Table mountain rock painting

Located in Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia. It has a history of six or seven thousand years. From the more than 100 clear pictures in five places, it can be seen that most of them are human faces, animal figures, hunting figures, and some strange patterns. The painting style is simple, the image is exaggerated, and the face image is mostly four eyes and two eyebrows. Among the rock paintings in zhaoshaogou, there is a one meter square picture depicting a family of four. Among them, the male image is tall and valiant, very prominent, while the female image is short and slim, with two children in the middle. This picture shows that this is a male dominated family. Zhuozishan rock painting group is mainly distributed in six concentrated areas, namely: zhaoshaogou, kucaigou, maoergou, subeiyingou, subeiyinhougou and queergou. The six rock paintings in Zhuozishan can be divided into two types: the first type is the rock paintings on gentle slopes of mountains, namely zhaoshaogou; the second type is the rock paintings on cliffs, namely kucaigou, maoergou, subeiyingou, subeiyinghougou and queergou. Among them, the rock painting is the shade of grinding, and zhaoshaogou rock painting is the most famous. Most of them are statues of gods, as well as animal and sun patterns. Judging from the theme and artistic style, zhaoshaogou rock paintings are cultural relics of nomadic people in northern China during the bronze age. Ten recognizable figures have been excavated. The pictures are engraved on the relatively gentle limestone slope, and most of them are human faces with different expressions, and the design of Sun God. The rest of the rock paintings are mostly animal figures and horseman figures, which reflect the scenes of sacrifice, hunting, migration, family gatherings and dances. It is of great significance to study the aesthetic concepts, religious beliefs and other ideologies of ancient northern nomads.

Table mountain rock painting

Table mountain rock painting is located in Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia. The main peak is 2149.4 meters above sea level. The main part of the mountain ranges is about 75 km in length, north-south, bordering Ordos Plateau in Inner Mongolia in the East and about 2 km from the Yellow River crossing the urban area in the West. Table mountain is majestic, with many peaks, towering and spectacular. Because its main peak is relatively flat, it looks like a table from afar, so it gets this name.

characteristic

V-shaped gullies are developed in Zhuozishan, with cutting depth of 150-250m. The bottom of maoergou, subaiyingou and other large gullies is relatively flat. From the more than 100 clear pictures in five places, it can be seen that most of them are human faces, animal figures, hunting figures, and some strange patterns. The painting style is simple, the image is exaggerated, and the face image is mostly four eyes and two eyebrows. Among the rock paintings in zhaoshaogou, there is a one meter square picture depicting a family of three. Among them, the male image is tall and valiant, very prominent, while the female image is short and slim, with two children in the middle. This painting makes it clear that at that time in monogamy, men dominated the family, in the patriarchal clan period.

Investigation and research

The discovery, investigation and research of the rock paintings of Zhuozishan began in 1973. The first rock painting was discovered in zhaoshaogou. Mr. Gai Shanlin of the Institute of cultural relics and Archaeology of the autonomous region came to zhaoshaogou, which opened the prelude of the investigation and research of the rock paintings of Zhuozishan. Mr. Gai has been in Wuhai for several months, recording, photographing and describing a large number of rock paintings. He has successively inspected and recorded rock paintings in zhaoshaogou, maoergou, subeiyingou, subeiyinghougou, etc., and published his research results in Appendix I of Yinshan Rock Paintings, rock paintings near Zhuozishan, Wuhai City. In August 1989, we discovered kucaigou rock painting in the general survey of cultural relics, and later queergou rock painting. We did some work such as shooting, tracing and recording.

Main distribution

The rock painting group of Zhuozishan is mainly distributed in six concentrated areas, namely: zhaoshaogou, kucaigou, mohergou, subeiyingou, subeiyinhougou and queergou. The six rock paintings in Zhuozishan can be divided into two types: the first type is the rock paintings on gentle slopes of mountains, namely zhaoshaogou rock paintings; the second type is the rock paintings on cliffs, namely kucaigou, molgou, subeiyingou, subeiyinghougou and queergou rock paintings. Among them, the rock painting is the shade of grinding, and zhaoshaogou rock painting is the most famous. Most of them are statues of gods, as well as animal and sun patterns. Judging from the theme and artistic style, zhaoshaogou rock paintings are cultural relics of nomadic people in northern China during the bronze age. Ten recognizable figures have been excavated. The pictures are engraved on the relatively gentle limestone slope, and most of them are human faces with different expressions, and the design of Sun God. The rest of the rock paintings are mostly animal figures and horseman figures, which reflect the scenes of sacrifice, hunting, migration, family gatherings and dances. It is of great significance to study the aesthetic concepts, religious beliefs and other ideologies of ancient northern nomads.

history

This painting has a history of 3000-5000 years. Due to long-term wind and rain erosion, weathering and peeling, some contents have been blurred. This is the nearest rock painting to the densely populated urban area in Inner Mongolia. It has convenient transportation, large area, rich content, simple images, and an endless stream of admirers.

Protecting rock paintings

After walking about 15 kilometers southeast of Wuhai City, you will arrive at Zhuozishan. On the cliffs of many gullies in the Zhuozishan mountains and on the limestone stones beside the gullies, there are countless remains of ancient rock paintings, which experts call "Zhuozishan rock paintings". According to research, this rock painting group, which stretches for 15 kilometers in the valley, is a cultural relic of the northern nomadic people in the Neolithic age more than 5000 years ago. It is an important part of Chinese rock painting and has important value in exploring the process of human civilization.

In the gullies of the table mountains, coal resources are abundant. Near the rock paintings, there are many small coal mines and lime kilns. The sulfur content of coal and ash here is high, and a large amount of sulfur dioxide in coking and ash dust forms acid rain when meeting with rainwater, which drops onto the alkaline limestone. The erosion caused the surface of limestone to fall off, which made many rock paintings carved on limestone indistinct, especially zhaoshaogou rock paintings. Most of the rock paintings are carved on the steep rocks, while the rock paintings of zhaoshaogou in Zhuozi Mountain are carved on the limestone on the gentle slope of the mountain with a slope of about 30 degrees. Acid rain caused by air pollution can drip on rock paintings without any obstruction, causing serious erosion. "The majority of the rock paintings on table mountain are face portraits. The face portraits have different expressions and are extremely beautiful. This is a remarkable feature compared with the famous rock paintings on Yinshan Mountain and Helan Mountain. Rock paintings with human faces are also concentrated in zhaoshaogou, which is the key protection area of rock paintings in taizhushan. " Liang Zhenhua, who has been engaged in Rock Painting Research for more than ten years, said. In the 1970s, Qin Fuxi, a herdsman living in zhaoshaogou, discovered the exposed rock paintings while grazing. The cultural relic Department came to zhaoshaogou, which opened the prelude of the investigation and research work of the rock paintings on the table mountain. At that time, animals walked on the rock paintings and people carved on them. In 1987, the Inner Mongolia Department of culture allocated funds for large-scale regional protection of rock paintings and made a net fence; in 1993, Wuhai City allocated 200000 yuan for the protection of rock paintings and built the original exhibition room for two key rock paintings. After that, there was no larger scale of protection.

Address: Zhuozishan street, Haibowan District, Wuhai, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Longitude: 106.9886984762

Latitude: 39.636959690182

Ticket information: 15 yuan

Opening hours: 8:00-16:00