Remembrance in Clay and Stone - (Tang Center Early China) by Hajni Elias (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This book examines the memorial and funerary art of Southwest China, present day Sichuan province, in early imperial times. It introduces the region's rich material culture from the Eastern Han dynasty (25 - 220 CE), which includes pictorial brick tiles, mingqi or spirit vessels, pottery figures, decorated stone sarcophagi, architectural gate towers and commemorative and ancestral stelae. The art of the Southwest has long been considered distinct for its style and content which differs considerably from contemporaneous tomb and memorial art produced in other parts of the Han Empire, especially that of the Central Plains, considered as the heartland of Chinese civilization. With a focus on the Southwest's material culture combined with analysis of early textual sources, the book sheds light on some of the distinct traits and practices borne out of the rich geographical, cultural, social and economic tapestry of this region. It also places the Southwest in a broader cultural and historical framework to supplement our current understanding of Chinese society and its mortuary and memorial practices in early imperial times. Overall, the book showcases the quality and breadth of achievement of artisans and craftsmen in a region traditionally thought of as an uncultured backwater of the Han Empire and supplements our current understanding of how early societies recorded and memorialized significant events in their lives"--

Book Synopsis

This book explores the memorial and funerary artistic traditions of Southwest China during the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 CE). In early imperial times, the art of this region--present-day Sichuan province--differed in both style and content from tomb and memorial art produced in other parts of the Han empire, especially that of the Central Plains, considered the heartland of Chinese civilization. Although Southwest China was described in contemporaneous accounts as an uncultured backwater, it had a vibrant and sophisticated artistic tradition.

Hajni Elias examines the Southwest's rich material culture, which includes pictorial brick tiles, mingqi or spirit vessels, pottery figurines, decorated stone sarcophagi, architectural gate towers, and commemorative and ancestral stelae. She sheds light on the distinct traits and practices that arose from the region's complex geographical, cultural, and economic tapestry. Elias also places the Southwest in a broader Han cultural framework, offering a new perspective on early Chinese society and its mortuary and memorial practices. Showcasing the quality and breadth of the achievements of the Southwest's artisans and craftsmen, Remembrance in Clay and Stone reveals the distinctive and sophisticated ways in which people of this era recorded and memorialized their lives.

Review Quotes

A major contribution to our understanding of Han memorial and funerary culture hitherto predominantly studied through the lens of the Central Plains. Elias approaches the art and material culture of the Southwest with refreshing nuance and visual literacy. This wide-ranging study will substantively enrich our picture of the region's distinct identity.--Roel Sterckx, Joseph Needham Professor of Chinese History, Science, and Civilization, University of Cambridge

Through a perceptive analysis of Eastern Han (25-220 CE) Sichuan's rich material culture, Elias shows us the world of lesser elite families and the area's unique regional culture. She boldly argues that these artifacts do not merely depict a happy afterlife but also lavish funerary celebrations that underscored the goodness of life in this world.--Keith N. Knapp, coeditor of The Cambridge History of China: Volume 2, The Six Dynasties, 220-589

Southwestern tomb reliefs, clay figurines, and cemetery stelae here become springboards to vignettes about (for example) indigenous salt miners, bare-chested entertainers, and increasingly powerful regional governors, respectively. Yet as Elias adeptly argues, these artifacts aren't just ideal representations or afterlife fantasies; they're preserved pictures of daily life and lived ritual.--K. E. Brashier, Thomas Lamb Eliot Professor of Religion and Humanities, Emeritus, Reed College

About the Author

Hajni Elias is an affiliated lecturer in Chinese art and material culture in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and the History of Art Department at the University of Cambridge. She was previously senior international researcher in the Chinese Works of Art Department at Sotheby's.