The "Rap and Rap Figurines" in Jiulong Mountain

The picture above is a group of sculptures imitating the "rap figurines" of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Pictures 2 to 6 above are the streets of the ancient town by the river

The art of rap is easy and cheerful The artistic style is very popular among people. In fact, this kind of literary and artistic life has existed since ancient times. In the Mianyang Municipal Museum, there is an Eastern Han Dynasty rap figurine unearthed from a Han tomb in Jiulong Mountain. The playful and exaggerated shape vividly reproduces the development status of Mianyang folk rap art during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In the "Mountain Cave Mansion - Exhibition of Mianyang Cliff Tombs" exhibition area on the second floor of Mianyang Museum, there is an area dedicated to displaying a group of pottery figurines unearthed from cliff tombs of the Han Dynasty. The themes are rich, ranging from From agricultural production to livestock and poultry breeding, to banquets, singing and dancing entertainment, etc., the Eastern Han Dynasty rap figurines unearthed from the Han Dynasty cliff tombs in Jiulong Mountain are one of them.

? Many people do not know that the unearthing of this cultural relic is somewhat of a drama of "accident and accident".

In June 1986, Gong Fafa, then deputy director of the Mianyang Museum and deputy director of the Mianyang Cultural Management Office, and his colleagues went to the riverside field to conduct a cultural relic investigation. They heard from local people that the nearby Jiulong Mountain The masses dug holes on the mountain ridges to collect water due to drought, and discovered "many masters", which attracted their attention, and they immediately went to investigate.

In Baishabao, Jiulong Mountain, there is a vertical hole dug by local farmers to collect water. There is accumulated water inside, and there are pottery figurines and pots exposed on the water. Gong Fafa immediately entered the cave to take out these cultural relics. Since water accumulated in the tomb for a long time to form silt, he suspected that there were other cultural relics in the tomb, so he stood in the stagnant water and pinched small pieces in the silt with his hands. After an unknown amount of time, his hands suddenly touched a shaped object. Gong Fafa dug away the mud bit by bit, and then used his hands to explore. The feel showed that it was a large human-shaped pottery figurine. Then, he carefully picked up the pottery figurine and found that it was a vivid rap figurine. When they were handed out of the hole, the colleague above said that the pottery figurine was missing a leg. He pinched it in the mud for a long time and found the leg, ensuring its complete repair.

? This rap figurine is made of standing red pottery, 58 cm high, with a flower on the head and a scarf tied at the forehead. The upper body is naked, the belly is round, the buttocks are tilted back, and the legs are slightly separated. She is bent, wearing large trousers with wrinkles on the lower part of the trouser legs, and is barefoot. The figurine is smiling, sticking out its tongue as if rapping, and smacking its belly with both hands. It is endearingly naive, with exaggerated and vivid shapes and meticulous depictions. Later, this cultural relic was rated as a national first-class cultural relic.

? Unexpectedly discovered "national treasure" The rap art of Sichuan in the Han Dynasty. This Eastern Han rap figurine in the Mianyang Museum depicts the typical image of rap artists during the Han Dynasty, and this image is the extremely important role of rap art in the Han Dynasty. Proof of prevalence.

? The art of rapping has been a popular and mature folk art category in the Qin and Han Dynasties. Historical records show that after Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, he "built hundreds of palaces and promoted thousands of talents." During the Han Dynasty, the art of singing and rap flourished. According to records, there is also a record in "Lun on Salt and Iron·Sans Insufficiency" of the Western Han Dynasty that "the rich prayed for the names of mountains, looked at the mountains and rivers, played drums with oxen, and played with statues of women." It can be seen that the art of rap is particularly popular among the wealthy. At that time, artists engaged in rap and rap were called "actors". There is a record in the "Book of Han" that "there are many dwarf actors who laugh before". This sentence is extremely informative. The first thing to point out is that the group of rap artists at that time was very special. They were generally short in stature and had low social status. The word "laugh" can be seen that in order to survive, rap artists do their best to win people's smiles with exaggerated body movements, facial expressions and impromptu rapping. At the same time, the "not lacking in the past" in this sentence also reveals that the art of rap existed before the Han Dynasty, and the performance level of the rap art in the Han Dynasty was not lower than the previous level. It is worth mentioning that currently, the rap art unearthed in China There are about 20 rap figurines, mainly concentrated in Sichuan and Chongqing, while in Sichuan they are distributed in Chengdu, Mianyang, Suining, Leshan and other places. In terms of quality and grade of cultural relics, those unearthed in Chengdu and Mianyang are the most representative.

