There are many caves between the cliffs of the Three Gorges and the fast-flowing water. Because primitive humans have experienced the era of "cave dwelling", many caves have preserved the remains of ancient humans, so many caves are covered with mysterious veils. Therefore, there is an ancient poem: "There are many famous mountains in Yiling, and many caves in Yishan." Such as the "Golden Cave" in Qutangxia, the legend is extremely mysterious. 1958, Yang Diploma, a villager from Bailong Cave in Baiyanshan Mountain, ventured to explore the cave with thick ropes and claw hooks and brought back a willow-shaped Ba-style bronze sword. Based on this, Tong, a famous scholar who studied Bashu culture, created a novel and screenplay "Fog in the Ancient Gorge", which tells the legendary story of mysterious disappearance after fleeing to Jindong during the Chu Dynasty, which aroused strong repercussions at home and abroad. 1996, an expedition composed of China, Britain and Ireland successfully entered the legendary mysterious golden cave, but all they saw in the cave was a pile of white bones, scattered sawdust, and vague words and paintings on the cave wall. Who left it in which year? Remains a mystery. Among these mysterious caves, the most mysterious is the well-known hanging coffin in the cave.
First, the traceability of the hanging coffins in the Three Gorges.
The information of hanging coffins in the Three Gorges was originally from ancient books and folklore. According to scholars' research, the word "hanging coffins" originated in Wuyishan in the 6th century A.D. Xiao Zikai quoted Liang Chenren Gu (A.D. 5 19-58 1) as saying that Wuyishan in Fujian was "a fairy house with thousands of banyan hanging coffins." 1948, the famous ethnologist Rui Yifu put forward "hanging coffin burial" as a proper term for the first time in the article "A Trial Examination of Liao Wei Gelao Nationality". Later, the word "hanging coffin burial" was gradually accepted by many scholars. Chen Mingfang, a scholar who has been committed to the study of rock burial for a long time, defines "hanging coffin burial" as follows: "Hanging coffin burial is a burial custom in which the coffin of a corpse is placed high on the cliffs near the river and the sea, and the mountains and waters are nearby." ? ③
The earliest cliff burial records of the Three Gorges should be at least pushed back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. "Water Classic Note" says: "On the left bank of the river, the cliff stands a hundred feet, and birds are uninhabitable. There is an ember, inserted between cliffs, and the field of vision can be several feet long. It is rumored by the elders that when there was a flood in the past, the cliffs of the ship were all embers, which still exist today, so it was passed down from generation to generation and called the kitchen. " "Inserting the stove" is a hanging coffin. The ancients didn't know the true face of the hanging coffin, and often imagined it as "inserting the stove" ... Imagine how the burnt "fire ember" (similar to charcoal) could be inserted on the cliff forever. Its shape is "several feet long" If it's not a coffin, what is it? After entering the Tang Dynasty, people began to realize that what was hanging on the cliff of the Three Gorges was a hanging coffin. Ken Wang, a general in the Tang Dynasty, also found hanging coffins when crossing the Three Gorges, which is recorded in ancient books. "Taiping Yulan" wrote in volume 559: "Tales of Ghosts" said that when Ken Wang passed the Three Gorges, he saw something like a coffin hanging on the stone wall. If he takes it, it is a coffin, and his hair and bones are hidden. " In the Northern Song Dynasty, Shao Bowen's Houwen recorded a cloud: "The Three Gorges have thousands of stone walls, and birds can't reach apes. There are holes and coffins, big and small, and history can be counted. People in the canyon call it the fairy coffin. " There is a cloud in Su Shi's poem "Out of the Gorge": "Suddenly I was surprised at the end of the Wuxia Gorge, and there was a hole in the rock belly. Looking up at the sky, the stone chamber opens to the south ... the iron raft is in the air, overlooking it. Who constructed the ancients? There are unpredictable waves, the stone sinus sees the sky, and the tile coffin is buried sadly. " The poem describes the hanging coffin in Tieguan Gorge. There are also many records of hanging coffins of the Three Gorges in local chronicles since Ming and Qing Dynasties. These records describe the process of people's gradual understanding of hanging coffins.
