There is a "Han Dynasty Encyclopedia" on the bluestone

"Do you want to dance?" This is not only a trend in 2024, but it can also be found in the Han Dynasty. Scenes of jumping on plates and drums, flying swords and balls, and knocking on plates and clapping festival music were carved on a piece of bluestone.

We speak Chinese and write Chinese characters. We are proud that the Han Dynasty was one of the most powerful dynasties in China. But where can we find traces of the history of the Han Dynasty? The answer is on the bluestone that has been buried underground for more than 2,000 years.

On August 18, the interview team of the online theme promotion event "Why China Walks in Henan" visited the Nanyang Han Painting Museum to see how people in the Han Dynasty used stone as paper and knives as pens to engrave their stories in time.

Nanyang builds a museum for "a brick"

"Han Dynasty stone reliefs are decorative stone carvings on tombs, ancestral halls, and stone towers during the Han Dynasty." Yuan Hang, a tour guide at the Nanyang Han Painting Museum, introduced that among the specialized museums of Han Dynasty stone reliefs, the Nanyang Han Painting Museum was the earliest built, the largest in scale, and has the largest number of collections.

Building a museum for "a brick", what does the Nanyang Han Painting Museum collect?

Han Dynasty painting: Traveling by carriage or horse.

"Han paintings have a wide range of contents and rich records, especially those depicting myths and legends, historical stories, production activities, official homes, social customs and folk customs, etc. The images involved are numerous and vivid." Following Yuan Hang's explanation, the reporter saw a variety of lifelike Han stone reliefs in the exhibition hall. She said: "Han painting art is generally a strong art, a deep and powerful, rough and bold art full of power and movement. Its unique ancient and simple beauty is never seen in other art forms."

Many celebrities have spoken highly of Han Dynasty paintings - Lu Xun believed that only the stone carvings of the Han people were profound and majestic; historian Jian Bozan believed that in Chinese history, there had never been an era in which the forms of real life and popular stories of the time were better carved on stone slabs than the Han Dynasty.

"Han paintings rely on the entire Han Dynasty art, and Han Dynasty art relies on the entire Han Dynasty society. The spirit or fashion of self-realization, continuous exploration, and enterprising spirit at that time was reflected in art creation, that is, creativity and freedom." Yuan Hang said that to understand the Han Dynasty, one must appreciate this "Han Dynasty Encyclopedia" engraved on stone.

Memories carved in stone are reflections on life

In the Nanyang Han Painting Museum, there is a "stone diary" with pictures and words. It is the only one so far that was printed for children. It depicts children's life situations and is extremely rare among Han Dynasty stone reliefs. It provides invaluable and intuitive historical materials for the study of children's plays and acrobatics in the Han Dynasty.

Han Dynasty stone relief with the inscription "Xu Aqu".

"The Xu Aqu Epitaph Stone is known as the treasure of the Nanyang Han Painting Museum and is a national first-class cultural relic. It was unearthed in Lixianggongzhuang, Nanyang City in 1973. There are not only exquisite portraits on the stone, but also it is the earliest epitaph with the name of the tomb owner and the exact date discovered in my country." According to Yuan Hang, the epitaph is a four-character rhyme with a total of 136 characters. It records the unfortunate death of the tomb owner Xu Aqu, who was only five years old in the third year of Jianning in the Eastern Han Dynasty. His parents were very sad and engraved the inscription, hoping that the gods in heaven and their deceased ancestors would take good care of their children in another world.

What kind of entertainment did children in the Han Dynasty like? This stone relief vividly depicts the scene of little Xu Aqu watching a music and dance performance on his 4th birthday - Xu Aqu sits obediently on the couch on the left, with a servant behind him fanning him to keep him cool, and three children in shorts with double buns in their hair in front of them are playing with birds, leading wood pigeons, or driving wood pigeons, having a lot of fun and making little Xu happy.

"The people of the Han Dynasty believed that there was a society with the same structure as the human world in the heaven, the fairy world and the underworld." Yuan Hang said that as a funeral art, Han paintings naturally reflect the funeral content and funeral concepts of the Han people, which are mainly manifested through the three aspects of worship, remembrance and pursuit. The people of the Han Dynasty hoped that the deceased would obtain everything they had or had not obtained in the human world in the fairy world or the underworld, and it is engraved with their attachment to social life and the pursuit of immortal spirit and life.

The "Han Dynasty Encyclopedia" on bluestone reflects cultural confidence

How did the people of the Han Dynasty spend their leisure time? Pitching pots, enjoying music, cockfighting, elephant training, dancing and music, mask performances, bull shooting, hunting, martial arts, fighting... These prosperous scenes of social life are all recorded on the relief stones. Compared with the types of leisure activities of modern people, the people of the Han Dynasty 2,000 years ago were no less.

Han Dynasty Painting: Picture of Four Gods and Celestial Phenomena.

"Han paintings touch every part of social life. Today, we can have a deeper understanding of Han society thanks to the records of these images." Niu Tianwei, director of the academic research department of the Nanyang Han Painting Museum, said that as a search for the roots of China's inherent culture, Han paintings are a direct and reliable form. Because of this, Han paintings have not only attracted the attention of the cultural relics and archaeology circles, and the cultural and art circles, but also disciplines and professions including history, philosophy, folklore, ethnicity, astronomy, metallurgy, architecture, brewing, and textiles.

"The charm of Han paintings actually stems from the economic and social prosperity of the time. The cultural confidence that comes from the heart is carved on this bluestone." Niu Tianwei said that after a long period of refinement, the artistic form of Han paintings still shows a strong vitality that touches us modern people.

The bold exaggeration and deformation, the fast-paced transformation of lines and surfaces in Han paintings create a strong visual impact, and are full of modernity. Looking at Han paintings will undoubtedly give people a spiritual uplift and a sense of pride in the profound Chinese culture.

When it comes to what are the works of art that embody the style of our great country, Han Dynasty paintings can give a definite answer.