湖南省博物馆马王堆英文讲解词

An Introduction to Mawangdui Han Tombs
Historic relics unearthed from Han Tombs at Mawangdui are relevant to many legendary and touching stories, therefore it’s not easy to introduce them thoroughly to our reverend visitors. But we can still enjoy the deli cate articles of ancient civilization to our eyes’ content as well as to our heart’s content. Next, we are to explore the historical and artistic wonders made by ancient Chinese people more than 2100 years ago.
This picture shows the outside scene of Han Tombs at Mawangdui. The Han Tombs are located at Wulipai in the eastern suburb of Changsha. They are about 4 kilometers from the downtown area. In the flat extending fields are two mounds of tombs. They are of similar size and are linked to form the shape of a saddle. It was recorded that this site was once the family graveyard for Ma Yin, King of the Chu State during the Five Dynasties Period, and therefore acquired the name Mawangdui meaning Mound of King Ma. But according to Tai Ping Huan Yu Ji’s recordi ng about Changsha, Mawangdui was the graveyard of Lady Cheng and Lady Tang, two concubines of Emperor Jingdi of the Han Dynasty. They were buried by Liu Fa, Prince of the Changsha State. Thus this graveyard was called “Shuang Nv Zhong” meaning the Tomb of Two Ladies. The authentic owner of this mysterious graveyard has been uncertain before Mawangdui Tombs were unearthed.
At the end of 1971, No.366 Hospital of Hunan Provincial Military Region was to construct underground wards and storerooms at Mawangdui. Before the construction, Hunan Provincial Museum excavated these tombs, revealing the myths buried in this thousand-year underground palace.
Here are Models of Tomb pits of the three Han Tombs at Mawangdui. They are numbered in the sequence of excavation. Tomb No.1 and Tomb No.2 lie aside from east to west. Tomb No.3 is located to the south of Tomb No.1. The opening of Tomb No.1 is of square shape, measuring 19.5 meters by 17.8 meters, with a dipper-shaped pit underneath. It is typical of western Han period. The pit measured from the sealing soil is 20.5 meters deep with 4 steps extending downward from the opening. A slope tomb channel leads directly from the ground to the pit bottom at the north of the tomb chamber. Over 1800 cultural relics of lacquer wares, textiles and paintings on silk as well as a well-preserved female corpse were unearthed. The opening and middle layer of Tomb No.2 are of round shape. Due to the fact that the tomb was not compactly sealed, it had been robbed several times and the outer coffin chamber had collapsed. Only around 200 cultural relics were left behind. Tomb No.3 is similar in shape with Tomb 1. It is well preserved with more than 1,000 cultural relics of inscriptions and paintings on silk, inscribed on bamboo slips, lacque r wares and textiles unearthed. The corpse in this tomb, however, was only a skeleton. It’s identified that the corpse belongs to a man who died in his early thirties. He was 1.85 meters tall.
Model of Filling Materials in Tomb No.1
Tomb No.1 is well-preserved due to several reasons. At the bottom of the tomb is a 15cm-thick layer of white filling clay. Covering the whole outer coffin chamber is a layer of 40cm thick charcoal weighing more than 5 tons. On top of the charcoal is a 1.3cm thick layer of white filling clay. Then earth is rammed every 0.5 meter on its top. Charcoal serves as a moisture-proof substance. It takes in the small amount of water in the chamber. White filling clay is termed montmorillenite, a material for porcelains. It has high plasticity and low permeability. Thus with effective burying and sealing, the corpse, coffins and abundant burial objects are kept impact in the tomb.
Wooden Tablet with Burial Date
The inscription on the wooden tablet unearthed from Tomb No.3 reads, “On the f irst wu-chen day of yi-si, the second month of the twelfth year, the chamberlain in charge of funeral service, on holding a memorial with funeral articles, presents a list of the delivery for inspection.” Accordingly the date inscribed on the tablet is equ ivalent to the twenty-fourth of lunar February of the twelfth year in the reign of Emperor Wendi of Han, or 168 B.C. It is the exact burial date of the tomb-owner.
