Page 112 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

Chinese funerary art intriguing. Although the "'isg:'
Chinese ancestral cult never produced a systematic
theological interpretation of the afterlife, tomb Fig. 13. "Three Gentlemen Killed by Two Peaches,"
decoration during the four hundred years from the mural from tomb No. 1, Shaogou, Luoyang, Henan
second century bce to the second century ce Province. Late Western Han dynasty.
became increasingly systematic: by unifying the
multiple layers of the Mawangdui tomb into a <a<- >"*vc>^^^xi»ss:
single pictorial program, tomb designers were able
to give the afterlife a more coherent, though not ^^i^^^^^^^^tssszasSras^;?*^?1". *££
necessarily standardized, image. Such effort was
greatly advanced by the emerging fashion for tomb Fig. 14. Funerary procession over a river. Relief carving,
murals, which implies a crucial change in mortuary west wall of main chamber of tomb at Cangshan,
structure: "horizontal burials," which flourished in Shandong Province. Mid-second century CE.
the first century bce, more faithfully imitated an
actual dwelling (fig. n). Built of large and small £$fiks:~Mfr$
bricks, a tomb of this type often had a main
chamber, with a gate separating it from the outside, Fig. 25. Funerary procession to the inn. Relief carving,
and a number of side chambers for storing coffins east wall of main chamber of tomb at Cangshan,
and funerary goods. Murals painted in prescribed Shandong Province. Mid-second century CE.
locations transformed the tomb into a symbolic
structure and ritual space. quelling. Thus, the significance of these wall
paintings lay not only in the pictures themselves,
One of the earliest known examples of painted but also in their transformation ot the tomb's
burials, the Western Han (206 bce-8 ce) tomb of architecture into a coherent symbolic universe for
Bo Qianqiu near Luoyang, Henan Province, has the dead.
been dated to the mid-first century bce. 16 The
A nearby tomb at Shaogou (tomb No. 61; fig. 11)
demon-queller Fangxiang and accompanying White
Tiger and Blue Dragon are portrayed on the back was built at about the same time, but its wall
wall; the opposite wall bears the image of a huge paintings signified another trend in tomb
bird with a human head, possibly an auspicious decoration: the illustration of traditional stories and
symbol or an immortal, above a magic mountain. morality tales. 17 For example, at Shaogou one
The painting on the central beam of the ceiling is composition on the inner side of the partition lintel
depicts the story of "Three Gentlemen Killed by
the most complex. Two groups of images frame this
Two Peaches," exemplifying the ethic of loyalty and
horizontal composition: the male deity Fuxi with
Amutual friendship (fig. 13). second composition
the sun, and the female deity Niiwa with the moon
depicts the visit of Confucius and Laozi to the
(fig. 12); together, they symbolize the opposite yet child prodigy Xiang Tuo, encouraging Confucian
complementary universal forces of yang (the male
principle) and yin (the female principle). Heavenly
beasts, birds, and immortals fill this cosmic

structure. Most interestingly, a scene close to the
yang group at the far right illustrates the journey of
the deceased couple to the lands of immortality: the
wife rides on a three-headed phoenix and the
husband on a snake-like creature; they are traveling
to the abode of the Queen Mother of the West
(Xiwangmu), a goddess in Han popular religion

who is shown here seated on wave -like clouds.

The themes and images of these murals are not
unfamiliar: paintings in the Mawangdui tombs
expressed the same desire for underground
protection, immortality, and divine blessing. But

instead of being associated with individual objects,

as in the earlier burials, in the Bo Qianqiu tomb

these themes and images were reorganized into an
architectural space: the ceiling provided a logical
location for images of celestial bodies and the
heavenly journey; the murals on the front and back
walls complemented each other with their

respective subjects of divine blessing and demon

REALITIES OF LIFE AFTER DEATH 110