When we interpret the scenic spots on both sides of the Xiajiang River, we will be surprised to find that the names of many scenic spots are related to hanging coffins or directly derived from hanging coffins. For example:
Ming Zheng De's "The Records of Kuizhou County" in the case of the Military Book Box states: "The Military Book Box is in Qutang Gorge, which is out of reach if viewed from a distance." Cao Xueqiu's "Notes on Places of Interest in the Middle of Shu" also says: "A box is exposed in Chimao Cave, so it can't be raised. According to legend, it is an ancient art box. "
Fengxiang gorge. Qing Guangxu's "Fengjie County Records" contains: "The Wind Box Gorge is at the foot of the red headland of Qutang Gorge, and the cliff hole can't be raised. It is said that Luban's bellows are also. " Xu Qingzan The Journey to the West wrote: "When there is a wind box gorge in Kuimen, there are many wooden boxes stacked in the cliff, such as bellows, which look like rotten wood and are smaller than coffins, and the scenery is quite similar." Qing Guangxu's "Wushan County Records" contained: "The Wind Box Gorge was built on the hanging wall in the old Dachang County, shaped like a bellows or coffin." "Lubanyang is fifteen miles to the east, with an axe and a bellows on it."
Sword gorge in Sun Tzu's art of war. Qing Jiaqing's "Returning to the State" contains: "The Bingshu Gorge, 20 miles east of the state, has an iron coffin, and the spiritual trace is in the east of Baigou Gorge." Wang Qing and Zheng Shi's "Ji Cheng, Yi Dao, Shu" said: "After crossing the Military Book Gorge, there is a hole in the half stone wall of the gorge, and there are stones in it, which are shaped like a scroll. It is often called a military book. " He Jingming, a writer in the Ming Dynasty, wrote a poem according to the folklore of the Three Gorges: "Empty rock is a book, and the word moss should be destroyed. Determined to win, strong for a thousand years. " ?
Longchuanjiang. The "Badong County Records" published in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty wrote: "There are Xiangxi in the west, with thousands of miles of walls on both sides, and there are open boats in Shixi. About half a mile out of the water, the ship's side can be distinguished. " Xixiang River is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River. There is a boat-like hanging coffin between the stone wall where the stream meets the Yangtze River, which is called Longchuan River by the people.
Xiangzi made it clear that Tongzhi's "Yichang Fuzhi" contained: "Wudu River crosses Box Rock. Go to Yichang, 30 miles north of the city. It is said that there are wooden boxes on the rocks to avoid chaos. "
As can be seen from the above historical records about the hanging coffin burial in the Three Gorges area, the hanging coffin burial in the Three Gorges area has a long history, and the earliest recorded age in ancient books is about 1500 years ago. However, due to the limited scientific and technological level of the ancients, the discovery and understanding of the hanging coffins of the Three Gorges have gone through a long historical process, and various myths have been derived and circulated among the people.
Second, the distribution of hanging coffins in the Three Gorges area
According to the known situation, the geographical distribution of hanging coffins in China is almost all concentrated in the south, mainly distributed in the valleys on both sides of rivers in Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Taiwan Province provinces 1 1 provinces and cities. The hanging coffin burial in the Three Gorges area is a specific area combined with natural geography, and it is also one of the hanging coffin burial areas with the richest cultural content and the most ethnological research value in southern China. Different from the reservoir area formed after the construction of the Three Gorges Project, the hanging coffin burial of the Three Gorges is limited to six counties in the gorge (namely Fengjie, Wushan and Wuxi in Chongqing, Badong, Zigui and Yichang in western Hubei) and cliffs on both sides of the Xiajiang River. Its distribution is characterized by radiation from Xiajiang trunk to tributaries on both sides of the strait, and it is a network structure composed of one line, multiple points and multiple lines in series. Its national attribute and cultural connotation have obvious connections and commonness.
