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Ordinary Mysteries: Interpreting the Archaeological Record of Han Sichuan

Ordinary Mysteries: Interpreting the Archaeological Record of Han Sichuan © Brill, Leiden 2006 JEAA 5, 1–4 ORDINARY MYSTERIES: INTERPRETING THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD OF HAN SICHUAN BY MICHAEL NYLAN (University of California, Berkeley) Abstract In this article I present three ideas designed to challenge us to look harder at the riches that the Han tomb tiles and figurines from Sichuan represent. After noting briefly the ways in which the tomb represents a “well-protected home,” I will argue first that the scenes that now appear most straightforward and easily interpreted may once have communicated far more complex ideas; second, that multiple metaphorical meanings attached to certain images can be established by reference to other sites as far away from Sichuan as Shandong, on the northeastern seacoast; and third, that what we now—quite anachronistically—call the “art of the Sichuan tombs” nonetheless exhibits several noteworthy features that are entirely distinctive to the area. It is the mysterious and the unusual that tend to spark our interest—not the conventional and the familiar. At first glance, the Sichuan 四川 sculptures and tomb tiles that date to the Han 漢 Dynasty (the same time period as the Roman empire) look familiar, even humdrum. However lively their style, they appear to depict mundane scenes that http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of East Asian Archaeology Brill

Ordinary Mysteries: Interpreting the Archaeological Record of Han Sichuan

Journal of East Asian Archaeology , Volume 5 (1): 375 – Jan 1, 2003

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2003 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1387-6813
eISSN
1568-5233
DOI
10.1163/156852303776172953
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

© Brill, Leiden 2006 JEAA 5, 1–4 ORDINARY MYSTERIES: INTERPRETING THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD OF HAN SICHUAN BY MICHAEL NYLAN (University of California, Berkeley) Abstract In this article I present three ideas designed to challenge us to look harder at the riches that the Han tomb tiles and figurines from Sichuan represent. After noting briefly the ways in which the tomb represents a “well-protected home,” I will argue first that the scenes that now appear most straightforward and easily interpreted may once have communicated far more complex ideas; second, that multiple metaphorical meanings attached to certain images can be established by reference to other sites as far away from Sichuan as Shandong, on the northeastern seacoast; and third, that what we now—quite anachronistically—call the “art of the Sichuan tombs” nonetheless exhibits several noteworthy features that are entirely distinctive to the area. It is the mysterious and the unusual that tend to spark our interest—not the conventional and the familiar. At first glance, the Sichuan 四川 sculptures and tomb tiles that date to the Han 漢 Dynasty (the same time period as the Roman empire) look familiar, even humdrum. However lively their style, they appear to depict mundane scenes that

Journal

Journal of East Asian ArchaeologyBrill

Published: Jan 1, 2003

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