Early Chinese Archaeology Flashcards
1
Q
明器
A
Míngqì 明器 (also: 冥器) “spirit vessels/articles”
- low-quality and/or reduced-scale reproductions of objects made for funerary purposes
- may include funerary figurines (mù yǒng 墓俑)
- widely produced and generally used during the Warring States Period
- purpose unclear:
- to symbolize the memory of earlier, already obsolete ritual customs (von Falkenhausen)
- funerary items that are incomplete or have been impaired on purpose so as to render them useful only to ghosts, but not to living humans (Enno Giele)
2
Q
曾侯乙 Tomb
A
Zēng Hóu Yǐ 曾侯乙 Tomb
- archaeological site in Suízhōu 隨州, Húběi 湖北 containing the remains of Marquis Yǐ of Zēng
- dated sometime around 433 BCE
- famous for set of 65 biānzhōng 編鐘 bells
- along with the late Shāng 商 tomb of Fù Hǎo 婦好, the tomb represents one of the largest sets of ritual bronze vessels
3
Q
婦好 Tomb
A
Fù Hǎo 婦好 Tomb (died c. 1200 BC)
- Fù Hǎo 婦好, posthumously called Mǔ Xīn 母辛, was one of the many wives of King Wǔ Dīng 武丁 of the Shāng 商
- the tomb of Fù Hǎo was excavated in 1976 at Yīnxū 殷墟 (Ānyáng 安陽)
- the tomb’s occupant is assumed to be Fù Hǎo because more than a hundred bronzes carry her name.
4
Q
生器
A
Shēngqì 生器 “articles of daily life”
- a category of tomb furnishings common during the Warring States Period
- shēngqì may include:
- daily utensils (yòngqì 用器)
- musical instruments for entertainment (yānyuèqì 燕樂器)
- weapons and armor (yìqì 役器)
- intimate objects belonging to the dead person such as his cap, cane, and bamboo mat (yānqì 燕器)
(see Yílǐ 儀禮) - see also Xúnzǐ 荀子 (“Lǐlùn” 禮論) who distinguishes between míngqì 明器 and shēngqì 生器 as two types of burial goods
