From life to immortality

Magazine Antiques, March, 2005 by Allison Eckardt Ledes

The preparations for a Chinese nobleman's or ruler's passage into the afterlife were complicated during the Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 9), before the introduction of Buddhism into China. It was then thought that the deceased split into two souls. One of these, called the hun-soul was thought to travel to the immortal realm, while the other, the po-soul, stayed in the tomb. The tomb, therefore, was an elaborate affair, for it had to be appointed with celestial images that would guide the hun-soul to immortality and worldly goods to be used by the po-soul. Indeed, the tombs were often so well equipped that they included entire chariots buried with live horses. Recent archaeological digs in the Shandong province of China, where a few tombs have been discovered, have shed much light on beliefs and burial practices during this early period.

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An exhibition comprised of more than fifty objects, including chariot ornaments, a jade face cover (illustrated at right), bronze ritual vessels, and ceramic sculptures, is on view through June 4 at the China Institute Gallery in New York City. It is entitled Providing for the Afterlife: "Brilliant Artifacts" from Shandong. None of the objects in the show have been displayed in the United States before. Several terracotta figures were excavated as recently as 2002. They are among hundreds of figures representing infantry, cavalry, and other figures who were symbolic military escorts for the departed. The tomb in which they were found measures more than ten thousand square feet.

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Shandong was one of the most affluent regions of China during the Western Han dynasty, and a Han ruler was often buried with more than one thousand household objects in a tomb constructed to be representative of the palace he had inhabited in his lifetime. Thus, even such everyday objects as game boards and dice were buried with the deceased. The world of the afterlife was believed to be highly organized, mirroring earthly life. A bureaucratic government was responsible for collecting taxes (which is why coins are often found in tombs), enacting legislation, and delivering justice through a court system.

The words brilliant artifacts in the title of the exhibition are a loose translation of the Chinese mingqi, for which there does not seem to be a standard English definition, and the interpretation of the phrase is a subject of scholarly debate. Some regard only objects made specifically for the deceased as mingqi, while others feel anything found in a tomb qualifies. Cary Y. Liu, a contributor to the catalogue for this exhibition, points out that what to include as mingqi was a subject of considerable debate during the Han period itself. Whatever the definition of the word, this exhibition is indisputably composed of brilliant artifacts.

The catalogue of the exhibition is written by Liu and Susan L. Beningson, with contributions by Annette L. Juliano, Zhixin Sun, and David A. Graff. It is edited by J. May Lee Barrett and may be obtained by telephoning 212-744-8181.