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The Tang Dynasty was an era of
unrivalled wealth
and luxury. The country was
successfully reunified
and the borders were expanded, pushing
Chinese
influence into new lands. Confucianism
became a
semi-religious instrument of the state;
yet
Buddhism continued to flourish,
spreading into
Korea and Japan. The arts reached new
levels of
sophistication. Poetry and literature
flourished
under the enlightened rulers. The Silk
Road brought
fortunes into China. Precious treasures
were
imported on the backs of camels from far
away
lands and bartered for Chinese silk,
medicinal
herbs, and pungent spices. T’ang China
was a
multicultural empire where foreign
merchants from
across Central Asia and the Middle East
settled in
the urban centers, foremost among them
the
thriving capital of Chang’an (modern
X’ian), a
bustling cosmopolitan center of over two
million
inhabitants. Foreign traders lived next
to native
artisans and both thrived. New ideas
and exotic
artistic forms followed alongside. The
Tang Dynasty
was a cultural renaissance where many of
the forms
and objects we now associate with China
were first
created. Moreover, this period
represents one of
the greatest cultural outpourings in
human history.
This general type of Chinese burial art
is known as
mingqi. Mingqi were any of a variety of
objects
specifically created for interment in
the tombs of
elite individuals in order to provide
for the afterlife.
This statue represents a civic official
from the vast
governmental bureaucracy of the Tang
Empire. With
over two million inhabitants in greater
Chang’an,
the cosmopolitan capital of the T’ang,
the
governance of just this city alone would
have
demanded an extensive network of civic
servants,
not to mention the numerous distant
provinces of
that comprised the greater Empire. In
order to
remove power from the hands of wealthy
aristocrats
and warlords, the Tang created a class
of scholar
officials to govern their lands,
enacting the will of
the Imperial Court throughout China.
Rigorous
examinations ensured that only the most
qualified
individuals were able to serve this
crucial position.
Depicted with a stern, uncompromising
expression,
this civic officials represents the role
of the
government in the life of the citizens,
as significant
to their well being as military might.
The facial
features of this figure, including his
aquiline nose
and serene expression, reveal his
intellectual
wisdom and calm restraint. Remnants of
the
original, brightly colored pigment that
once covered
this work are still visible, mostly
along the lower
section of his robe and the base and in
his black
hair. The most unique element of this
sculpture is
the remarkable tapering sleeves of his
tunic that fan
outwards like the fins of a fish.
Buried
underground, this official was interred
in order to
welcome the deceased into the afterlife
and to
ensure his comfort in the great beyond.
- (H.715)
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