CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

FIG. 1. Painted lacquer
bird with antlers from Tomb
i at Tianxingguan, Jiangling,
Hubei province; Warring
States period; height 108
(42 V 2 ). After Hubei 1982,
103, fig. 27.
n8
Painted lacquer guardian animal with antlers
Height including antlers 170 (66 7 A)
Warring States Period (c. mid-fourth century BCE)
From Tianxingguan, Jiangling, Hubei Province
Jingzhou Prefecture Museum, Hubei Province
This large, carved-wood figure of a monster was
excavated from the southern chamber of the tomb,
together with bronze ritual vessels and bells. 1 The
assemblage is composed of three main parts: the
square base, the twin bodies and heads (each with
gogglelike eyes and a long, lolling tongue), and the
antlers. 2 The entire figure is painted in black, red,
and yellow lacquer: S-shaped dragons with long
tongues, interspersed with small star shapes, decorate
the figure's curving necks; abstract mask motifs
cover most of the base. The fluidity of these motifs
contrasts with angular zigzag patterns (echoing
designs current in Chu textiles) on the joints of the
necks and body and the lower panel of the base.
Abstract scrolls decorate the antlers where they
fork, and the tips are also painted.
This figure ranks among the largest and most
impressive of the more than two hundred carved
wood monster figures (conventionally termed zhen
mu shou [tomb guardians]) that have been found
in medium- and large-scale Chu tombs of the late
fifth or fourth century BCE in the Jiangling region
of Hubei province. 3 The concentration of these
figures in the region — the site of the Chu capital
of Ying — suggests that they were central to Chu
burial customs at this time. A smaller number have
been excavated from other Chu sites in the provinces
of Hunan and Henan, but so far none has
been reported from outside Chu territory.
Woodcarving, together with sophisticated joinery
techniques, seems to have been exceptionally
advanced in Chu. A wide variety of lacquered wood
artifacts, including various articles of furniture,
have been recovered from Chu tombs, whose waterlogged
conditions permitted their survival. Unlike
other lacquered wood articles, which fulfilled a
real-life use prior to being buried, the monster
figures were probably made specifically for burial.
Almost invariably, they are placed in the chamber
of the tomb closest to the head of the tomb occupant
and face inwards toward the occupant. Among
the various identifications of these figures with
imaginary creatures mentioned in ancient texts that
have been proposed, the most plausible identifies
them as representations of Tu Bo, Lord of the
Underworld. 4 The Zhao hun (Summons of the soul),
one of the Chu ci (Songs of Chu), describes Tu Bo as
"nine-coiled, with dreadful horns on his forehead,
and a great humped back." 5
Although the twin-headed version from Tianxingguan
Tomb i is by no means unparalleled, the
majority of the surviving figures possess only single
heads. These seem to have evolved during the
course of the fifth century BCE from much simpler
supports for antlers. The earliest known example,
excavated from a sixth-century BCE Chu tomb at
Dangyang Caojiagang, lacks eyes or tongue. Even
simpler are a small number of bases in bronze that
may also have had a similar function. The earliest of
347 | TOMB 1 AT TIANXINGGUAN, JIANGLING