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Plate 18.3 Crystal brush rest, excavated
                                                                              from the tomb of Prince Jing of Ying
                                                                              (1388–1414). Hubei Provincial Museum


























                                                                              Plate 18.4 Elixirs used in Daoist practice,
                                                                              excavated from the tomb of Prince Jing of
                                                                              Ying (1388–1414). Hubei Provincial
                                                                              Museum

          Ying, and was enfeoffed in Anlu (present-day Zhongxiang   rare in the Ming royal tombs of Hubei, although according
          City) in 1408.  He passed away at the age of 27 in 1414 and   to textual sources it was customary for the burials of early
                    8
          was granted the posthumous title jing 靖. His consort Lady   Ming emperors. The tomb of Prince Jing of Ying and Lady
          Guo 郭 (d. 1414) died shortly after him. The tomb that the   Guo provides archaeological evidence of this cruel practice
          couple share has been excavated by the Hubei Provincial   in the early Ming period.
          Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. 9      Religious features in the tomb of Prince Jing of Ying and
            The underground tomb consists of five chambers   Lady Guo can be observed mainly in its burial objects,
          arranged in the shape of the Chinese character ya 亞, which   which highlight an equal representation of Confucian,
          conforms to burial practices at the time. The coffins of the   Buddhist and Daoist elements.
          couple are placed side by side on top of a platform. Six   Prince Jing of Ying is buried with items that he favoured in
          further bodies have been discovered in the tomb; they are   life, mostly functional scholarly objects, including duan 端 and
          believed to have been sacrificed. The east and west   she 歙 inkstones, a mountain-shaped crystal brush stand (Pl.
          chambers of the tomb each contain three red-lacquered   18.3), a bronze water-dropper in the shape of a three-legged
          wooden coffins that have decomposed, but traces of them   toad and an agate paperweight in the shape of a dragon-
          can still be observed. There are also signs that porcelain   beast. The back of the she inkstone is inscribed ‘Studio of the
          vases were once placed in front of the heads of the coffins.   Book Hermit’ (Shuyin zhai 書隱齋), which denotes the name of
          These correspond with actual vases that have been   the prince’s study. This suggests the prince was a ‘Confucian
          discovered in the tomb. Judging from dental remains, the six   scholar’ who was well versed in the classics.
          people who were sacrificed in the burial had not yet reached   Elixirs (xiandan 仙丹) used in Daoist practices have also been
          adulthood. The phenomenon of human sacrifice is relatively   discovered in the tomb (Pl. 18.4). This is a very important



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