Part II: Walking into the Family of the Marquis of Dai
Li Cang’s Jade Seal
It’s archeologically established that Mawangdui was the family graveyard of the Marquis of Dai in the early Western Han Dynasty. Based on the unearthed jade seals inscribed with “Li Cang”, the bronze seals with Seal of the
Marquis of Dai” and “Prime Minister of Changsha State”, we conclude that the owner of Tomb No.2 is the first generation Marquis of Dai and the Prime Minister of Changsha State—Li Cang. He was born in the later years of the Warning States period and died in 186B.C. or the second year of the reign of Empress Gaohou. In his youth, he participated in the Peasants’ Revolution against the Qin Monarch and also in the warfare between Chu and Han. Due to his outstanding contribution to the western Han, he was appointed Prime Minister of Changsha State in the beginning years of the Western Han. He continued his efforts in consolidating the central government’s ruling and keeping unification of the country. It’s recorded in Shi Ji and Han Shu that he was conferred the rank Marquis of Dai in the fourt h lunar month of the second year of Emperor Hudi’s reign or in 193B.C. Dai is the name of his fief which is located between Luoshan county and Guangsha county in present-day Henan Province. He had 700 families under his jurisdiction in his fief. Compared with marquises with a fief of 10,000 families like Chen Ping and Zhang Liang, Marquis of Dai was not of the highest rank. However, owing to the peculiar location of his Changsha State, his family had sumptuous means and clothes, leading a life of extravagance. Even after their demise, they were buried with lavish funerals.
Seal with the legend “Qie Xin Zhui”
Xin Zhui buried in Tomb No.1 was Li Cang’s wife. Her name is known to us because of a seal unearthed from her tomb. Though she was a woman of prominent status, she saw the death of her husband in her youth and the death of her son in her later years, which must have greatly pained her. She died in the first year of Houyuan reign of Emperor Wendi or 163 B.C. at the age of 50 or so. Hunan Provincial Museum made a wax figure of Xin Zhui to show her graceful bearing with the help of Xi’an Superman Sculpture Research Institute, on the basis of her corpse and her painting on a piece of T-shaped silk
Boxwood Combs
Xin Zhui enjoyed high position and lived in comfort before her death. She cared much about her making up. In the two-tiered lacquer cosmetic box with nine smaller boxes and the single-tiered one with five smaller boxes were found rouge, oil paint, white powder and other cosmetics as well as utensils for making up, such as bronze mirror, mirror polisher, powder puff, combs, wooden tweezers, brush, horn knives with ring-ended handle, etc. The wooden tweezers were used for shaving brows and the brush for applying powder to the face. The hair of the brush on excavation was partly reddish, which might be left by rouge. The boxwood comb is worth observing. It is finely polished and the tooth gaps are fine and even. Within a length of 5 centimeters, the comb has 74 teeth. It is much delicate than the general co mbs used nowadays. It’s still amazing how it could be made so fine.
Map of Garrison
The owner of Tomb No.3 was Li Cang’s son, the Marquis of Dai of the second generation. According to the unearthed wooden tablet, he died in the twelfth year of Emperor Wen di’s reign, i.e., 168B.C. in his early thirties. From Tomb No.3 were found 38 weapons as well as a Map of Garrison. During the last years of the reign of Empress Gaohou, Zhao Tuo, King of the Nanyue Kingdom who set up a separatist region to the south of the Southern Ridges, launched an attack on the southern part of the Changsha State. In response, the Han Court and the Changsha State immediately sent troops on a punitive expedition. The war continued until the early years of the reign of Emperor Wendi. This map of garrison in his tomb revealed to us that the tomb owner was once a key military officer of Changsha State. He participated and even was in command of the campaign. Contrary to a modern map, the south is shown at the top of this map and the south a t the bottom. The circles on the map identify the villages, called “Li” then, while the squares stand for the county sites. The barracks are indicated in irregular shapes. The headquarters represented by a triangle is located at the center of the garrison area where several rivers or brooks meet. Within the garrison area, 6 troops are allocated to the front, the left and the right of the headquarters along 2 lines guarding 3 valleys that lead from Nanyue Kingdom to Changsha State. It’s obvious that Changsha State took advantage of preferential geographic sites to defend itself. The distribution of troops shown on the map was proof for the rather high level of military thoughts and commanding art at the early period of Han.