(1) Distribution of mainstream hanging coffins in the Three Gorges
The main stream of the Three Gorges starts from Qutang Gorge in Fengjie and ends at Xiling Gorge in Yichang, with a total length of about 192km. Since ancient times, more than ten famous hanging coffins have been discovered successively:
Red Mountain's "Military Book Box". According to ancient books and local chronicles, the number of coffins in the cave and the relics in the coffins are unknown.
Fenqiang Pavilion. Located in the south bank of Kuimen, it is named after a large number of ancient stone carvings concentrated on the rock wall. There is a cave between rocks about 50 meters above the river, in which there is a hanging coffin.
Golden cave. Natural caves on the cliffs on the south bank of Qutang Gorge. 1958 Summer people went into the cave to look for treasures and brought back a bronze sword of Baqing. 1996, the scientific expedition entered the cave again and found a pile of bones.
Hanging groove. Located between the rugged rocks on the south bank of Qutang Gorge, it is about 70 meters above the river. There is a coffin inside and a square hole with a stake next to it.
Fengxiang gorge. It is located in the semi-rock of Chijiashan on the north bank of Qutangxia, about 100 meters from the top of the mountain and about 70 meters from the river surface. There are three characters "Fengxiang Gorge" in the vertical fissure. 197 1 year, three Xia Min climbed into the Fengfang Gorge from the hanging rock in search of "keel", and found 12 coffins horizontally stacked on wooden stakes in the crevice of the rock, destroyed 8 coffins, and stole a Ba-style bronze sword, wooden scabbard, a copper axe, and a bronze axe. Fengxiangxia area is a rock burial group, and hanging coffins can be seen in two rock crevices 50 meters east of this cliff.
Armored hole. According to the Records of Kuizhou, this cave is said to be the place where the female generals in Song Dynasty hid their armor, which, like Meng Liangti, is of course a kind of attachment. Armor Cave is located between the semi-rocks on the south bank diagonally opposite Fengxiang Gorge, about 100 meters below the river surface. Mr. Tong once wrote a special article on the cultural relics found in the hanging coffins in the armor cave. 1958, Baidicheng Supply and Marketing Cooperative invited an old worker to explore the treasure in the cave and found three coffins. The cultural relics taken out are now in the cultural relics exhibition room of Baidicheng, including a bronze sword of Ba style and a wooden comb.
Tieguan gorge. Nanmu Garden is located in Badong on the south bank of Xiling Gorge. Tieguan Gorge is more than 500 meters long, and there is a row of natural caves on the cliff dozens of meters away from the river. Because of its long history, the coffin hanging in the burial place is as black as iron, so it is named Tieguan Gorge. However, after repeated destruction, none of the coffins in the cave survived.
Sword gorge in Sun Tzu's art of war. Located in the north bank of Zigui County, Xiling Gorge, you can see a rock that is as abrupt as a sword on the cliff, which is the "sword". There is a natural cave between steep rocks about 200 meters downstream of the river. There is a pile of books in the cave, which is said to be the "military book" left by Zhuge Liang when he entered Shu, but it is actually a coffin. 1955, several Sichuan old people entered the cave with ropes, and found two coffins inside, which unveiled the mystery of Sun Tzu's Art of War.
(2) Distribution of hanging coffins in tributaries of the Three Gorges.
The streams flowing into the Xiajiang River on both sides of the Three Gorges are steep canyons, and there are hanging coffins on the cliffs halfway up, mainly including:
Hanging coffins of Caotang River in Fengjie: There are mainly three hanging coffins made of rocks, and only wooden poles are left in the cave.
Staggered Gorge Hanging Coffins and Wushan Four Pavilions: There are two hanging coffins, namely Qianhe Temple, with more than one hanging coffin 10, and only four are left.
Hanging coffins in Daning River (Wuxi) section of Wushan: There are mainly five hanging coffins in Longmen Gorge (also known as TieGuan Xia), Eighth Five Gorge, Feiyun Cave in Cuidi Gorge and Shuikou in Dachang. Most of them are natural caves, each with 1-2 coffins. The hanging coffin hole is at least 40 meters from the water surface and at most 200 meters. It has become a major landscape of the Three Gorges.
