Page 94 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

commerce and trade. It was a wealthy state, and this .* >AY.
wealth supported a flourishing of arts and crafts in a ,'>.*:' i: K~.
pronounced regional style. Happily, the realm of
Chu coincided with the area of distribution of rhus
vemkifiua, making it possible for the artists of Chu
to paint in lacquer. The flexibility of painting (as

compared, say, to casting in bronze) gave the artists

of Chu greater freedom to express the unique
nature of their culture; many of their lacquerwares

are powerful and evocative, others approach the

bizarre.

Changsha in Hunan Province has long been Fig. 1. Set of lacquered wood coffins from Mawangdui
associated with early lacquers. From at least the tomb No. 1

ninth century bce to the time of the fall of the and matched sets of vessels were enormously
popular, and great precision was required to create
state in 221 bce, Changsha was an important Chu outer boxes that would exactly fit their contents.

city. It was located at the very southern reaches of During the Western Han dynasty the Chinese lived
the state's territory, far from the capitals along the
banks of the Changjiang. Excavated materials and at floor level: all seated activities customarily took
place on platforms or on mat-covered platforms;
contemporary texts confirm its importance to Chu large-scale raised chairs and tables and other
furniture of corresponding scale were not yet in
as a center of trade with regions even farther south.
vogue. The impact of this custom on the
Many of the Chu tombs found there belong to
members of the lower aristocracy and perhaps even preparation and presentation of food is quite
apparent in the lacquers found in the Mawangdui
of the merchant class. tombs. Food for the deceased had been laid out in
a variety ot dishes (fig. 2) assembled on large trays
Changsha remained an influential political center in
(cats. 69, 70). The large rectangular tray (cat. 70)
southern China during the Western Han dynasty
could well have served as a small portable table.
(206 bce-8 ce) and served as the capital for a state
Low screens found in the Mawangdui tombs (fig. 3)
that, while under Han rule, retained a great deal of
autonomy and local leadership. In 1972 a series of are the ideal height to have deflected drafts and
preserved privacy for the floor-sitting occupants of
tombs belonging to the ruling family of the state
centered at Changsha was excavated at the suburb Han interiors.
of Mawangdui.The arts found in them reveal a
Swirling abstract patterns compose most of the
continuity with earlier Chu materials combined
with an awareness of Han philosophical and designs on the lacquers from the Mawangdui

religious practices. tombs. The sources for these designs can be found

The Han period residents of Changsha used in the curvilinear designs on lacquers and inlaid
lacquer in a very wide variety of forms. The vast
majority, if not all, of these objects have wood bronzes of the late Warring States period. By the
cores. By far the largest existing pieces are three
Western Han dynasty, however, these patterns had
lacquered coffins (fig. 1) that formed a nested set.
Their very scale, together with the descriptions come to resemble clouds and served religious as
found in contemporary or slightly earlier texts such
as the Churi ("Songs of the South"), hint at the Onwell as decorative purposes. the surface of one
extensive use of lacquer in architecture as well. 8
of the coffins from Mawangdui tomb Number 1
Only a small number of bronze vessels in traditional
shapes were found in the Mawangdui tombs; rather, (fig. 4), these clouds are occupied by a multitude of
sets of these vessels were created in lacquer (cat.
66). 9 This clearly reflects changing attitudes toward strange and wonderful beasts. Beliefs in paradises
these two materials and the rising status of lacquer.
Early Western Han writings indicate that a lacquer inhabited by immortals became increasingly
vessel might cost ten times as much as a comparable
widespread during the early Western Han. The
piece in bronze.
Chuci ("Songs of the South"), a collection largely of
Also found in the tombs at Mawangdui were
late Warring States date, describes these paradises;
lacquer boxes in great variety, including picnic sets
many of them exist in the sky among just such
(cat. 67), toiletries boxes (cat. 68), and document
boxes, among others. Nested containers (cat. 67) clouds and are occupied by just such fantastic

creatures as are depicted on this coffin. 10

Magical clouds were also thought to be omens of
good fortune and, as such, played an important role

SO FINE A LUSTER: CHINESE LACQUERWARES 92