Millet Cakes
A large quantity of food as well as eating and drinking utensils was unearthed from Tomb No1 and No.3. They are enough to prove that high ranking officials and aristocracy of the Western Han led a life of great extravagance. Besides, a total of 11 bags of ice, wheat, barley and other grains as well as various cakes were discovered from the tombs. The millet cakes found in the painted pottery box from Tomb No.1 were made by steaming the paste of ground or pounded millet powder. Ciba and ci-fantuan that are popular today in the south of China may have developed from the millet cakes.
Remaining Slices of Locus Root in the Lacquer Tripod with Cloud Design from Tomb No.1 The primary non-staple foods in Hunan area at that time were fish, meat, vegetables, fruits and so on. Abundant samples of these foods were dug out from the Mawangdui Tombs. The vegetables have been carbonized completely. But we can still get the original forms of some. Much to our amazement, on opening the lacquer tripod with cloud design form Tomb No.1, we found soup made over two thousand and one hundred years ago with a contact layer of sliced lotus root floating on its surface. But it’s regretful to see the speedy disappearance of them due to chemical reactions in the air and unavoidable vibration. Experts in seismology said this phenomenon proved that no serious and destructive earthquake had ever taken place in Changsha area in the last 2100 years.
Bones of Wild Geese
Meat consumed by the family of the Marquis of Dai came from a variety of animals. From the buried meat in Tomb No.1 and Tomb No.3, we see they ate not only the meat of domestic fowls and animals but also the meat of wild ones. According to the inventory of burial objects, the buried animals included the commonly seen ones like pigs, goats, oxen, chicken, carps and crucian carps and rare animals such as sika deer, cranes, golden pheasants, turtledoves, wild geese, and mandarin fish. In a way, they range from the flying birds to swimming fish to reptile animals. The coverage of the food is really astonishing.
Drawing of Daoyin, the Physical Exercise Chart
This physical exercise chart found in Tomb No.3 is the most ancient one in the world on health care and physical exercise. “Dao Yin” means promoting flowing of qi and blood, and stretching the limbs. It is a treatment of therapeutic physical education combining movements of limbs and respiratory movement. On the chart, 44 Daoyin positions are illustrated. Judging from the remaining characters, they are of 3 categories: the movements of a body, the initiated movements of certain animal and the function of such a movement. If you are interested in this exercise, why not have a try with this ancient treatment?
“Guan Ren” Male Figurine
Over 300 wooden figurines, substitutes of the household servants in the afterlife, were unearthed from Tomb No.1 and No.3. This figurine has a strong built body and is wearing a tall hat and a silk gown. One of its shoe-soles is caved with “Guan Ren” in Chinese characters, meaning male servant. On excavation, there were sc ores of painted wooden figurines behind him in his command. Therefore, he should be the butler of the Marquis of Dai’s family. The maid figurines are crafted with excellent workmanship and extravagantly dressed in laced embroidery gowns. They should be the Maids of Honor attending the Marquise of Dai. Figurines with painted design are a share contrast to the above mentioned ones. They are of large quantity but the smallest in size. Their facial expressions are of unanimous sadness. They represent the servants of the lowest rank engaged in sundry duties in the household of the Marquis of Dai. We’ll see later on wooden figurines of singers, dancers and musicians. Their existence tells us the great variety of them.
Wooden Figurines of Musicians
Five figurines of musicians were discovered from the tombs. Two are in the posture of playing the Yu, a wind instrument and the others playing the Se, a string instrument, forming a family orchestra. You can see they are in gowns and seriously preparing for their performance.
The figurines of singers have handsome faces. They are also in long robes and seating on the floor, seemingly producing melodious tunes. Figurines of dancers have round faces with rouge and powder. Their bodies are leaning
forward with knees slightly bending, seemingly dancing to the music and songs. The Marquise of Dai led a life of comfort and extravagance during her life time and continued to enjoy it after her death with so many figurines buried with her.
