Mawangdui as a Pictorial Site of Transition

No archaeological discoveries have provided more striking examples that demonstrate the excellence of early Chinese pictorial art than those at Mawangdui, dated to the second century B.C.E. However, scholars have exclusively focused on the famous T-banner from Tomb No. 1, ignoring the pictorial context in which it was situated. To amend the imbalanced scholarship, Professor Tseng will consider precisely the pictorial context for the deceased at Mawangdui in her talk, including the T-banner and three decorated coffins. Based on the analysis of overlapping motifs, Professor Tseng will discuss how the presence of images turned the containers of the corpse into a site of transition, &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp facilitating the celestial ascent of the deceased.
Professor Lillian Lan-ying Tseng is Associate Professor in the Department of the History of Art, Yale University.

This lecture is part of the “Thinking through Media” lecture series organized by the Department of the History of Art and Architecture, UCSB, and is co-sponsored by the Departments of History, East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, the East Asian Center, the IHC, and the WTF fund.

jwil 09.xi.09