According to documents, the upper class in the Tang Dynasty was simply made of gold and silver. Compared with Wang Jian's boasting of "five thousand faces with the same gold plate" in the Tang Dynasty, and the ostentation and extravagance of 3,400 pieces of silver bowls of emperor's size presented by Wang in Huainan during the Taihe period in the Tang Dynasty, the number unearthed in hejia village is only nine hairs of the gold and silver vessels in the Tang Dynasty.
Among the gold and silver vessels unearthed in hejia village, cups, plates, bowls, boxes, pots and other vessels are the most common, and these vessels are all mentioned in the documents of the Tang Dynasty. For example, when the Book of Old Tang Dynasty was passed on to Hu Chubin, it was said that he had a quick mind and liked to write after drinking. Every time Tang Gaozong asked him to write an article, "Gold and silver cups must hold wine", which shows that cups are vessels for holding wine; No matter how the poem "Answering Courtiers" says that "clams are served in silver plates", it can be seen that plates are containers for food. Like cups and plates, bowls, boxes and pots are also used as tableware. In fact, in the upper class of the Tang Dynasty, it has become a common practice to make tableware with gold and silver. The reason is not only to show off wealth and seek pleasure, but more importantly, it is related to Taoist immortal thought. As early as the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty believed that gold "thought that eating utensils could prolong life", and the nobles in the Tang Dynasty took this as the basis and competed to imitate it, so it became a common practice.
Even so, not everyone can use gold and silver utensils. According to Tang, officials "can't use pure gold as a first-class vessel"; Also, "under the six products, turbid silver should not be used." At the same time, gold and silver utensils are also ornamental, so the production of gold and silver utensils pays attention to both practicality and ornamental. Many gold and silver cups with exquisite patterns have been unearthed in hejia village, among which the gold cup with cloisonne pattern is the most colorful. The Jinbei is 6 cm high, 6.9 cm in diameter and weighs 230 grams. One side of it has a hoop ear, which is made of gold wire and welded on the cup belly. The pattern protrudes from the table, which is very dynamic. Tuanhua is an auspicious decorative pattern, which was very common in the Tang Dynasty. There are also many ethnic patterns on these gold and silver vessels to express blessings and auspicious contents. For example, the surface of the gold-plated double goose silver box is carved with face-to-face double geese to be intimate. Two geese stand on the lotus root covered with lotus seeds. In ancient times, the wild goose was a symbol of marriage between men and women, meaning that the husband sang with the woman and never separated; On the other hand, lotus seeds mean more children and more happiness. In addition, the tortoise symbolizing longevity was hammered at the bottom of the gilded tortoise silver plate, and the parrot symbolizing wisdom was carved on the outer wall of the gilded parrot silver pot, all of which expressed similar beautiful feelings. In addition, the carved silver pot of "Dance Horse Cup" unearthed in hejia village is a fine product. The record of horse dancing was first seen in the Three Kingdoms, Cao Wei, and flourished in harmony. However, at that time, ordinary officials and people could not enjoy the horse dance performance, because the horse dance program was mainly performed for the emperor. Tang Xuanzong was most keen on horse dancing. It is said that he has 400 dancing horses. When he got a good horse from the Great Wall, he was overjoyed and began to train himself. In the grand celebration of Qian Qiu Festival (namely Xuanzong's birthday) every year, horse dancing performance is essential. Zhang was the prime minister of Xuanzong. He wrote more than 65,438+00 songs about vault, and one of the Millennium Yuefu poems about vault was the most ingenious: "Wrists and knees crawl, but arrogance does not advance." "There is even a cup for the last banquet, and the tail is drunk." No wonder Xuanzong liked it so much that he could kneel down to celebrate his birthday and get drunk and pretend to be naive! People in the Tang dynasty didn't have a chance to watch the horse dance performance, but today people are lucky enough to see it. This gold-plated silver pot is engraved with the wonderful pattern of "dancing horse cup", which is the only image material that can be confirmed as dancing horse at present and has very important historical value.
