Han Dynasty
Soon after the First Emperor’s death, the people who had suffered
under his reign revolted, assassinated his corrupt and incompetent
son, and founded the Han dynasty in 206 BCE. The Han ruled China
for four centuries, integrating many of the Qin reforms in a more
liberal governing policy. They also extended China’s southern and
western boundaries, penetrating far into Central Asia (modern Xin-
jiang). Han merchants even traded indirectly with distant Rome (via
the so-called Silk Road (see “Silk and the Silk Road, p. 188).THE MARQUISE OF DAI In 1972 archaeologists excavated
the tomb of the Marquise of Dai at Mawangdui in Hunan Province.
The tomb contained a rich array of burial goods used during the fu-
nerary ceremonies and to accompany the deceased woman into the
afterlife. Among the many finds were decorated lacquer utensils, var-
ious textiles, and an astonishingly well-preserved corpse in the in-
nermost of four nested sarcophagi. Most remarkable, however, was
the discovery of a painted T-shaped silk banner (FIG. 7-7) draped
over the marquise’s coffin. Scholars generally agree that the area
within the cross at the top of the Trepresents Heaven. Most of the
vertical section below is the human realm. At the very bottom is the
Underworld. In the heavenly realm, dragons and immortal beings
appear between and below two orbs—the red sun and its symbol,
the raven, on the right, and the silvery moon and its symbol, the
toad, on the left. Below, the standing figure on the first white plat-
form near the center of the vertical section is probably the Marquise
of Dai herself—one of the first portraits in Chinese art. The woman
awaits her ascent to Heaven, where she can attain immortality.
Nearer the bottom, the artist depicted her funeral. Between these
two sections is a form resembling a bi disk (FIG. 7-5) with two inter-
twining dragons. Their tails reach down to the Underworld and their
heads point to Heaven, unifying the whole composition.WU FAMILY SHRINESEven more extensive Han pictorial
narratives appear on the walls of the Wu family shrines at Jiaxiang in
Shandong Province, dating between 147 and 168 CE. The shrines
document the emergence of private, nonaristocratic families as pa-
trons of religious and mythological art with political overtones.
Dedicated to deceased male family members, the Wu shrines consist
of three low walls and a pitched roof. On the interior surfaces,
carved images of flat polished stone stand out against an equally flat,7-7Funeral banner,
from tomb 1 (tomb
of the Marquise of
Dai), Mawangdui,
China, Han dynasty,
ca. 168 bce.Painted
silk, 6 8 –^34 3 –^14 .
Hunan Provincial
Museum, Changsha.
This T-shaped silk
banner was draped
over the coffin of
the Marquise of Dai,
who is shown at the
center awaiting her
ascent to immortality
in Heaven, the realm
of the red sun and
silvery moon.7-8The archer
Yi(?) and a recep-
tion in a mansion,
Wu family shrine,
Jiaxiang, China, Han
dynasty, 147–168 ce.
Rubbing of a stone
relief, 3 5 .
The Wu family shrines
depict historical, leg-
endary, and contem-
poraneous subjects.
Here, the hero Yi
shoots down suns
to save the Earth
from scorching. To
the right is a cere-
monial scene in a
Han mansion.1 ft.1 ft.China 187though roughly textured, ground. The historical scenes include a
representation of the third-century BCEhero Jing Ke’s attempt to as-
sassinate the tyrannical First Emperor of Qin. On the slab shown in
FIG. 7-8,a rubbing(an impression made by placing paper over the
surface and rubbing with a pencil or crayon) taken from the stone7-7AIncense
burner of Prince
Liu Sheng,
ca. 113 BCE.