Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui)
Han Dynasty, China. c. 180 B.C.E. Painted silk
In the mourning scene, we can also appreciate the importance of Lady Dai's banner for understanding how artists began to represent depth and space in early Chinese painting. They made efforts to indicate depth through the use of the overlapping bodies of the mourners. They also made objects in the foreground larger, and objects in the background smaller, to create the illusion of space in the mourning hall.
Form:
-The Funeral Banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) was made in the 2nd century B.CE and is comprised of painted silk.
-The quality and condition of the funeral banner is extraordinary it is one of the most famous archeological discoveries in history
-It was found in the Nesting coffins of Lady Dai
-Made from wood and had lacquered exteriors and interiors.
-The dimensions of this coffin are 256 by 118 by 114 cm.
-The coffin was not in good condition, but it preserved the work extraordinarily well
-Dynamic sense of left-right symmetry
Function:
-The function of the banner is not certain
-It is known that is had some connection to the afterworld
-Possibly were used as “name banners” used to identify the individual being buried during a mourning ceremony (1972)
-Also, could have been burial shrouds that assisted the soul on its journey to the afterworld
-It also was a clear display of wealth
-Only the most elite could afford these silk banners
Content:
-It is comprised of four horizontal registers
1. Heavenly Realm
-It is wider and longer than the other registers
-Two men stand guarding the gate to the heavenly realm
-Deity with dragon body and human head
-Pink sun and crescent moon
-Used to portray the supernatural aspect of the heavenly world
2. Lady Dai and her attendants
-Portrait of Lady Dai in an expensive embroidered silk robe
-Leaning on a staff
-Standing on a platform
-Two servants in front of her and three being
-She is focal point of this register
-Long different colored dragons frame the register (white and pink)
- She is standing on a bi (a disk with a whole, thought to represent the sky)
3. Body of Lady Dai with Mourners
-Sacrificial funerary rituals
-There are large containers and vase-shaped vessels
-Were used to offer food and wine to the gods
-Two rows of mourners are present
-Wearing the same silk robe she was wearing in the register above
4. Underworld
-Two huge black fish
-Red Snake
-Two blue goats
-A human looking deity
-Beings in the underworld symbolize water and death
Context:
-She was an elite member of the Han Dynasty
-It was expansive and powerful stretched to as far as the Roman Empire
-Elite lived in an enclosed village around the emperor
-Philosophy: Confucianism Daoism (opposite in harmony)
-It is an early example of one of the earliest pictorial works in China
-Pictorial: Representing naturalistic scenes
-Contains the earliest known portrait in Chinese art history
-Vessels in the background are smaller than the ones in the foreground
-Portrays early attempt at displaying the illusion of depth on a two dimensions surface
Cross Cultural Comparison: Isenheim Altar Piece
-The use of the imagination is heavily used in both works
-The layout and register transition is very similar
-The topic is similar, death and the after world and underworld are both relevant in the works
