The assigned readings and other works helped to establish my basic knowledge about the tombs of ancient China, especially Wu Hung’s The Art of the Yellow Springs: Understanding Chinese Tombs. Wu makes a statement that I found striking yet helped me to digest the mountains of information that follow: “The moment of entombment thus marks a radical shift in the identity and meaning of the underground chamber and their contents” (8). He carries on by explaining that the bodies and the contents prior to concealing the tomb are all under scrutiny, but once enclosed, they can no longer be seen by human eyes and are no longer part of this world.
Now, I am starting to see the connections between the weekly content learned, such as the value of art and religion. Wu describes the discovery of the tomb of Queen Fu Hao of the Shang Dynasty. In it, 200 monumental bronze vessels, 500 bone carvings, and 200 bronze weapons (11). As I learn about where all these objects ultimately reside and why, I unearth another layer of connections, answers, as well as questions. The term, “little empires,” used by Armin Selbitschka in “Miniature Tomb Figurines and Models in Pre-Imperial and Early Imperial China: Origins, Development and Significance,” indicated the importance of the afterlife, the objects, like the miniature figurines, tomb assembly, and so on for people of early China.
Hung, Wu. The Art of the Yellow Springs: Understanding Chinese Tombs. London: Reaktion Books, 2010.
Selbitschka, Armin. “Miniature Tomb Figurines and Models in Pre-Imperial and Early Imperial China: Origins, Development and Significance.” World Archaeology 47, no. 1 (2015): 20-44.
Gallery of Han tomb objects: Google Arts and Culture collection of Mawangdui objects and list of objects from the MET (NYC)