Hanging coffins 10 in Daning reach of Wuxi county: rotten boat bay, Moon Cave, Maozishi, coffin rock, mirabilite cave in Huangyan, Sifang cave, Nanmenwan, Fenghuang mountain, nine floors, etc., which can be described as scattered. Located 30 kilometers north of Wuxi County, at the intersection of Daning River and Dongxi River, the hanging coffin burial group of Jingzhuba has 25 coffins, which is very spectacular. During the period of 1979, teachers and students majoring in archaeology from the history department of Sichuan University climbed a high cliff for field investigation and cleaned coffin 18. Two bones, a man and a woman, are teenagers, and there are three bronzes buried with them.
Hanging coffins of Longchuan River in Badong County: Longchuan River was called Xixi Xiangxi in ancient times, named after the hanging coffins were shaped like wooden boats. There are many hanging coffins between the cliffs along the river at the junction with the Yangtze River. According to statistics, there are at least 10 coffins, but most of them are destroyed. Luoping River, 5 kilometers north of Longchuan River, also has hanging coffins in natural caves on cliffs.
Hanging coffin of Jiuwanxi in Zigui County: Jiuwanxi is located on the south bank of Xiling Gorge. It is said that Qu Yuan planted nine orchids on this stream when he was a teenager. Hanging coffins are located on both banks of Jiuwanxi, about15km away from Xiajiang. The coffin rock is about 700 meters high, and there is a big transverse crack between the reddish-brown cliff walls, about 50 meters from the ground, and there are 7 coffins in the crack. There is a folk poem that says, "Since ancient times, coffins and stones have been handed down, birds singing and apes crying are touching, snow drifts across the Dai Xiao, and the wind blows pines and cedars. In spring, flowers will hold a libation ceremony, and at night, the moon shines on the platform. I don't know which dynasty the deceased was from. The coffin is buried in seven holes. " All coffins were destroyed by coffin thieves.
Hanging coffins of the tributary of Qinggan River in Moping, Zigui County: A cliff about120m long and about100m high in Moping Township, south bank of Xiling Gorge, with 13 1 coffins placed in a row of caves and crevices. You can also see a bundle of rope next to the coffin through the telescope. This is the largest hanging coffin burial group found in the Three Gorges area so far, which is of great research value. Although the remains of the coffin have not been excavated in the cave, archaeologists believe that it is possible to explain the eternal mystery of how the hanging coffin was placed through this bundle of rope.
Hanging coffins of Huangbai River in Yiling District: The hanging coffins are located on both sides of Huangbai River about 20 kilometers north of Xiling Gorge. There is a natural cave between the steep rock walls about 100 meters from the ground. The cave is divided into two layers, inside and outside, with more than 30 coffins. There is a big coffin in the center of the cave, about 2 meters long and 1 meter high. Coffins are all made of whole wood, and the wood is harder. Destroyed by coffin thieves many times in history, 1958,1979; More than 20 coffins were pulled down by people who entered the hole twice. Wang Longdong, which faces the coffin rock across the river, is also a kind of six-coffin hanging coffin burial.
From the geographical distribution of hanging coffins in the Three Gorges area, we can see a very obvious distribution feature: the hanging coffins in the main stream of the Xiajiang River are relatively rare, just like the stars and half moon scattered among brilliant galaxies; However, the hanging coffins of tributaries on both sides of the Xiajiang River are all over the world, and the distribution of hanging coffins in the whole Three Gorges area has formed a unique network plate centered on the main stream of the Xiajiang River. The formation of this feature is closely related to the distribution of ethnic tribes in the ancient Three Gorges, which is a reflection of population concentration. The peaks in the gorge are high and the rocks are steep, and there is little flat land for human beings to live and farm. However, the tributary valleys on both sides of the strait are slightly flat, with fertile land and convenient transportation, and most ancient villages are located here. The distribution of hanging coffin burial is the epitome of the distribution of ancient tribes and villages. Understanding this is of great help to study the clan and cultural connotation of hanging coffin burial in the Three Gorges area.
