Almost ten or so chin rests made of bronze or silver have been unearthed from the Tang and Song Tombs in the Three Gorges Region.Their dates concentrated within the mid-Tang to the Northern Song Dynasties.This paper suggests that the emergence of chin rests at the tombs in Three Gorges Region was related to the southward moving of the middle-class people from the Central Plains after the An Lushan Rebellion (755-763 CE).The use of chin rests,which was originated in the north,was a custom of Hu people and adopted by the noble people of the Tang Dynasty;it had not been seen before the mid-Tang Dynasty.Moreover,all of the tombs yielding chin rests were earthen cave tombs,a burial style popular in the Central Plains but absent in the south including the Three Gorges Region before the mid-Tang Dynasty.
