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China Archeological Secrets
¡¶Underground Guard of Honor¡·
Brief Introduction£º
¡¡ In September, 1969, a tomb of an Eastern Han Dynasty general was uncovered accidentally under the Leitai Temple dedicated to the god of thunder, which is 1 kilometer away to the north of Wuwei County, Gansu Province. 231 relics were found in the tomb, including 3 silver seals inscribed with the Chinese characters of Jiang Jun, which means "the General". Most importantly, there is a grand bronze guard of honor in the tomb, which comprises 38 horses, a cattle, 14 chariots, 17 bronze soldiers with various weapons in hand, such as spears and halberds, and 29 horse and grooms. Altogether there are 99 bronze artifacts, which stand in several groups to form the whole guard of honor. The one that leads the guard is a horse in full gallop, which steps on the back of a flying swallow with only one hoof. The horse is neighing with a rising head, tail and three hoofs in the wind, while the swallow looks back with eyes of surprise, and the high speed of the galloping horse is perfectly set off by the great vigor of the statuette. In Song of the Flying Horse, a poem by the famous poet Li Bai in Tang Dynasty, there is a line, which runs "looking back with a smile at the purple swallow", which is similar in the method of depiction as the bronze galloping horse.
