In May, 2021, Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology excavated a family cemetery of the Eastern Han Dynasty in the southeast of Chengren Village, Beidu Street, Weicheng District, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province. The cemetery is about 15.7 kilometers away from the site of Chang ‘an City in the south and 7.8 kilometers away from Anling in the southeast. It belonged to the territory of Anling County in Youfufeng, a captain of Sili in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Two gold and bronze Buddha statues unearthed in the tomb of M3015 are relics of the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
The six tombs in the family cemetery are similar in shape and scale, sitting west to east, and distributed side by side in the north and south, with a distance of 15~20 meters. They are all tombs of sloping tombs. Take M3015 as an example, this tomb is a multi-chamber soil cave tomb with sloping pyramid-shaped mound, which sits from west to east, with a cross-shaped plane, consisting of pyramid-shaped mound, tunnel, main tomb, back tomb and south and north chambers, with a total horizontal length of 25.3m and a depth of 7.5m.. The south, north and west walls of the pyramid-shaped mound are left with one level of earth steps at a depth of 1 meter, and the tunnel is short. The plane of the main tomb is square, with a depth of 3.3 meters and a width of 3.4 meters. The rear burial chamber is wide, with an east-west rectangular plane, with a depth of 4.2 meters and a width of 2.24 ~ 2.36 meters. The shape and structure of the chambers on the north and south sides are basically the same, and the planes are all rectangular in the east-west direction. Two gold and bronze Buddha statues were unearthed on the ground in the northwest corner of the main tomb. One is a statue of Sakyamuni, with a small bun and a flat top, wearing a through-shoulder cassock. The clothing lines are radially distributed from left shoulder to right shoulder, and the trough of clothing lines is between right chest and right arm. Bend your elbow with your left hand and hold a corner of the cassock; Put a fearless seal on the right hand (hand disability). The feet stand on the lotus seat. The overall height is 10.5 cm, and the base diameter of the pedestal is 4.7 cm. The other is five bronze Buddha statues, with a height of 15.8 cm and a width of 6.4 cm. There are five Buddha statues sitting in relief on the front, with a small bun and a knot on the lotus seat. Both hands are meditation-sealed, and the round soil prismatic clothing pattern can be seen at the elbow bending part, with a peach-shaped head light and backlight behind them. The meat bun, face, dressing way and clothing pattern of Buddha statues all have typical Gandhara sculpture style. According to the preliminary results of material analysis, the two Buddha statues are all made of Cu-Sn-Pb alloy, and the production process is Fan Zhu.
The funerary objects in this batch of Eastern Han tombs are mainly pottery and glazed pottery, with a small amount of bronze and lead harness. Pottery includes cans, pots, bottles, cases, plates, ear cups, spoons, wells, warehouses, stoves, etc. Pottery animals include chickens, ducks, dogs and pigs; Bronzes are mainly copper coins, bronze mirrors, crossbows, cutters, etc. The funerary objects have the typical characteristics of the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The inscription date of Zhu Shutao jar unearthed in M3019 is “November 24th of the first year of Yanxi” (158 years), which can be used as a yardstick for the burial time of this family cemetery. The owner of the cemetery should be a middle-ranking official or landlord in Anling County or Chang ‘an County in the Eastern Han Dynasty, with certain family power or economic strength.
It was less than 100 years since Buddhism was introduced into China in the first year of Yanxi. It was generally believed that Buddhist image elements had appeared in the southwest and southeast of China during this period, but they were all attached to decorative patterns and components such as cash cows, soul bottles and buildings, while independent Buddha statues with religious significance did not appear until the Sixteen Kingdoms period. According to experts’ judgment, the two Buddha statues unearthed in Chengren cemetery are the earliest gold and copper Buddha statues unearthed in domestic archaeology. According to the preliminary results of modeling characteristics, manufacturing process analysis and metal composition detection of the Buddha statue, it can be recognized that it is a gold and copper Buddha statue with Gandhara style made in China. The excavation of these two gold and bronze Buddha statues is of great research value for the introduction of Buddhist culture and its China.
(Li Ming and Zhao Zhanrui)