Cliff burial, also called hanging-coffin burial or cliff-cave burial, is a peculiar burial custom of entombing the dead on the cliff side. The burials were located in mountains,forests or river valleys and placed on c...Cliff burial, also called hanging-coffin burial or cliff-cave burial, is a peculiar burial custom of entombing the dead on the cliff side. The burials were located in mountains,forests or river valleys and placed on cliff sides separately with the entrance left open. As recorded in historical texts and discovered in archaeological work,their remains are distributed concentratedly within three regions of south China, in 10 sub-groups of smaller areas: within the mountainous and hilly region of southeast China-the upper Mingjiang River valley, the water system of the eastern bank of the Poyang Lake,and the mountainous area of southern Zhejiang; within the upper Yangtze River valley-the Xiajiang River area, the Qingjiang River valley,the Yuanshui River valley, the water system of the Wujiang River,the border land of Sichuan,Yunnan and Guizhou provinces,and the water system of the Minjiang River; and the upper Xijiang River valley. This type of burial is also seen in neighboring southeast Asia. According to reliable chronological material,cliff burial originated in the Shang-Zhou period and lasted to Ming-Qing times,and remains in practice even today. In the choice of burial locations,the preparation of bomb furniture and grave goods and the adoption of burial manners,the cliff burial cultures in different areas and periods show definite evolutionary continuity and inheritance,while their differences reflect the features of their developmental stages. Based on these distinctive features, the author divides the cliff burials into seven types,i. e. the Jiuquxi type of Shang-Zhou period,Wulingshan type from Six Dynastied period to Tang-Song times,Nanguanghe type and Mingjiang type around SongMing period,and Xijiang type of Tang to Qing periods. A preliminary study shows that the above cultural types were aboriginal cultures created by some sub-groups of the Nanman people, and the intergroup cultural relationships are the reflection of the migration and mutual exchange of the above subgroups in history.展开更多
文摘Cliff burial, also called hanging-coffin burial or cliff-cave burial, is a peculiar burial custom of entombing the dead on the cliff side. The burials were located in mountains,forests or river valleys and placed on cliff sides separately with the entrance left open. As recorded in historical texts and discovered in archaeological work,their remains are distributed concentratedly within three regions of south China, in 10 sub-groups of smaller areas: within the mountainous and hilly region of southeast China-the upper Mingjiang River valley, the water system of the eastern bank of the Poyang Lake,and the mountainous area of southern Zhejiang; within the upper Yangtze River valley-the Xiajiang River area, the Qingjiang River valley,the Yuanshui River valley, the water system of the Wujiang River,the border land of Sichuan,Yunnan and Guizhou provinces,and the water system of the Minjiang River; and the upper Xijiang River valley. This type of burial is also seen in neighboring southeast Asia. According to reliable chronological material,cliff burial originated in the Shang-Zhou period and lasted to Ming-Qing times,and remains in practice even today. In the choice of burial locations,the preparation of bomb furniture and grave goods and the adoption of burial manners,the cliff burial cultures in different areas and periods show definite evolutionary continuity and inheritance,while their differences reflect the features of their developmental stages. Based on these distinctive features, the author divides the cliff burials into seven types,i. e. the Jiuquxi type of Shang-Zhou period,Wulingshan type from Six Dynastied period to Tang-Song times,Nanguanghe type and Mingjiang type around SongMing period,and Xijiang type of Tang to Qing periods. A preliminary study shows that the above cultural types were aboriginal cultures created by some sub-groups of the Nanman people, and the intergroup cultural relationships are the reflection of the migration and mutual exchange of the above subgroups in history.
