回眸五十年——马王堆汉墓出土文物精品展

 1972年开始，在湖南长沙马王堆先后发掘的三座西汉墓，是中国乃至世界考古史上的一次重要考古发现，受到国内外的广泛关注。2013年，马王堆汉墓被列入第七批全国重点文物保护单位名单，2021年入选全国“百年百大考古发现”。墓中出土了3000多件珍贵文物，囊括了漆器、木器、丝绸、简牍、帛画等诸多种类，千年不腐的女尸辛追，更是举世罕见。马王堆汉墓不仅再现了轪侯家荣华富贵的生活景象，更诠释了墓主人对多彩生命的想象和永生的追求。

造型浑厚的漆器，装饰雅致，沉霾千年，仍光亮如新，器身上不仅可见“君幸食”、“君幸酒”、“一升半升”等墨书文字，更辅以精美无比的云气、凤鸟、神仙、怪兽等花纹，图案生动，颜色艳丽。伴随着各类动植物、食品、酒类被发现，结合遣册中所载煮、蒸、烤、炸等烹饪手法，共同呈现出汉初贵族的家族食谱，饮食结构之丰富，烹饪方式之多样，至今看来仍令人惊叹不已。

为永保躯体不朽，辛追身裹二十二层衣衾，华丽轻柔的丝绸，展示出汉代惊人的纺织技术。绮罗锦纱，印花敷彩，长寿乘云，在经纬交错之中，长沙国的织工精巧，尽收眼底。简牍帛书，阴阳五行，《周易》《老子》，传承着先人的学识与智慧。天文指北、军阵壮威，导引养生、五星浸行，秦坑佚书，重见天日，再现光辉，引起不断探索与无数解读。

古尸为何千年不朽？白膏、木炭配合20米的埋葬深度，催生低氧密封的环境；含汞化物及氨基酸的棺液，杀菌防腐。巨椁彩棺，见证了生前之荣华富贵；T形帛画，寄托了古人对生命的理解与释读。

2022年，适逢马王堆汉墓发掘五十周年。苏州博物馆甄选文物精品160余件，包含漆器、木器、彩绘陶器、帛画、帛书、简牍、丝织品、牙角器、人俑、动植物标本等各个类别，着力重现雄浑而多彩的西汉物质、精神图景。在此，向湖南博物院的大力支持，表示诚挚的感谢！          

苏州博物馆

二ｏ二二年十月

Foreword

Three Western Han Dynasty tombs have been successively excavated at Mawangdui, Changsha in China’s Hunan Province since 1972. As an important archaeological discovery in Chinese and even world archaeological history, the tombs have drawn worldwide attention. Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tombs were listed as seventh batch of key cultural heritage sites under national level protection in 2013 and were shortlisted for “National Top 100 Archaeological Discoveries in Past 100 Years” in 2021. More than 3,000 rare cultural relics of various categories, ranging from lacquerwares, woodwares, silk, bamboo slips to silk paintings, were unearthed from the tombs, including the rarely seen remains of Xin Zhui that has remained unputrefied for thousand years. The discovery of Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tombs not only unveiled the luxurious life of Marquise Dai’s family, but also revealed the tomb owner’s imagination of the heaven and pursuit of eternal life.

The unpretentious lacquerwares with elegant decoration are still shining brightly like new after buried underground for thousand years. On the lacquerwares, there are Chinese characters “Jun Xing Shi (Enjoy Your Foods)”, “Jun Xing Jiu (Enjoy Your Wine)”, “Yi Sheng Ban Sheng (One Litre and a Half in Han Dynasty)” written in ink, accompanied by exquisite and vivid patterns of clouds, phoenix, immortals and legendary animals in bright colors. From the various discovered animals, plants, foods and wines, and the records of cooking techniques, like boiling, steaming, roasting, deep frying, on bamboo slips, we can figure out the menu of aristocrat families in the early Han Dynasty. Even modern people would be marveled by the varied dietary structure and diversified cooking techniques at that time.

To well preserve the remains, the body of Xin Zhui was covered with 22 burial clothes made of splendid and soft silk, revealing marvelous textile technology in the Han Dynasty. Fancy woven silk fabrics and brocades with colorful printings and embroidery patterns of Chinese character “Shou” (Longevity) and clouds fully reflect the elaborate and ingenious workmanship of weavers in Changsha Kingdom. Bamboo slips and silk fabrics, carrying the manuscripts of Yin-Yang and five elements, the Book of Changes and Lao Zi, passed on the wisdom and knowledge of our ancestors from generation to generation. The astronomic north-finder, the awe-inspiring battle formation, the instructions on health care, the records of the motion of the five planets, and the ancient books destroyed in the Qin Dynasty were brought to light and resumed their former brilliance, evoking people’s endless exploration and interpretation of them.

Why the ancient corpses can remain unrotten for thousand years? A low-oxygen air tight environment with white paste and charcoal at burial depth of 20m, and antiseptic liquid containing mercury and amino acids inside the coffin are the answers. The giant outer coffin and the painted casket are the witnesses of the wealth and rank of the owner. The T-shaped silk paintings depicted the fascinating scene of ascension to heaven after death. The road to the heaven, from the mortal world to the celestial world, is attended by servants and surrounded by mythical beasts and is radiating with light of the sun and the moon, reflecting the unity of heaven and human and ancient people’s understanding and interpretation of life and death.

2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the excavation of Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tombs. Availing this opportunity, Suzhou Museum well selected more than 160 cultural relics of various categories, including lacquerwares, woodwares, painted potteries, silk paintings, silk manuscripts, bamboo slips, silk fabrics, artifacts made of ivories and horns, wood figures, animal and plant specimens, to present a majestic and colorful material and spiritual picture of the Western Han Dynasty. Hereby, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Hunan Museum for its substantial support for the exhibition.

Suzhou Museum

October, 2022