Third, the regional characteristics of the hanging coffin burial in the Three Gorges
Compared with the hanging coffin burial in the south of China, the hanging coffin burial in the Three Gorges area shows its cultural connotation, which not only has its commonness and many similarities, but also has its own personality, that is, the distinctive regional characteristics of the Three Gorges. This is mainly manifested in the following aspects:
(1) hanging coffins are mostly natural selection, and the form is relatively simple. Because the geological structure of the Three Gorges Grand Canyon is mostly limestone, it presents a "karst" landform (karst landform) after water dissolution and infiltration. There are many strange peaks, rocks and caves on both sides of the strait, and the so-called "one mountain with many caves" is a portrayal of the landform of the Three Gorges. Therefore, the hanging coffins of the Three Gorges are generally buried in natural caves, and there are few other types such as manual excavation and hanging coffins. Choosing natural caves (caves and crevices between rock walls) that don't need to be processed as the burial place of hanging coffins reflects the primitiveness and simplicity of hanging coffins in the Three Gorges area, which is closer to the Neolithic pit burial.
(2) Hanging coffins are mostly made of whole wood. Because of the rich forest resources and towering ancient trees in the ancient Three Gorges area, the ancients used local materials to make coffins. The simple processing and rough production of hanging coffins also showed that the production technology at that time was low, and it was still in the backward farming era with a long time.
(3) Hanging coffins should be placed according to local conditions. How are the hanging coffins placed in the caves between cliffs hundreds of meters high? This has always been a mystery that ancient and modern scholars have been struggling to solve. People have different opinions about this, and some even do not hesitate to do field simulation experiments. There are piles (that is, stones, earth or other things are piled under the hanging coffin to raise it), ladders (similar to the siege of ancient wars), geomorphological changes (the water level of ancient rivers is higher than that of modern times, which is close to the burial place of hanging coffins), plank roads and "hanging coffins". Obviously, many methods of placing hanging coffins speculated by people are not suitable for hanging coffins burial in the Three Gorges area, and it is difficult to explain the landform changes, because there has never been such a high water level record in the Three Gorges area since the history of human settlement. Liu Xianren, a scholar in Yichang, believes that the hanging coffin burial in the Three Gorges area has obvious traces of "hanging rope method". There is still a bundle of rope in the hanging coffin cave recently discovered in Moping Township, Zigui, which is an important trace of the "hanging rope method". In modern times, some "treasure thieves" who entered the hanging coffins of the Three Gorges used hanging ropes on cliffs to hang into the caves and succeeded, which can also be used as evidence. It is also worth noting that the "rope hanging method" is an ancient traditional operation technique used by the villagers in the Three Gorges, and it is still widely used by the villagers in collecting medicine, chopping wood, chopping stones and other road construction between cliffs. Of course, this is also related to the brave quality of the people in the gorge. There are also several examples of "plank road method" (that is, drilling holes in rocks to make plank roads). Some scholars have inferred that the "Mengliang Ladder" (65 square holes) on the south bank of Qutang Gorge may be the plank road leading to the hanging coffin burial cave, because there are many hanging coffins nearby, such as hanging troughs, powder-walled halls and armor caves. But even if the plank road is used, it must be assisted by ropes. In a word, the "hanging rope method" seems to have solved the eternal suspense and unsolved case of hanging coffins of the Three Gorges into cliff holes.
Fourth, the era of hanging coffins in the Three Gorges.
