Rethinking Early China in Light of the Mawangdui Finds

Many of the archaeological discoveries at Mawangdui have great artistic merit and aesthetic appeal. Beyond these qualities, however, the Mawangdui finds suggest that certain of our assumptions about early China, until now based on Confucian canonical texts, need serious reconsideration. As such the archaeological finds at Mawangdui are a powerful reminder of the narrowness of the elite textual tradition and the important place that should be given to evidence of material culture in our reconstructions of ancient civilizations. This talk examines the ways that the Mawangdui finds challenge us to rethink our understanding of early China.
Lecturer Ron Egan is Professor of Chinese Literature and Aesthetics in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at UCSB.

This event description is excerpted from the web page of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s special exhibition web page on The Noble Tombs at Mawandui. For more information visit the Santa Barbara Museum of Art web site, or call the Museum at 805.963.4364.

jwil 29.ix.2009