? Why do rap figurines prefer Sichuan? This should be related to the economic conditions of Sichuan in the Han Dynasty. "Hanshu Geography" records that Bajun, Shujun and Guanghan County "have fertile land, fertile rivers and fields", rich mountains and forests, bamboos, vegetables and fruits, " The people eat rice and fish, so they don’t have to worry about years of famine, and their customs don’t let them know sorrow.” Perhaps it is precisely because of this that folk literature and art, including rap art, flourish in Sichuan.

? The literary style of Mianyang in the Han Dynasty As an important part of Sichuan, the rap art of Mianyang in the Han Dynasty also developed extensively, and the rap figurines are the most favorable proof.

In the Mianyang Municipal Museum, there are 4 Eastern Han Dynasty rap figurines. Except for 1 old collection, the other 3 were unearthed from the Han Dynasty Tombs Group in Jiulong Mountain, Hebian Town, High-tech Zone, and No. 2 Hejiashan in the suburbs of Mianyang. Tomb, Han Dynasty cliff tomb in Kongque Village, Wujia Town, Fucheng District. In Anzhou District, Santai County and other places in Mianyang, there are also Han Dynasty rap figurines unearthed. In the Han Dynasty, there was a funeral custom of "treating death as life", emphasizing that "a rich burial is a virtue, and a thin burial is despicable". Among the rich and powerful, they enjoy themselves to the fullest during their lifetime, and they should also enjoy the same after death, thereby leaving precious wealth to future generations.

It can be inferred from the distribution range of the unearthed rap figurines that the rap art in Mianyang during the Han Dynasty has been widely popularized. ?

? Appreciating the art of rap is not just for the rich and powerful. The artistic characteristics of banter and comedy allow the art of rap to satisfy the public's hedonic psychology. Naturally, it is not ruled out that some rap artists are forced to make a living and cannot enter wealthy families, so they have to perform in the streets among the people.

The rap figurines in Mianyang vary in size and shape. Among them, the rap figurines unearthed from the Jiulongshan Han Tomb are 58 centimeters high. The rap figurines unearthed from Kongque Village, Wujia Town, Fucheng District are only 32 centimeters high. A rap figurine in Anzhou District is 60 centimeters high. The materials are divided into red pottery and gray pottery. There are obvious differences in the expressions and shapes of the figurines. Most of the rap figurines are rapping with drums, while the ones unearthed from the Jiulongshan Han Tomb are "beating the abdomen with hands."

Perhaps it is precisely because of the different performance venues that the local differences in the clothing and performance forms of rap artists have shown the diversity of rap art in Mianyang during the Han Dynasty. At the same time, along with the art of rap and rap, there are also folk literature and art categories such as dance and instrumental music performances. The large number of music and dance figurines in the Mianyang Museum is a strong proof. This also confirms to a certain extent the prosperity of Mianyang folk literature and art in the Han Dynasty and reflects its uniqueness. Characteristic literary style. (The above text comes from the Internet)

? It is said that the local government took the rap figurines as an opportunity to develop cultural tourism and invested 100 million yuan to build Hebian Town into a green ancient town. The giant "rap figurine" sculpture group was imitated from the Eastern Han Dynasty rap figurines (as shown in Figure 1 above).

Photography? Zhou Weneng

December 18, 2019 in Hebian Town, Gaoxing District, Mianyang City, Sichuan Province

Note: Hebian Town belongs to China ( Mianyang) Science and Technology City High-tech Development Zone is under the jurisdiction of the Hi-Tech Development Zone and is the core area of ??China Science and Technology City Concentrated Development Zone. Selected as a small town with characteristics of Sichuan Province’s “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan”.