recarving china’s past

See a rubbing of a carving containing the Queen Mother of the West and other mythological figures, and read a detailed description of the rubbing in an excerpt from the exhibition catalog.

Pages 170-171 reprinted with permission from
Recarving China’s Past: Art, Archaeology, and Architecture of the “Wu Family Shrines” by Cary Y. Liu, Michael Nylan, and Anthony Barbieri-Low
Princeton University Art Museum
2005: Yale University Press, New Haven and London

Stone Chamber 3 (former Wu Lian Ci Group stones): West Wall

1.35 West wall, Stone 3-W.1. Rubbing; h. 157.4 cm, w. 138.4 cm. PUAM, acc. no. 2002.307.36.

Triangular gable: the central figure in the gable most likely represents the Queen Mother of the West with possible dual roles as family matriarch or wife of the deceased. The figure sits on a throne with dragon heads on each side. On the right are female winged Immortals, two hares pounding the elixir of immortality in a mortar borne by a toad, a large toad, and a small bird. To the left of the Queen Mother are two female winged Immortals, a dragon, two small winged Immortals, and the figure of the ancient physician Bian Que in the form of a long-tailed bird with a human head.

First register: eleven figures forming the portraits of ten legendary sovereigns. Starting from the right are the Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang): Fuxi with his female counterpart Nüwa, who are counted as one sovereign; Zhurong, who followed the path of non-action; and Shennong, the Divine Farmer, shown with a spade. Next are the Five Ernperors (Wudi) who all wear crowns: Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), Zhuanxu, Ku, Yao, and Shun. At left are the portraits of Yu and Jie, respectively the virtuous founder and evil last ruler of the legendary Xia dynasty. Jie is shown holding a halberd and seated on two women. This side-by-side lineup of sovereigns in vertical oblong panels separated by vertical bands may be unique in Han pictorial representation. The band to the left of each figure serves as a cartouche on which the name and often the achievements of the sovereign are inscribed. Only Jie, because of his position against the far-left border, required a separate rectangular cartouche panel. The format itself is intriguing. Are the figures to be seen together in a synchronic procession, or are they meant to be seen isolated in both space and time? Are the vertical bands meant to represent architectural columns, cartouche panels, or are they intended simply as visual dividers? What are the possible precedents for this visual format, and what influence did it have on later representations of rulers?

Second register: four scenes involving filial and loyal men. At right is a scene labeled in a large cartouche as the story of the filial son Zengzi. The carving shows a lady seated at a loom looking back at a kneeling man. Zengzi's rnother was said to have dropped her weaving shuttle when she only began to doubt the rectitude of her son after three reports of calamity. As in many of the pictorial scenes, the depiction does not exactly match the received textual story. Possibly many workshop designs could more or less fit multiple stories, and the title carved in the cartouche identified the story selected by the client. The chariot scene to the left is labeled as the story of the filial Min Ziqian. The scene of a standing man approaching two seated figures in front of a screen is labeled as the story of Laizi, who in his seventies entertained his parents with chiidlike antics. The scene at left shows the filial son Ding Lan in front of a cloud-form wooden statue of his parent. Scenes with similar themes are continued in the corresponding registers on the south and east walls

Third register: three scenes of loyal assassins, beginning at the right with a scene involving four figures labeled as the story of Cao Mei seizing Duke Huan of Qi. In the middle is the scene of Zhuan Zhu assassinating the king of Wu with a dagger hidden in a cooked fish. At left is the story of Jing Ke's attempt on the lite of the king of Qin (the future First Emperor).

Fourth register: a procession with a covered wagon, screened chariot, six horsemen, and a sinqle footman. The cavalcade moves from right to left and continues in the right section of the corresponding register on the south wall.

CARY Y. LIU AND EILEEN HSIANG-LING HSU