The Changbai Mountain god temple site of the Jin Dynasty in Antu County, Jilin
Abstract
In 2014 through 2017, Jilin Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology of Jilin University excavated the god temple site for the Changbai Mountains. The main body of the site was an enclosed unit in rectangular plan surrounded by outer walls, in the middle slightly to the north of which is a courtyard centered by an 工-shaped hall and surrounded by covered walkways; outside the courtyard, architecture and water well remains were found. The artifacts unearthed from this site were mainly architectural component parts; based on the jade tablets bearing the characters “guichou 癸丑” unearthed from this site, this site is estimated to be the temple built in the Jin Dynasty for worshipping the god of the Changbai Mountains. The layout and construction rules of this site matched that in the historical textual records, providing valuable materials for the studies on the official-style architecture of the Jin Dynasty. This site is the first case of the state mountain sacrificial ceremonies found beyond the Central Plains area, which is significantly meaningful for the understandings to the layouts of the shrines and temples of the gods of the “yue (sacred mounts) zhen (mounts for pacifying the directions they are located) hai (seas) du (rivers)” in the Song and Jin Dynasties and the development of the ritual system of the Jin Dynasty.
Postscript
The original report published in Kaogu 考古 (Archaeology) 2018.7:67–81 with 28 illustrations is authored by Junjie Zhao 赵俊杰, Qingbin Liu 刘庆彬, Jian Ma 马健, Xinyue Zhou 周昕悦, Ziqi Wang 王子奇 and Binfu Zhao 赵宾福. This English version is translated by Kirstin Clouser 柯恺欣.
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© 2019 Walter De Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- The Nanshan Site in Mingxi County, Fujian
- The Jiaojia Site of the Neolithic Age in Zhangqiu District, Jinan
- The Gujun Site of the Eastern Zhou Period in Xingtang County, Hebei
- The Changbai Mountain god temple site of the Jin Dynasty in Antu County, Jilin
- Reports
- Excavation of the Jiahu Site in Wuyang County, Henan in 2013
- The excavation of the tomb M1017 at Dahekou Cemetery of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Yicheng, Shanxi
- The excavation of water well J3 at the Ancient City Site of the Zhu State in Zoucheng City, Shandong Province in 2017
- Two Han tombs at Tushantun Cemetery in Qingdao, Shandong
- The excavation of Yelü Hongli’s tomb in Beizhen City, Liaoning
- The excavation of Tongmuling zinc-smelting site in Guiyang County, Hunan Province
- Archaeological survey and excavation of the Mingtepa Site in Andijan Region, Uzbekistan
- Research
- A study on the cinnabar-bottomed burials of the early Bronze Age
- The restoration of the chariots of the Warring-States Period in Majiayuan, Gansu (continued) – the designing and making skills of chariots and modifying and designing ideas of oxcarts
- On white marble half-lotus meditation statues carved in Wuding Era of the Eastern Wei Dynasty
- Rethinking the origins of animal domestication in China
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- The Nanshan Site in Mingxi County, Fujian
- The Jiaojia Site of the Neolithic Age in Zhangqiu District, Jinan
- The Gujun Site of the Eastern Zhou Period in Xingtang County, Hebei
- The Changbai Mountain god temple site of the Jin Dynasty in Antu County, Jilin
- Reports
- Excavation of the Jiahu Site in Wuyang County, Henan in 2013
- The excavation of the tomb M1017 at Dahekou Cemetery of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Yicheng, Shanxi
- The excavation of water well J3 at the Ancient City Site of the Zhu State in Zoucheng City, Shandong Province in 2017
- Two Han tombs at Tushantun Cemetery in Qingdao, Shandong
- The excavation of Yelü Hongli’s tomb in Beizhen City, Liaoning
- The excavation of Tongmuling zinc-smelting site in Guiyang County, Hunan Province
- Archaeological survey and excavation of the Mingtepa Site in Andijan Region, Uzbekistan
- Research
- A study on the cinnabar-bottomed burials of the early Bronze Age
- The restoration of the chariots of the Warring-States Period in Majiayuan, Gansu (continued) – the designing and making skills of chariots and modifying and designing ideas of oxcarts
- On white marble half-lotus meditation statues carved in Wuding Era of the Eastern Wei Dynasty
- Rethinking the origins of animal domestication in China
