Assessing Scholarly Debates on the Significance of the Deity Xiwangmu in Han Dynasty Tomb Art
Keywords:
Xiwangmu, Chinese art history, Han dynasty, Chinese archaeology, Chinese religionAbstract
This paper discusses differing representations of Xiwangmu in Han art and texts. While these representations share some characteristics that indicate the same deity, Han artists’ created a wide variety pictures of Xiwangmu in tomb murals. Many leading scholars have produced excellent pieces of scholarship regarding Xiwangmu as depicted in Han art. The Han period was a significant time for the transformation of Xiwangmu. Various descriptions of her were recorded in pre-Han texts, and she gradually became a deity representing yin during the Han dynasty. However, Han texts do not provide a clear explanation for this change. We believe that Han funerary art could offer evidence to fill this gap. Her images in tomb art are different in each area and each period. Scholars also interpret this archaeological evidence differently. Thus, the process of transformation may be difficult to unravel as there is no unified view concerning the image of Xiwangmu during the Han dynasty. We hope to offer insights regarding the evolution of Xiwangmu on the basis of scholarly debate.
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