Innermost Asia : vol.2 / Page 151 (Color Image)

0151	Innermost Asia : vol.2

having been put into the mouth of a dead man with the object ' that by the means of this present
he may be able to gain the good graces of the king of the Great Mountain (the king of hells) '.¹⁹

We may reasonably attribute a similar purpose to the coins found in several of the Astāna
tombs, whether copper ' cash ' of the Wu-shu type in i. 3, 6 and T'ang issues with the K'ai-yüan
legend in ix. 2. b, or else substitutes. Among the latter the small silver discs from i. 3, resembling
Chinese copper coins with their square holes, are curious as possibly indications of a desire to
replace the current coinage of the Empire by something more valuable. On the other hand the strings
of paper ' cash ' from iii. 4 and the small circular pieces of bark from ix. 2 take us straight to the
paper money still used in present-day Chinese worship of the Manes and attested by literary
evidence since the third and fourth centuries A. D.²⁰ There is reason to believe that the principle
of avoiding waste in funeral rites, which prompted the substitution of such counterfeits, did not
altogether prevent the deposit, on occasion, of articles of some value with the dead of Kao-ch'ang.
Small ornaments of silver and gold were, it is true, found by us only in i. 3. But the systematic
plundering of the tombs, which frequently included a minute examination of the bodies, would
scarcely have been so extensive had it not occasionally met with rewards of some intrinsic value.

The undisturbed condition of ix. 2 affords us a welcome indication of the objects that probably
formed the usual deposits within the coffins in these Astāna tombs. We have seen that in the case
of Fan Yen-shih, ix. 2. b, they were limited to a small basket with a comb, copper coins and some
small pieces of silk; also a paper hat marking rank. Cushions of plain cotton fabrics and waste
papers served merely to fill up empty space. The matting placed under the body, and found with
other bodies also, may possibly have been first used in some funeral rite. In the case of the ladies
buried in the same tomb the articles placed within the coffins comprised small articles of personal
use, such as a mirror, comb, scissors, glass beads, cosmetics, &c. Similar petty objects were
found also in i. 5, 8. The small lacquered boxes and baskets found in iii. 2; vi. 3, 4; ix. 6 are likely
to have held objects such as were placed in the coffins. The model garments of paper or silk, such
as the shoes, cuffs, hat, &c., recovered in ii. 1, vi. 1–3, together with the models of arms made of
paper or wood, from vi. 2, vii. 2, were all meant to symbolize the dead's personal outfit for another
life. They had probably also been deposited within the coffins. That writings, apart from waste
papers, had been placed with the dead there is evidence only in the Chinese roll found in the fold
of the left arm of ix. 2. c. Whether the fine silk painting to which the fragments found in iii. 4
belonged, and the paper paintings ii. 1, vi. 3 with scenes showing the kind of after life desired for
the deceased, were placed within coffins or outside is uncertain.

The custom of providing the dead with food for use in their new abode is well known to have
prevailed in China from very early times, but appears to have given way later to sacrificial offerings
upon the tomb.²¹ It is therefore of special interest to find evidence of the ancient practice throughout
the Astāna tombs. The manner of depositing these provisions is best illustrated by the arrange-
ments which were observed intact in ix. 2. Here pottery as well as wooden vessels of different shapes
painted in a peculiar fashion were found placed near the head ends of the coffins, partly on a low
wooden pedestal and partly on a separate little platform. We came upon similar jars, bowls, cups,
&c., in i. 1, 2, 4; ii. 2; iii. 2; viii. 1, &c. The wooden vessels were in almost all cases shallow,
thus showing clearly that they were made specially for funeral purposes. But the lacquered trays
from ii. 2, vi. 3, and that marked Ast. 01 (Pl. XCI), as well as the wooden food bowls of antique shape
from ii. 2, vi. 3, had obviously been in ordinary use before deposit. Fragments of a wooden pedestal
similar to that in ix. 2 were found also in iii. 4. Remains of food thus placed outside the coffins

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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