A place called ammunition depot in Changsha, Hunan Province, where the weather is fresh and the scenery is pleasant all year round. Before 1949, the silk script of the Warring States period was unearthed here, and it was excavated again on a certain day in May of 1973 with the approval of relevant departments.

With the roar of bulldozers, the fence here was knocked down. People remove weeds and dig carefully. They are experts and diggers from the Archaeological Department of Hunan Provincial Museum, and they are cleaning up Tomb No.1 of Chu Tomb in the Warring States Period.

The grave was opened. Excavators dug up hard gypsum and soil and saw thick wooden coffin boards. In ancient times, the big coffin outside the coffin was a coffin, indicating that the owner of the tomb had a high status and belonged to the nobility of the doctor level in Chu State. Since it is a noble tomb, there should be more precious funerary objects, but only some wooden figurines and lacquerware were found after the coffin was opened. The experts continued to clean the "head box" and "side box" carefully, but still found nothing.

All the boxes were cleaned, and finally the experts fixed their eyes on the interlayer between the board and the partition. Suddenly, someone exclaimed in surprise: Silk painting! The experts gathered around and carefully identified them. This is really a long silk painting.

As early as Shang Dynasty, China's silk industry was quite developed. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there have been words such as "silk", "silk" and "mulberry". Mozi, a thinker in the early Warring States period, once said in his book that "writing on bamboo slips and silks" means writing on bamboo slips and silks. It can be seen that silks, like bamboo slips and wooden slips, were all materials used for writing at that time. The so-called silk painting refers to the painting made on silk.

Although this silk painting unearthed in the tomb of the nobles of Chu has been somewhat damaged, it can still be recognized as a man standing sideways and a strange dragon boat. What kind of silk painting is this?

After nearly a month's arrangement, this silk painting finally reveals the true face of Lushan Mountain: the silk painting is 37.5 cm long and 28 cm wide, with a bamboo shaft at the top and a silk rope on it, which is a flag hanging vertically. In ancient China, banners were also called flags, which were long and narrow flags held at funerals. Most of them are cut from white paper, also known as evocation banners. Therefore, it can be said that this silk painting of the Warring States period is an evocative painting. Experts named it "Dragon and Silk Painting with Figures", which is extremely precious in terms of artistic value and historical value.

Create a legend

According to local legend, the creation process of this "silk painting with dragon figures" is related to Qu Yuan's evocation poems.

Legend has it that one day, the grave owner who was seriously ill asked the painter to draw a coffin for him, perhaps because he thought that he would die soon, and the grave owner looked depressed. He wore a long sword and a high crown, but his expression was cold and his eyes were glassy. The painter looked at the grave owner carefully, but refused to write, because he knew that the grave owner in front of him looked pale and might be killed if he didn't draw well.

At this time, Qu Yuan sang leisurely.

"Soul xi return! The east can't hold some. Although there are thousands of people, their souls are demanding. On the tenth day, I came out, a little more golden. Both of them are inside, and their souls will be released. Come back, come back! You can't hold some. "

The owner of the tomb respectfully stepped forward and asked, Dr. Qu Yuan, are you singing evocation words? Qu Yuan said the meaning in the words: I can't entrust my soul to sinister forces. Where the sun rises, it shines with the light of the world, which is the peach blossom garden on which my soul really depends!

The owner of the tomb was at a loss and thanked him again and again. After giving Qu Yuan food and clothing, Qu Yuan drifted away. The owner of the tomb made another gesture for the painter to continue painting. After Qu Yuan's singing and inspiration, the grave owner, who was very sad at that time, was suddenly enlightened and thought that he would soon ascend to the beautiful Peach Blossom Garden after his death, and his spirit was particularly good. Finally, the painter painted such a wonderful, profound and romantic picture for the tomb owner on the silk book.