Remembrance in clay and stone: early memorial and funerary art of Southwest China

Abstract

"This book examines the memorial and funerary art of Southwest China, present day Sichuan province, in early imperial times. It introduces the region's rich material culture from the Eastern Han dynasty (25 - 220 CE), which includes pictorial brick tiles, mingqi or spirit vessels, pottery figures, decorated stone sarcophagi, architectural gate towers and commemorative and ancestral stelae. The art of the Southwest has long been considered distinct for its style and content which differs considerably from contemporaneous tomb and memorial art produced in other parts of the Han Empire, especially that of the Central Plains, considered as the heartland of Chinese civilization. With a focus on the Southwest's material culture combined with analysis of early textual sources, the book sheds light on some of the distinct traits and practices borne out of the rich geographical, cultural, social and economic tapestry of this region. It also places the Southwest in a broader cultural and historical framework to supplement our current understanding of Chinese society and its mortuary and memorial practices in early imperial times. Overall, the book showcases the quality and breadth of achievement of artisans and craftsmen in a region traditionally thought of as an uncultured backwater of the Han Empire and supplements our current understanding of how early societies recorded and memorialized significant events in their lives"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

Introduction -- Heaven's storehouse : geographical, social, and religious landscape of the Southwest -- Tomb art from the Southwest -- Cliff tomb burial and decorated stone sarcophagi -- Fun at funerals -- Intimacy and the afterlife -- Commemorating the dead for the living -- Afterword.