Why are there so many stone statues gathered here in Guizailing in Daoxian County, southern Hunan? What is their function?

Guizailing is located in Tianguangdong Village, Dao County, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province. There are thousands of underground stone sculptures of figures buried on the surface (and a large number of them exposed on the surface). With the deepening of archaeological excavations, the number is still increasing), this is also another major discovery of stone human figures as funerary objects after Qin Shihuang's terracotta warriors and horses.

People speculate about their role:

Speculation 1: Sacrificial place

In 2002, after an on-site inspection by experts such as Gao Qixiang, the former president of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, they believed that This is a place of worship, which is still a relatively accepted statement. As for the age of the carvings, there are different opinions - in September 1988, the Hunan Provincial Cave Archaeological Survey Team said after an inspection that "most of the Guizaijing stone statues are Warring States-type flat figures, and may be sacrificial sites left over from the Warring States period.

Speculation 2: The scapegoat stone man

The Hunan Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau said that Lingling (including Guiziling) "believes in ghosts and witches and emphasizes obscenity and worship" in "Hanshu Geography". Veteran expert Xie Wujing speculated that he should be a "scapegoat". This custom is found in other adjacent areas. According to the investigation by the Dao County Cultural Management Office, Huilongwei is located in Qingtang Town, Dao County and Shangjiangwei Township, Jiangyong County. Similar stone statues have also been found in farms, Taochuan Town, and Mailing Township, Fuchuan County, Guangxi. Most of them are piled up in caves, and the number is small, usually only about 10 to 50. The types are relatively simple, and no generals, pregnant women, and statues have been found. The equestrian (elephant) statues, only the seated ones, are similar to the third phase stone statues of Guizailing, with clear carving marks and clear outlines.