Page 348 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

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Painted lacquer guardian animal with antlers Abstract scrolls decorate the antlers where they
fork, and the tips are also painted.
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Height including antlers 170 (66 A)
Warring States Period (c. mid-fourth century BCE) This figure ranks among the largest and most
impressive of the more than two hundred carved
From Tianxingguan, Jiangling, Hubei Province
wood monster figures (conventionally termed zhen
Jingzhou Prefecture Museum, Hubei Province mu shou [tomb guardians]) that have been found
in medium- and large-scale Chu tombs of the late
This large, carved-wood figure of a monster was fifth or fourth century BCE in the Jiangling region
3
excavated from the southern chamber of the tomb, of Hubei province. The concentration of these
1
together with bronze ritual vessels and bells. The figures in the region — the site of the Chu capital
assemblage is composed of three main parts: the of Ying — suggests that they were central to Chu
square base, the twin bodies and heads (each with burial customs at this time. A smaller number have
gogglelike eyes and a long, lolling tongue), and the been excavated from other Chu sites in the prov-
2
antlers. The entire figure is painted in black, red, inces of Hunan and Henan, but so far none has
and yellow lacquer: S-shaped dragons with long been reported from outside Chu territory.
tongues, interspersed with small star shapes, deco- Woodcarving, together with sophisticated join-
FIG. 1. Painted lacquer
bird with antlers from Tomb rate the figure's curving necks; abstract mask motifs ery techniques, seems to have been exceptionally
i at Tianxingguan, Jiangling, cover most of the base. The fluidity of these motifs advanced in Chu. A wide variety of lacquered wood
Hubei province; Warring contrasts with angular zigzag patterns (echoing artifacts, including various articles of furniture,
States period; height 108
(42 V 2). After Hubei 1982, designs current in Chu textiles) on the joints of the have been recovered from Chu tombs, whose water-
103, fig. 27. necks and body and the lower panel of the base. logged conditions permitted their survival. Unlike
other lacquered wood articles, which fulfilled a
real-life use prior to being buried, the monster
figures were probably made specifically for burial.
Almost invariably, they are placed in the chamber
of the tomb closest to the head of the tomb occu-
pant and face inwards toward the occupant. Among
the various identifications of these figures with
imaginary creatures mentioned in ancient texts that
have been proposed, the most plausible identifies
them as representations of Tu Bo, Lord of the
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Underworld. The Zhao hun (Summons of the soul),
one of the Chu ci (Songs of Chu), describes Tu Bo as
"nine-coiled, with dreadful horns on his forehead,
and a great humped back." 5
Although the twin-headed version from Tian-
xingguan Tomb i is by no means unparalleled, the
majority of the surviving figures possess only single
heads. These seem to have evolved during the
course of the fifth century BCE from much simpler
supports for antlers. The earliest known example,
excavated from a sixth-century BCE Chu tomb at
Dangyang Caojiagang, lacks eyes or tongue. Even
simpler are a small number of bases in bronze that
may also have had a similar function. The earliest of

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