JAMES LIN is impressed by a scholarly but readable look at what the tombs of ancient Chinese people reveal about past and contemporary beliefs and culture
CHINA
This insightful book examines how one of the major political and economic powers of the 21st century came into being, using archaeological evidence, surviving records and texts discovered in recent excavations. Eleven tombs and one large sacrificial deposit, each representing a particular moment in Chinese history, are examined. Together they tell the story of the three millennia leading up to the unification of China in 221 BC by the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.
The burials selected for the book span diverse geographical and cultural regions. Maps of the burial sites are included to make the geographical context clearer. A variety of ambitions and plans lie behind each of these selected burials, and the contents also reveal the distinct personalities of unique individuals. The customs and beliefs represented, along with the diverse set of people interred, gradually informed the creation of a relatively unified empire in the late third century BC.
Author Jessica Rawson has the ability to bring an unfamiliar subject to life. She is also very good at comparing various civilisations with China, so that readers can appreciate the similarities and differences between east and west, and relate them to their own cultures. Like the ancient Egyptians, the Chinese believed in an afterlife that was a continuation of the mortal life, placing everyday utensils, foods and wine into tombs to ensure each occupant enjoyed a comfortable existence post-mortem. The scale of each tomb, and the types of luxury utensils buried within it, signalled the status of its owner and revealed the ideology and performance of ritual, focusing on the cult of the ancestor. Indeed, ancestor worship, which underpins family ties and provides the ethical foundations of society, remains the most important religious practice in China even today.
The western dichotomy between real and replica creates a barrier to understanding Chinese parallel thinking on life and afterlife, as well as the search for eternality.
