CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

be a male conductor, or drum major. The musicians,
in the midst of a vigorous performance, stand in
two rows of six, forming a double arc from left to
right. The tiny dancers, dressed in Central Asian
costumes, assume identical positions in the lower
right corner. Behind them, seen frontally, is the
stolid figure of the conductor holding a tasseled
baton. Since these two large painted stone reliefs
are the centerpieces of the decor in the coffin
chamber, it is noteworthy that in each of them, one
figure — here the conductor and, in the other, the
gesturing woman near the front of the group — is
turned quite dramatically, as if to engage the viewer
directly. This figure, in effect, directs all of the activity
depicted in the two compositions toward the
coffin of Wang Chuzhi, which presumably stood
near the center of the room. "This music, these
refreshments, are for you, Sir," these two figures
seem to say.
The instrumentation in this female orchestra
consists of two horizontal flutes, two vertical flutes,
two drums (one large, one small), a set of chimes
(fangxiang), a pipe harmonica (sheng), a harp
(konghou), a zither (zheng), a lute (pipa), and a set
of clappers. These are the instruments seen in one
combination or another in nearly all of the many
depictions of musicians from the tenth century.
A much more informal band of female musicians,
playing five of these same instruments while drinking
wine, is seen in a painting contemporary with
the tomb of Wang Chuzhi, Palace Concert, by an unknown
painter of the Late Tang or early Five Dynasties
period. 2 The women in the painting share the
physical characteristics, hair styles, and costumes of
the plump women in Wang Chuzhi's tomb. A similar
group of substantial women appears in the band
of musicians illustrated in a handscroll copied after
the leading tenth-century master of such subjects,
Zhou Wenju (/I. c. 940 - 975), whose activity and
fame in the southern Tang kingdom at Nanjing
suggests that such orchestras continued to be a
form of national art even after China was divided
into many small states and kingdoms. 3 Testifying to
the continuing need for music in the context of
burials is the tomb of Zhang Wenzao (d. 1074),
recently excavated in the Xuanhua district, Hebei
province, in which a male band is depicted playing
many of the same instruments. 4 Even then, 150
years later, with male musicians instead of female, a
foreign ruler, and a foreign religion, the continuity
of the traditions of tomb design within Hebei
province is readily apparent. Another orchestra,
composed of slender Song ladies, was found in a
Northern Song tomb in Jiangjiagou village, Shanxi
province. 5 Clearly, throughout much of northern
China, the afterlife was unimaginable without
music.
One of the most impressive features of the
Wang Chuzhi relief is its realistic representation
of musical performance. The craftsmen or artists
who designed the composition must have been
familiar with musical concerts to have so successfully
conveyed the movements and gestures typical
of performance. At top left, the two flute players
lean their upper bodies forward into the flow of the
music, their right elbows pulled sharply back. Below
them, the drummer lifts her arm and prepares to
pound the large drum she steadies in her other
hand. The hands of the harpist and zither players
move gracefully across their strings. The five wind
players appear poised to exhale; the two vertical
flute players stand very erect and straight, anchoring
the swaying group with their firmly planted
bodies. This representation's accuracy and sense of
animation are readily obvious when compared to
any of the other aforementioned concert groups,
none of which convey this vivid sense of observed
characteristics.
Painted pictorial reliefs of this size and quality
are virtually unknown in tomb designs of the period,
although other examples of painted reliefs
have been found in contemporary tombs. The tradition
of stone carving was, of course, long-standing,
particularly in association with Buddhism. 6 The
decor of Wang Chuzhi's tomb, however, makes it
clear that pictorial sculpture was reaching new
heights of subtlety and sophistication by the early
tenth century and was comparable in every way to
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