The silver pot looks like a leather bag and is 14.8 cm high. The upper end of the pot has a winding small mouth, much like the leather bag used by northern nomads. This may be related to the fact that the dancing horse came from the Great Wall. The hanging beam and lid of the pot are plated with gold, and two "dancing horse cups" with the same image are plated with gold, which are decorated on both sides of the belly of the silver pot respectively. The design of "Dance Horse Cup" is made by molding and hammering. The protruding ampulla surface has a three-dimensional effect. Appreciate this dancing horse, but see its mane flying, tassels fluttering. When dancing, it suddenly makes the action of "kneeling down to raise a glass to sacrifice, sacrificing its life in the boundless sky". Although we can't see the embarrassing state of the vault and hear the beautiful music, we can imagine and feel the joy of Tang Xuanzong.
Another treasure worth mentioning unearthed in hejia village is a silver sachet. This sachet is a sphere with a diameter of 4.5 cm, which is connected by a hanging chain. The chain length is 75 cm and the overall weight is 36 g, which is just suitable for women to wear on clothes. Because it needs to be opened, the ball of the sachet is divided into two hemispheres, which can be opened and closed at will; There are two concentric rings and a semicircular golden urn in the sphere; The sphere, the concentric ring and the gold bowl are connected through a movable shaft; Spices are put in a golden bowl. Due to the weight of the golden bowl and the elasticity of the shaft, no matter how the ball swings, the golden bowl always remains horizontal, and spices and burnt ashes will not leak from the ball. Now I finally understand why ancient women don't have to worry about spilling spices when hanging sachets.
The rise of gold and silver wares in the Tang Dynasty originated from the noble's belief that gold and silver can prolong life, and from the noble's collection and love of foreign gold and silver wares introduced from the Silk Road. In order to suit their own interests, local officials presented gold and silver treasures to the emperor in the name of "gifts". In order to win over powerful ministers, the emperor sometimes gave them a large number of gold and silver utensils. The demand of nobles stimulated the rapid development of gold and silver ware manufacturing industry in Tang Dynasty, and at the same time, the number of gold and silver wares collected by rich households also increased. On the one hand, gold and silver vessels are placed indoors for use and appreciation; On the other hand, gold and silver wares are property, and sometimes they need to be kept secret. So some gold and silver utensils were buried underground by their owners, and some were buried underground forever for some reason, and they were not discovered until today.
There are only a handful of records in the literature and few archaeological discoveries about the cellar storage of gold and silver utensils, but these data alone are enough to show that burying gold and silver jewelry has become a trend in the Tang Dynasty.
According to experts' research, hejia village cellar was the property of Fen in Tang Dynasty, because it was located in the same residential area as Fen. In 755 AD, during the Anshi Rebellion, the emperor fled, and the rebels occupied Chang 'an. Before Fen people fled, they buried the gold, silver and jade articles in the ground. This is the hejia village cellar. However, in recent years, scholars have put forward different views. Mr. Qi Dongfang thinks that hejia village's cellar is the property of the government and is hidden by Liu Zhen, an employee, while hejia village's cellar is near Liu Zhenjia. Renting envoys in Tang Dynasty is an official post specially set up by the central government of Tang Dynasty to collect local taxes. When Liu is really a rentier, he has great power. According to the literature, he "closed the door, closed the door." In 783 AD, there was another rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, which was called "Renyuan mutiny". This time, the emperor and officials fled Chang 'an again. Serina Liu did not escape, but became an official of the puppet government. Before he fled, he asked his nephew to transport 20 packages of gold and silver brocade. Based on this, the researcher thinks that the property hoarded by hejia village should have been collected by Serina Liu before he tried to escape. After putting down the rebellion, Serina Liu was executed by the court, so no one knew about this cellar. In addition, some people think that hejia village's cellar belongs to Zhang Zhi's department or Zuo Shang's department of Shaofu, which is an institution specially managed and manufactured by the central government of Tang Dynasty.
At present, who is the owner of hejia village cellar is still inconclusive, and further research by experts is needed.