The age of hanging coffin burial in the Three Gorges area has been revealed in the above discussion. By measuring the remains of hanging coffins and carbon 14, the burial age can be roughly determined. According to the analysis of the funerary objects, experts pointed out that "most of the funerary objects in the hanging coffins in the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River are willow Bashi sword, Chu sword, Chu-style high-backed wooden comb, four and a half coins of Emperor Wendi in the Western Han Dynasty, long-billed waterfowl and hooked snake in the Western Han Dynasty, and five baht coins in the Eastern Han Dynasty." . Mr. Shu Zhimei, who personally visited Xiling Gorge in the early 1980s, said: "The coffin plate was found in Xinping Coffin Rock in Yichang and sent to the Institute of Archaeology of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences for radiocarbon dating. Results 80 years before and after 2270, 90 years before and after 2275, about 325 BC, that is, the middle and late Warring States period. " The evidence reflected by the two is basically the same age, so it is also credible. During the Warring States period, the Three Gorges area was a place where Ba and Chu lived together, and its people were "half Ba and half Chu", which was also a place where Ba and Chu competed. "Eight Records of Yang Hua's Country" says: "Chu and Bashu attacked, so they set up Pass, Yangguan Pass and Mianguan Pass." According to ancient scholars' research, there are two passes: one in Bashan County (Changyang) and the other in the belly of fish (Fengjie). The Ba-style sword and Chu-style sword in the hanging coffin were the reflection of the Ba-Chu War at that time. Therefore, it can be considered that the era of hanging coffin burial in the Three Gorges area can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties more than 3,000 years ago, and its popularity reached its peak in the Warring States Period and gradually became scarce in the Han Dynasty. Only one or two hanging coffins found coins in the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty, which is the best proof. After the Qin dynasty destroyed Ba, Ba tribes had dispersed and disintegrated, and most of them migrated out of the Three Gorges area.
Five, the Three Gorges hanging coffins buried family
The age of hanging coffin burial is closely related to clan. Since Shang Dynasty and Western Zhou Dynasty, there have been many ethnic tribes in the Three Gorges area, but in the Warring States period, Ba people and Chu people were the longest and dominated. The name Pakistan was first seen in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Yin Ruins. It was called "Pakistan" at that time, and it was a very powerful country. According to the textual research in Mr. Gu Jiegang's Atlas of Chinese History, "Pakistan" is located between Hanshui and Bajiang, south of Chu and Deng. According to scholars' research, Ba people were one of the eight tribes that participated in the attack. Yang Shoujing's Notes on Shuijing said: "Peng who attended the pastoral pledging conference is a famous Ba people in the Spring and Autumn Classic, and should be a descendant of Wuding Ba people." "The name of Ba people is the general name of Peng people, Zongbei people, Rong barbarians, Yuegou barbarians, Langzhongyi people and Baihuyi people." Yang Shoujing was born in the Three Gorges. He knows the geography and history of the Three Gorges very well, and his views are very insightful. "Huayang Guozhi Bazhi" said: "Its land is east to the belly of fish", that is, the Three Gorges area east of Chongqing today is the area where Ba people live. Especially in the hanging coffin burial of the Three Gorges, there are more than 10 places with willow-shaped Ba Jian unearthed, which is consistent with the area and age of Ba people's activities in the Three Gorges, and can prove that the owner of the hanging coffin burial of the Three Gorges is Ba people. However, Mr. Chen Mingfang, who has devoted himself to the study of hanging coffin burial in China for many years and made remarkable achievements, has another view. She believes: "The hanging coffin burial in the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River may be related to the ancients Xiang and Yan Chong here." "It can be considered that the hanging coffin burial in the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River is the burial custom of Gupu people and Vietnamese descendants." Mr. Lin Xiang, a famous scholar who studies Bashu culture, also holds the same view that "the cliff burial in Xiajiang area of eastern Sichuan may be the remains of Guqi Township and Yanzerg." They don't agree with the Pakistanis for the same reason, that is, "Pakistan is the country name, not the country name." At the end of last century, Mr. Duan Yu, a famous scholar in Sichuan, introduced the new achievements in the study of ancient Bashu civilization. He pointed out that "all the ethnic groups living and reproducing in this area in ancient times were also collectively called Ba, from which the concepts of Ba people, Ba people, Ba country and Ba culture were derived. In this sense, the name "Ba" contains multi-level complex connotations such as land, people, nation, country and culture, and is a compound concept. " This may be the best answer to whether Pakistan is the country name, not the country name, and whether the owner of the Three Gorges hanging coffin burial is Pakistan. Of course, in ancient times, there were many ethnic groups living in the Three Gorges area, and some achievements have been made in the study of the origin and evolution of these ethnic groups, but most of them are contended and inconclusive. In the legendary era of ancient history, the Three Gorges area belonged to the Miao people in the south, that is, Mr. Zhang said in "A Brief History of Chu Culture": "The aborigines in Jianghan area in Neolithic Age are the legendary three Miao people." Then there is the "Baipu" of "Baiyue": Zigui in the gorge was the country of Kuiyue in ancient times, and some scholars believe that Kuiyue is a branch of Baiyue; The Three Gorges area is also a place full of hundreds of people. Some scholars have verified that "Pujin is in Hubei and Jiangxi", which is the same as the area where Ba people live. Therefore, many scholars believe that Ba people may be descendants of Yue and Pu, or close relatives.
