Han Dynasty

206 BCE-220 AD

Han Dynasty Subdynasties

• Western (or Former) Han

• Xin (9-23 AD, brief interruption in Liu family rule)

• Eastern (or Later) Han

Mawangdui

• Excavated 1973. Burials ca. 168 BCE • Important finds:

– Well-preserved bodies– Texts on Silk– Grave Goods, aka “Mingqi” or “glorious

vessels”

• The role of the afterlife in telling us about daily life (cf. Egypt)

• Han Cosmology, Daoism & Confucianism

• Excavation Site at Mawangdui, burial chamber of Lady Dai

• Slide Show of Excavation of Lady Dai's Tomb

• Slide Show of Excavation of Third Tomb

Lady Dai

• Fragment of Taoist text on silk, from Lady Dai’s tomb

• Pair of Dishes suitable for food (found in Mawangdui Tombs) Western Han Dynasty, 2nd – 1st century B.C.Red and brown lacquer on wood

• A lacquer cup for wine or soup, one of about 100 found in her tomb, depicts a stylized cloud motif and the inscription "junxingjiu" ("please drink").

• Lacquer makeup boxes

• Musicians, from Tomb 1 @ Mawangdui

• pair of seated earthenware figures playing on a model Liubo board game, made during the 1st century in the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD).

• Maidservants, from Tombs 1 & 3

• Gauze gown from Tomb 1

• Jade face-cover from Western Han tomb (not Mawangdui)