In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

chapter 2 The Han Cult of the Dead and Salvific Religion During the four centuries of Han rule, Chinese conceptions of death and the afterlife underwent a profound transformation brought about not only by new ideas about the divine, but also by changes in the relationship between the living and their ancestors. Han Chinese expressed deep anxieties about the fate of the dead. The spirits of the dead were believed to endure as vital beings in the tomb yet at the same time were subject to divine judgment and punishment. The emerging pantheon of celestial and terrestrial deities was complemented by a vision of a vast underworld bureaucracy conceived in the image of the Han imperial state and its organs of justice. The infernal gods meted out severe punishments to mortals who led a sinful life, penalties that might also bring harm to their descendants. Given the grim fate awaiting the dead in the afterlife, the spirits of the ancestors, always feared, now were pitied as well. No longer seen as gods with the power to confer or withhold blessings, the ancestors instead were regarded as abject ghouls wracked by deprivation and suffering. The purposes and forms of ancestor worship shifted accordingly . Dread of postmortem punishment also spawned numerous religious sects devoted to the expiation of sin through faith healing and austere living. Promise of salvation from mortal misery as well as infernal punishment kindled popular allegiance to these upstart sects and prepared the ground for the transplanting of Buddhism to Chinese soil in the centuries after the fall of the Han dynasty in 220 c.e. Changes in ideas about death and afterlife are evident in the dramatic 45 transformation of mortuary practices that occurred between the fifth and first centuries b.c.e. This transformation, far more profound than the transition between Shang and Zhou, is most readily visible in the construction and architecture of the tomb, the route of passage from the mortal world to the divine realm. Tombs of the early Zhou nobility, though lavishly furnished with bronzes and other grave goods, were simple vertical pits of modest dimension, barely sufficient to accommodate the coffin and its accompanying ritual paraphernalia.1 Beginning in central China as early as the eighth century b.c.e., and most strikingly in the state of Chu in south-central China from the sixth century b.c.e., persons of noble descent were provided with more elaborate and better-protected tombs using stout, intricately joined wooden frames. From the late fifth century b.c.e. onward, vertical-shaft tombs were replaced by spacious chambers, often divided into two or more separate rooms laid out horizontally , with brick walls, arched doorways, and gabled ceilings. These multichambered brick tombs replicated the world of the living, their scale and amenities graded according to the deceased’s rank in mortal society, which as time wore on was determined more by the individual’s own achievements in public life than by the hereditary status of his or her family .2 Living monarchs, starkly conscious of their mortality, began to provide for their own afterlife by building mausolea on a monumental scale, recreating within the tomb the sumptuous lifestyle to which they were accustomed. Even the modest catacomb tombs of those of more humble station reveal an effort to imitate domestic architecture in constructing a permanent resting place for the po of the deceased.3 An equally remarkable change in mortuary goods accompanied the transformation in tomb architecture. Zhou tombs, like those of Shang, were equipped with a ritual inventory that marked the occupant’s rank and position within the lineage, present and past. In the Spring and Autumn era, tombs of the Zhou nobility were supplied with assemblages of bronze offering vessels (in quantities prescribed by ritual protocol), sets of bells and musical chimes, weapons and other accoutrements of warriors, and human sacrifices (subject to strong regional variation). Beginning in the seventh century b.c.e., the finely wrought bronze vessels used in rituals came to be replaced by cheaper or miniature replicas, known as mingqi, intended exclusively for entombment in the grave. The use of mingqi apparently originated in the northwest, where the Qin rulers were the first to build large, complex tombs.4 During the Warring States period, the old bronze ritual vessel assemblages disappeared. Some new forms of bronze vessels appeared, and ritual regalia continued to exalt 46 The Han Cult of the Dead [3.21.106.69] Project...

Share