In 1959, a poor farmer in the Shanxi Province of northern China stumbled upon an incredibly elaborate tomb containing the remains of a husband and wife from the early 12th century, intricate bas-relief sculpturing and five mysterious wooden figurines whose brightly painted colors offset the dull gray of the tomb's walls. Jeehee Hong, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, made these strange carvings the central theme of her lecture "Theatricalizing Death and Life in Mid-imperial China" Wednesday afternoon in Carpenter Hall.
The unusual contents of the burial structure, known as Houma Tomb No.1, were later identified as characters in a traditional form of Chinese theater.
Hong, who earned three of her four master's degrees at Yonsei University in South Korea, said that the purpose of the presentation was to examine links between theatre and mortality in China between the 10th and 14th centuries.
"I'm basically interested in how the theatricality I find in these images reflects on views about life and death," she said.
Hong cited several examples to draw this connection, ranging from early third century B.C. figurines to numerous other tombs in the Houma area.
"There is definitely a contemporary relation between theatre, society and the netherworld," she said. "Death always reflected aspects of the period, and tombs were usually filled with figurines of actors and musicians of the time."
The five figurines in the Houma tomb are stereotypical representations of character types from the Bianwen, a theatre and storytelling style used to transmit traditional Confucian and Buddhist values to ordinary people.
Several aspects of the statuettes indicate that they are more significant than "spirit articles," gifts left in the tomb for the deceased that could include "objects, tools or architecture with no practicality," Hong said.
Firstly, most spirit articles were traditionally placed on the east wall of the tomb, adjacent to the coffin, but these objects were located on a miniature stage on the north wall, right above the remains of the deceased.
"The location of the five figurines in the tomb suggests their symbolic value," she said.
Hong also said that the artistry of the statuettes -- which portrays them as individual three-dimensional actors who do not interact with each other -- means that they are not meant to be in performance on the stage.
"This lends itself to a symbolic meaning," she said. "By portraying this individuality, the actors come to represent something bigger than theatricality--they come to represent society."
Another significant aspect of the tomb is the bas-reliefs, which cover every wall of the tomb. On the west, east and south walls, the sculpture mimics classical Chinese architecture, while the space above the coffin on the north wall depicts the husband and wife whose remains are located in the tomb.
This suggests that although the tombs were sealed after the deceased's burial, there was a point when their relatives might have come inside to practice family rituals, Hong said, pointing to an inscription inside one of the tombs that read, "I prepare this pit as a place for descendants to worship their deceased ancestors."
However, Hong has not reached many definite conclusions about the nature of the relationships between theatre and mortality in classical China, she said, explaining that she kept the lecture "intentionally ambiguous."
"We can only guess how the contemporary Chinese would have visualized the virtual performances in the tomb," she said.
Nonetheless, she maintained that the investigation was rich with historical insight about China during the mid-imperial epoch.
"It definitely provides us with a rare glimpse into Chinese religiosity and daily life," Hong said.
