In 1986, when the villagers of Sibugetu Village, Qinglongshan Town, Naiman Banner, Inner Mongolia, were digging soil and repairing a reservoir on the southern slope of Miaozi Mountain in the north of the village, they accidentally discovered the tomb of Princess Chen Guo and her concubine of the Liao Dynasty, and a gorgeous underground treasure house was opened.
When the burial chamber was opened, archaeologists saw the bones of Princess Chen Guo lying flat on the left side of the corpse bed, and the bones of the horse Xiao Shaoju on the right side. Both of them wore gold and silver, and their bodies were wrapped in silver threads.
It looks extravagant. Among the entire funeral costumes, the most precious is the gilded mask that covers the faces of the two people. This mask is based on the real face of Princess Chen Guo, hammered with thin gold sheets. There are 33 perforations around the perimeter of the mask, which are connected with a network of the princess's head with a thin silver wire along the perforations.
The most surprising thing about this golden mask is that its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose are not slitted, and they are not perforated, and they are rich and stretched, showing the unique softness of young women. The colt also wears an identical mask over its face.
Speaking of gold masks, one can easily think of the golden mask of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, the golden mask of the Mycenaean king Agamemnon, and these mysterious golden masks all seem to have incomprehensible codes attached to them. And why did Princess Chen and the concubine wear a golden mask after death?
In fact, this is related to the traditional concept of the Khitan people. The Khitan people believe that the soul is immortal, and using a gold mask and silver wire network to cover the deceased can play a role in the form and spirit, which is equivalent to the golden jade clothes worn by the emperor of the Central Plains after the death of the emperor in the Han Dynasty. Experts speculate that the Khitan people may have such a view of life and death due to the influence of Buddhism or shamanism.
The excavation of the tomb of Princess Chen Guo has achieved fruitful results, in addition to the gold mask, people have also unearthed a large number of rare treasures, each of which can be called a national treasure. At the same time, when experts studied the epitaph, they found that Princess Chen Guo had received numerous titles during her lifetime. She was first named Princess Taiping, and later promoted to Princess Yue, and after her death, she was posthumously named Princess Chen. When she was just 16 years old, she married her uncle Xiao Shaoju in accordance with the customs of the Khitan royal family. However, this remarkable marriage lasted only two years. In 1018, Princess Chen Guo and his concubine Xiao Shaoju died of illness one after another, leaving the world with endless room for speculation.
Archaeologists debate the reasons for the sudden death of 18-year-old Princess Chen Guo and 36-year-old concubine. At first, they speculated that the two were victims of the palace struggle, but no clues were found. If they really died of illness, then what kind of disease did the two suffer? This is not known at this time. It seems that this mystery can only be solved by future generations.