The deer-shaped golden monster is an animal pattern made of pure gold. This animal has an eagle's mouth and a beast's body. It has a pair of long horns like antlers on its head. The total length of antlers is almost as long as the total length of its body. This animal has four feet and stands on a four-petal flower-shaped bracket. The middle of the bracket is high and the two sides are low, and there are three small round holes on each of the four petals.
This is a strange animal that has never been seen before. The eyes of this animal protrude outward, the ears stand upright, and the two corners of the head bend inward to the back of the body, showing an inverted figure of eight, and the four corners are divided into four forks. There is a miniature version of the animal head at the top of each fork. This animal is ready to fight forward, with its head down, its limbs erect, its tail vertically forming a circle, and its root end also has a miniature head.
Moreover, from the production process of this deer-shaped golden monster, it looks excellent, the texture of the animal surface is clearly carved, and the horn and body parts, body and bracket parts of the deer-shaped golden monster are all welded with superb technology. If this is really made by Huns, it is enough to show the Huns' superb alchemy level and superb carving technology during the Warring States period!
What kind of animal is this? Why did it appear in the tombs of Xiongnu nobles during the Warring States period?
According to historical records, the Huns were the sons of Xia Jie, the last monarch of the Xia Dynasty. His name is Chunwei. After the demise of the Xia Dynasty, some Xia people fled to the vast grasslands and lived in the north, gradually forming the Xiongnu. The early Xiongnu was just a nomadic people on the grassland, with many horses, sheep and cattle, and there were wolves, eagles and other beasts on the grassland.
In terms of totem, the earliest totem of Xiongnu was dragon, because Xiongnu and Huaxia had the same root, and the totem of Xia Dynasty was dragon, so the earliest totem of Xiongnu was dragon like Huaxia, and later it gradually became a wolf, because the wolf was the most important animal on the grassland, which maintained the ecological balance on the grassland and became a totem worshipped by Xiongnu.
It stands to reason that animals like the deer-shaped golden monster can't appear in Xiongnu. The cognition of animals in human society comes from myth and worship, such as totem, and the other half comes from nature, such as wolves. If Huns have never seen this deer-shaped golden monster, how can they carve this animal? Is it all by imagination? Even if it is imagination, why do you think so?
At first glance, the deer-shaped golden monster, whose biggest element is its head and mouth, looks like the most common grassland sculpture. The mouth of the prairie eagle is also inverted hook, which is a kind of raptor and is good at preying on small animals on the grassland. The deer-shaped golden monster has 10 identical heads and mouths distributed all over the body, so there must be a carved prototype in the elements of the deer-shaped golden monster.
At second sight, this golden deer-shaped monster was attracted by the huge antlers on its head. In fact, there are deer on the grassland where Huns live, and the horns of the deer on the grassland are very long, much like the pair of long horns on the deer-shaped golden monster, so there are embryonic deer in the elements of the deer-shaped golden monster.
As mentioned above, this kind of animal that has never appeared in reality is either from the imagination of the Huns or from the world where the Huns live, but there should be no such strange animal in nature, so the deer-shaped golden monster is mostly a monster that the Huns came up with. The grassland sculpture is mixed with the shape of the deer to form the deer-shaped golden monster, and then it is carved and manufactured. Because it is valuable and pleasing to the eye, it has become a funerary object of the living owner, that is to say,
In addition, in an ancient book "Shan Hai Jing", there is a record called? Ancient carving? This monster looks very much like a deer-shaped golden monster:
There are two classics in the south of Shan Hai Jing: five hundred miles to the east, and the mountain of Luwu. There is no vegetation in the world, but there are many stones. The water of Zegeng comes out and flows into the water in the south. There is a beast in the water called Fadiao. Its shape is like a carved horn, and its voice is like a baby's voice. This is cannibalism.
The ancient carving mentioned in Shan Hai Jing is a beast living in water. This beast is shaped like a sculpture, but it has horns on its head. At the same time, ancient carvings sound like children's voices and eat people.
In particular, carvings with horns on their heads are like deer-shaped golden monsters, but there can be no carvings or deer in the water where Huns live. These animals live on the grassland, and their living habits are wrong. What animal is the sculpture in Shan Hai Jing? It is not clear yet, they may be imaginary or extinct animals.
Another possibility is that the Huns' craftsman who made the deer-shaped golden monster may be from China, and then this one read Shan Hai Jing, which was first written in the middle and late Warring States period, which is similar to the existence period of the deer-shaped golden monster. Therefore, artisans combined the classics of mountains and seas with the creatures on the grassland, imagined such a deer-shaped golden monster, carved it into a mascot or ornament, and finally became a funerary object that has been passed down to this day.
The deer-shaped golden monster, a funerary object of Xiongnu nobles, should be an ornament of the nobles at that time. This strange-looking object made of gold also represents the noble status of its owner. It is an ornament or a kind of worship, which shows the ancestors of Huns' worship of nature.