Page 323 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

FIG. 2. The body, wrapped
and tied.

was covered by an unusual trapezoidal cloth of dark brown silk with ;zn-brocade trimming and a
dark yellow lining; openings for the eyes and nose had been cut in the fabric. (Normally face
14
covers [mingmu] were square, made of black silk with red lining, and did not have openings. )
A silk belt, from which jade and glass pendants were suspended, adorned the woman's waist.
The silk wardrobe, the silk shrouds, and other silk textiles — as well as the other burial
objects of high quality that were found in the coffin — are evidence of the custom of lavish
burials practiced by the aristocratic upperclass; the patterned silk fabrics themselves document
a flourishing regional silk weaving industry that catered to the tastes of a fashion-conscious

society. DK

1 Yu 1995,130 -131. 8 The coffin's silk casing is most probsbly the shazhao, used
2 Kuhn 19923, 40 - 65. to concesl the coffin on its wsy to the grave site; it may
3 Hubei 1991. Five tombs were excavated at the Baoshan have been pkced on top of the coffin in the grave. For
site. class differentiations in the use of silk, see Zhang Chang-
4 Hubei 19843. Five hundred and fifty-eight tombs were shou 1992, 49-52; Kuhn 1995C, 65-66.
found at the site between November 1975 and February 9 Rawson 1996,144.
1976; 349 of these are dated to the Warring States period. 10 Hubei 19853,17, 23: fig. 24, pi. 16:1.
5 Hubei 19853. 11 The typicsl jin brocade weave of the Warring States
6 At the site of Yutaishsn in Jisngling county alone, 248 period was 3 polychrome two- or three-series warp-fsced
tombs of this type have been excavsted: see Kuhn 1992, compound tabby.
41; a typology of Chu tombs in the county of Jiangling wss 12 Goepper 1995, 342.
suggested by Guo 1982,158; on the social ranking of this 13 Kuhn i995b, 217.
tomb see Peng Hao 1982,12. 14 Hubei 19853, 97.
7 Kuhn i996b, 16 -17.

322 CH U AN D O T H E R C U L T U R E S