The Ancient Art of Woodcraft

By HUO JIANYING

IN 2004, archeologists discovered six tombs 10 meters underground in the walls of a loess ditch, 50-m-wide by 40-m-deep, north of Liangdai Village in Shaanxi's Hancheng, 300 meters west of the Yellow River. Two weeks of excavation uncovered a 330,000-square-meter area of undisturbed tombs, four large and 117 small, dating back 3,000 years that contained more than 10,000 items of bronze ware, jade, gold and pottery. The two largest tombs were the final resting place of the king and queen of a Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC) vassal state. The queen's tomb held the remnants of five wooden horse-drawn chariots, and in each of its corners stood an 80-cm-tall ornately carved red-painted wooden figurine in the posture of a charioteer. These statuettes predate the famous terracotta warriors in Qinshihuang's tomb by 500 years. They are hence the earliest carved human likenesses ever unearthed.

A wooden horse-drawn chariot unearthed from a Han Dynasty tomb.

Substitute Burial Victims

    That the tomb contained wooden figurines rather than human remains signifies its construction at a time when the practice of burying royal attendants alive with their late masters had diminished. Mozi, the political and social thinker born nine years after Confucius' death, records in Festivals and Funerals: "Human victims for kings' burials range from dozens to hundreds; and for generals and ministerial officials, from a handful to dozens." More than 5,000 human burial victims have indeed been unearthed in the Shang (1600-1046 BC) tombs around Henan's Anyang alone.

    Archeological excavations show that there were fewer instances of burying slaves and servants alive in the Western Zhou Dynasty. There is also mention in ancient Chinese literature of the "thrifty funerals" introduced by King Wu of the early Western Zhou Dynasty. Confucians and Mohists alike commended this monarch for his decree that he be buried with straw and clay figurines rather than live human beings.

    Burial rituals featuring symbolic human and animal figurines became the norm in feudal times, when manpower was needed for building and production. Crafting and application of wooden human images reached its zenith in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), as evidenced by the 100 or more statuettes unearthed from one of the Mawangdui tombs in Hunan's Changsha. They include likenesses of charioteers, archers, dancers, acrobats and various animals. This symbolic burial system continued throughout the feudal period.

    There was a recurrence of live interments during the 14th century Ming Dynasty. The founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-1398) ordered that 40 of his concubines accompany him to the nether world, and 30 of those of his successor, Emperor Yongle, met a similarly grim fate. Imperial aristocrats of the early Ming were also allowed the practice. It was not until the reign of Emperor Yingzong (1427-1464) that this cruel ritual stopped. Although Yingzong was known in Chinese history as a "fatuous emperor," in this respect he displayed great wisdom and humanity: "I cannot bear using human victims for burials. The practice shall stop with me, and should never be restored." Succeeding Ming emperors accordingly did not make burial victims out of their concubines. The craft of carved wooden funeral figurines consequently flourished once more.