Sixth, the cultural connotation of hanging coffin burial in Three Gorges.
Since 1000 years ago, strange hanging coffins were found in the south of China, many people with lofty ideals have been exploring the origin and background of hanging coffins. There is no doubt that the special form of funeral custom is the product of a special ideology and religious belief formed by human beings under specific historical conditions. When discussing the origin of hanging coffin burial, scholars generally think that it is the evolution of human burial customs. Hanging coffin burial is closely related to prehistoric human caves and Neolithic tombs, and it is a reflection of some ethnic and religious concepts. Specific to the reasons for the formation of hanging coffin burial custom, it is a matter of opinion, and there are many speculations and speculations. On the whole, there are the following points:
(1) ancestor worship theory. Putting the bodies of parents and ancestors high on the high cliff near the water is not only convenient for future generations to pay tribute, but also allows ancestors to bless the prosperous heroic spirit of future generations. The ancients often said: A bird of the Zhang family in the Tang Dynasty, A Year in the Ruling and Opposition, said: "Wu Ximan's parents died, made a coffin, dug a niche in Linjiang Mountain and buried it. They hung the coffin from the mountain, and the tallest one thought it was the most filial, so they stopped offering sacrifices to life. " Gan Long's "Records of Gongxian County" says: "There are many spines in Gongxian County ... According to legend, there are Luoyin people who taste their ancestors with spines, but they are taught to hang coffins on cliffs and their descendants are tall. So get lucky for high rocks. "
(2) Purdue's soul theory. The ancients called the human body "shape" and the soul attached to the body, that is, "attached to the spirit of the shape and attached to the spirit of the qi." Some scholars believe that coffins (especially ship coffins) are like canoes, taking the dead away from the body and soul and taking them to heaven. The "evocation of the soul" in Chu Ci shows the primitive soul concept of "crossing the dead" and the ancient national customs in the Three Gorges area.
(3) "Ascension to Heaven" and the theory of longevity. The ancients thought that the cliff was closest to the Nine Wonderlands, so they called the hanging coffin cave "fairy hall" and the hanging coffin burial "fairy tomb". Children and grandchildren bury their ancestors' bones on unattainable cliffs, just like entering a misty fairy realm, which can not only avoid the interference of ghosts, but also pay high tribute to their ancestors.
(4) the theory of returning to the original or returning to the cave. The so-called water comes back to the water, from the mountain, back to the mountain, living in the cave and back to the cave. Primitive humans once had a "cave dwelling" era, hunting in the mountains and fishing in the water, and they had a deep attachment to nature. Hanging ancestors in cliff caves by the water means sending them back to nature. In A Dream of Red Mansions, Lin Daiyu's "mourning poems" are the embodiment of retro ideas.
In addition, there are theories such as "protecting corpses" and "inhibiting smallpox infection". Most of them are born with the hope of hanging coffins, which is unconvincing. The above four main viewpoints are very popular among scholars who study hanging coffins at home and abroad. All the theories are well-founded and convincing.
In a word, the hanging coffin burial in the Three Gorges has unique cultural value, which clearly reflects the humanistic and religious thoughts of the early Three Gorges people from one side.