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books