EAST 350 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Xin Zhui, Chinese Theology, Taoism
15 May 2018
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FEB 1/2018
Recall: 2 types of Daoism- popular and philosophical
Recall: Taiyi is becoming more important to religious/philosophical Daoism from mid to late 2nd c
Personification of immortality
7 Worthies of bamboo grove and Rong Qiqi, 5th C. CE, 6 dynasties
· Immortalizd figured
· 7 worthies- 3rd c hermits who found freedom in nature- popular motif
· Tong Qiqi- attained immorality in ancient times
· Combination of contemporary and ancient in same pictorial space
· 7 worthies became less historical and more of a general type
· EG: Gentlemen under tree mural in 6th c tomb has a similar motif
· Allusion to the tomb occupant as immortal hermit
· 7 Worthies as tomb occupants
Compare: Case of Zhao Qi
· 2nd Century scholar-official who designed own tomb
· Had artisans paint in a Confucius style ‘guests flanking his portrait’
Funerary Narrative
· Journey
· About sending off the deceased
Earliest known case: Marquis Yis inner coffin, early warring states, 5th c BCE
· Grid on head of coffin looks like window- likely represents an opening
· Belief in journey
Rubbing of stone coffin
· Shows a heavenly gate
· No image of deceased movement of soul
Name banner of lady dai
· Travels up to the heavens
· Reading on funerary processions
· Symbolic vs. documentary funerary narratives
Carvings on Stone sarcophagus, Han, 1st c BCE
· No text
· From Shandong
· Confucian
· First panel shows family and friend receiving people and silks
· Middle panel shows a carriage- funerary procession
· 3rd panel: funerary mounds
Yi’han tomb, late E Ha, 2-3rd c BCE
· Funerary procession from right to left
· Leading carriage, soul carriage
· Shows: mourning procedures before the funeral, held the day before the burial in temple
· Building the centre- 2 story
· Building is identified as ancestral temple
· Conveys body and soul from ancestral temple to tomb
· Documentary element
By the end of the east Han
· Combination of funerary procession and posthumous ascension
· Challenge of 2 opposite movements in one pictorial space
· Sending body to tomb, sending soul to heaven
Yangzishan tomb in Sichuan
· Carvings on walls
· Pair of travellers at entrance
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
· Chariots going out, chariots going in, desire to combine 2 phases in one space
· Tomb as active player of deceased soul
Drawing of W. Side of Lou Ruis tomb, 570 CE
· Large and grand tomb
· Entire space was painted
· Tomb gate is under the entrance
· Single chamber tomb
· Depictions of riderless horses
· Musicians and horses going in different directions
· Mura l making indicates deceased
· Horses running out of tomb
· Overall, gradually emphasized the second half of death journey
· The only images available to the eyes of the living after sealing
· Symbolic procession of deceased
Portraiture in Early funerary Context
What is a portrait?
· Public and private identity
· Relative authority of likeness in tradiiotnal Chinese visuals
· Likeness vs type
· To think likeness is most important is wrong
In contrast
Roman statue of faceless women, 2nd c CE
· Objects found at the site can create personhood
· Style of clothing is typical of roman lady
· Faceless
Anton Megs, Portrait of Mariana….
· Dog and face not painted
· Multi-faceted nature of portraits
Back to china
· Lady Dai name banner is roughly a portrait
· Terra cotta warriors
Woman, Phoenix and dragon
Gentlemen riding on a dragon
· Probably both tomb occupants
· Cartoonish
· Cannot see artists were trying to render individuality
Portrait as presence
· Tied to spatial context
Mode 1
1st case: Mawangdui tomb
· Silk curtains and bamboo mat in north section
· Lacquer screen with jade bi found behind it – found at the back of north section
· Line drawings of stone carvings and murals from han- shows most important figure in front of
screen, screens indicate an occupier and important person
· Object placed around screen, personal items (shoes etc), trays and mingqi figurines
· Spirit seat- empty in front of screen
· Spirit as a historical screen
· Double existence of deceased, body and seat
Spirit seat found in Foyemiaeyu Dunhuang, 3rd c.
· No coffin, different part of tomb
· Tent/screen/canopy
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Recall: 2 types of daoism- popular and philosophical. Recall: taiyi is becoming more important to religious/philosophical daoism from mid to late 2nd c. 7 worthies of bamboo grove and rong qiqi, 5th c. ce, 6 dynasties. 7 worthies- 3rd c hermits who found freedom in nature- popular motif. Tong qiqi- attained immorality in ancient times. Combination of contemporary and ancient in same pictorial space. 7 worthies became less historical and more of a general type. Eg: gentlemen under tree mural in 6th c tomb has a similar motif. Allusion to the tomb occupant as immortal hermit. 2nd century scholar-official who designed own tomb. Had artisans paint in a confucius style guests flanking his portrait". Earliest known case: marquis yis inner coffin, early warring states, 5th c bce. Grid on head of coffin looks like window- likely represents an opening. No image of deceased movement of soul. Carvings on stone sarcophagus, han, 1st c bce.
