Funerary Banner of Lady Dai Interactive image

In the register below the scene of Lady Dai, we see sacrificial funerary rituals taking place in a mourning hall. Tripod containers and vase-shaped vessels for offering food and wine stand in the foreground. In the middle ground, seated mourners line up in two rows. Look for the mound in the center, between the two rows of mourners. If you look closely, you can see the patterns on the silk that match the robe Lady Dai wears in the scene above. Her corpse is wrapped in her finest robe! More vessels appear on a shelf in the background. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/south-east-se-asia/china-art/a/funeral-banner-of-lady-dai-xin-zhui Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) (article) | Khan AcademyIf you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our...Khan Academy Body of Lady Dai with mourners (detail), Funeral banner of Lady Dai(Xin Zhui), 2nd century B.C.E., silk, 205 x 92 and 47.7 cm(Hunan Provincial Museum) Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) (article) | Khan Academy Mourners (detail), Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), 2nd century B.C.E., silk, 205 x 92 and 47.7 cm (Hunan Provincial Museum)

We can divide Lady Dai’s banner into four horizontal registers (see diagram). In the lower central register, we see Lady Dai in an embroidered silk robe leaning on a staff. This remarkable portrait of Lady Dai is the earliest example of a painted portrait of a specific individual in China. She stands on a platform along with her servants–two in front and three behind.Lady Dai and her attendants (detail), Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), 2nd century B.C.E., silk, 205 x 92 and 47.7 cm (Hunan Provincial Museum)Lady Dai and her attendants (detail), Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), 2nd century B.C.E., silk, 205 x 92 and 47.7 cm(Hunan Provincial Museum)Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) (article) | Khan Academy

In Lady Dai's tomb, archaeologists found a painted silk banner over six feet long in excellent condition. The T-shaped banner was on top of the innermost of four nesting coffins. Although scholars still debate the function of these banners, we know they had some connection with the afterlife. They may be “name banners” used to identify the dead during the mourning ceremonies, or they may have been burial shrouds intended to aid the soul in its passage to the afterlife. Lady Dai’s banner is important for two primary reasons. It is an early example of pictorial (representing naturalistic scenes not just abstract shapes) art in China. Secondly, the banner features the earliest known portrait in Chinese painting. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/south-east-se-asia/china-art/a/funeral-banner-of-lady-dai-xin-zhui Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) (article) | Khan AcademyIf you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our...Khan Academy

Diagram of Funeral Banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), 2nd century B.C.E., silk, 205 x 92 and 47.7 cm (Hunan Provincial Museum)Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) (article) | Khan Academy

Three elite tombs, discovered in 1972, at Mawangdui, Hunan Province (eastern China) rank amongst the greatest archeological discoveries in China during the 20th century. They are the tombs of a high-ranking Han official civil servant, the Marquis of Dai, Lady Dai (his wife), and their son. The Marquis died in 186 B.C.E., and his wife and son both died by 163 B.C.E. The Marquis’ tomb was not in good condition when it was discovered. However, the objects in the son's and wife's tombs were of extraordinary quality and very well preserved. From these objects, we can see that Lady Dai and her son were to spend the afterlife in sumptuous comfort. Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) (article) | Khan Academy

The elite men and women of the Han dynasty (China's second imperial dynasty, 206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.) enjoyed an opulent lifestyle that could stretch into the afterlife. Today, the well-furnished tombs of the elite give us a glimpse of the luxurious goods they treasured and enjoyed. For instance, a wealthy official could afford beautiful silk robes in contrast to the homespun or paper garments of a laborer or peasant. Their tombs also inform us about their cosmological beliefs. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/south-east-se-asia/china-art/a/funeral-banner-of-lady-dai-xin-zhui Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) (article) | Khan AcademyIf you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our...Khan Academy

Nesting coffins of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), 2nd century B.C.E., wood, lacquered exteriors and interiors, 256 x 118 x 114 cm, 230 x 92 x 89 cm and 202 x 69 x 63cm, tomb No.1 (Hunan Provincial Museum)Nesting coffins of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), 2nd century B.C.E., wood, lacquered exteriors and interiors, 256 x 118 x 114 cm, 230 x 92 x 89 cm and 202 x 69 x 63cm, tomb 1 (Hunan Provincial Museum)https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/south-east-se-asia/china-art/a/funeral-banner-of-lady-dai-xin-zhui Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) (article) | Khan AcademyIf you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our...Khan Academy

Directly above the two men, at the very top of the banner, we see a deity with a human head and a dragon body.Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) (article) | Khan Academy

Toward the top, near the cross of the “T,” two men face each other and guard the gate to the heavenly realm. Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) (article) | Khan Academy

Wu (1992) believes the banner should be considered with the entire burial, a significant part of the structure as a work of art, built during the burial process. That burial process included the Rite of Soul-Recalling, in which the shaman had to attempt to call the soul back to the body of the corpse before they could bury her, the final effort of the living to revive the life of a family member. The banner, suggests Wu, represents a Name Banner, symbolizing the otherworldly existence of the dead Lady Dai.Lady Dai's Funeral Banner - 2200 Year Old Silk Tapestry (thoughtco.com)

The banner was found lying face down on top of Lady Dai's innermost coffin, attached by a suspension loop. The silk textile is 81 inches (205 centimeters) long, but if you add in the suspension cord and the tassels at the bottom, it measures 112 in (285 cm). While the textile is called a funeral banner, and may have been carried in a procession, its ritual use is much debated (Silbergeld 1982): there is nothing else exactly like it in this context. A banner with some of the imagery is reported in the Shi Ji but it was a military banner, not for funerals. The Hou Han Shu (Book of the Later Han) describes a mourning banner with a few of the images, but not the major ones. https://www.thoughtco.com/lady-dais-funeral-banner-burial-cloth-4076779 This 2,200 Year Old Funeral Banner Belonged to a Han Dynasty EliteM.A., Anthropology, University of Iowa B.Ed., Illinois State University K. Kris Hirst is an archaeologist with 30 years of field experience. Her work...ThoughtCo

On the left, a toad standing on a crescent moon flanks the dragon/human deity. On the right, we see what may be a three-legged crow within a pink sun. The moon and the sun are emblematic of a supernatural realm above the human world. Heavenly realm (detail), Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), 2nd century B.C.E., silk, 205 x 92 and 47.7 cm (Hunan Provincial Museum)Heavenly realm (detail), Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), 2nd century B.C.E., silk, 205 x 92 and 47.7 cm (Hunan Provincial Museum)Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) (article) | Khan Academy

The bottom panel of the funeral banner is dedicated to the underworld, including two giant fish, representing symbols of water. A very muscular central figure stands on the backs of the fish, supporting the banquet in the previous image. Also illustrated are a serpent, turtles, and owls representing the animals of the depths. The white rectangle on which the banquet takes place is thought to represent the earth. https://www.thoughtco.com/lady-dais-funeral-banner-burial-cloth-4076779 This 2,200 Year Old Funeral Banner Belonged to a Han Dynasty EliteM.A., Anthropology, University of Iowa B.Ed., Illinois State University K. Kris Hirst is an archaeologist with 30 years of field experience. Her work...ThoughtCo Body of Lady Dai with mourners (detail), Funeral banner of Lady Dai(Xin Zhui), 2nd century B.C.E., silk, 205 x 92 and 47.7 cm(Hunan Provincial Museum) Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) (article) | Khan Academy Mourners (detail), Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), 2nd century B.C.E., silk, 205 x 92 and 47.7 cm (Hunan Provincial Museum)