Yu: An Instrument
Eight kinds of instruments were found from Tomb No.1 and No.3 including Qin, Se, Zhu, Di, Yu, Xulv, Bian-Zhong (chimes) and Bian-Qing(stone chimes). They are of great value in Chinese history of music, offering precious materials for the study on Western Han’s music. There was once a story about an incompetent musician named Nanguo. He passed himself as one of the Yu players in an assembly. Thus came into being the Chinese idiom: “Lan Yu Chong Shu”, which means being there just to make up the number. The instrument “Yu” in this story is like what you see now. This Yu was unearthed from Tomb No.1. Well-preserved, it has the whole set of 22 tubes. But it is of no practical use, for it is just a model.
A Set of Liubo Chess
A set of game utensils was unearthed from Tomb No.3. It consists of a chessboard, 6 black chessmen and 6 white ones, 20 chess pieces, 42 counting chips and a dice. A special lacquer box is made to hold these utensils. The rules of this game are shown on the carved stones. Two players sitting opposite each other would choose black or white chessmen, and put them accordingly along twelve L-shaped and T-shaped tracks. They would alternately cast the dice, on two sides of which are carved “Jiao” meaning beneficial movement and on the opposite side, meaning disadvantageous movement. On the other sides of the dice are carved cardinals from 1 to 16. One moved his chessman according to the number he got and the one who obtained more chips would be the winner. Liubo chess was a fashionable game during the Han Dynasty at the Court or among civilians. But its popularity waned after the Jin Dynasty and after Tang it became the now popular Chinese chess.
The Beauty of Lacquer wares
Lacquer Tray with Cloud Design
The tray was designed for passing food. It’s in rectangle shape wi th 4 curved short feet under each corner. Ancient Chinese used the expression “Ju An Qi Men”—holding the tray level with the brows to show that husband and wife are treating each other with courtesy. On the exterior bottom are carved “Household of the Marquis of Dai”, proving the ownership of the tray. On excavation, the tray carried 5 small lacquer dishes containing remnant of beef and thin bamboo strips, two lacquer goblets and one flanged cup with a pair of bamboo chopsticks placed on top of it. The meal set on this tray reveals that the nobles of the Han Dynasty were served meals in individual sets.
Lacquer Flanged Cup with Inscription “Jun Xing Shi”
The flanged cup was used to hold food, wine, soup or porridge. It is named “Flanged Cup” due to the two handles for holding. During the Warring States Period, the two handles were seen as the two swings of a bird, so they called the vessel “Swung Cup”. The inscriptions in official script on the inside bottom “Jun Xing Shi” means “Help Yourself to some food”.
Rectangular Lacquer Cosmetic Box with Raised Decoration
This kind of box was exclusively designed for precious things; therefore its shape and decorations are more exquisite and tasteful. The cover is in peculiar shape. The exterior is painted with black lacquer while the interior with red lacquer. The designs on this box are outlined with bulging white lines between which are filled with scrolled cloud in red, green and yellow. The rich colors in several layers present a three-dimensional effect. This method of painting is named “raised lacquer decoration” in documents. A black lacquer gauze hat was found in the box when unearthed.
Lacquer Cosmetic Box with Incised Design
Incised design or the incising technique is to incise, with an awl or a needle, patterns on the lacquer coating when it is not yet thoroughly dried. The incised lines on the box are finer than hair and they can only be seen in bright light. On the cover and the bottom are incised running rabbits, swimming fishes, flying birds and crouching squirrels surrounded by cloud and mist and several sets of cloud and phoenix patterns. On the exterior surface of the
box are incised cloud, an immortal on a dragon’s back, flying birds and a hunting scene. The hunting scene is a vivid presentation: a hunter is running after two deer, holding a long spear in his hand. One deer is just running for life, while the other has leapt into air.
Two-tiered Lacquer Cosmetic Box with Painted Design and Nine Small Boxes
It is an ancient cosmetic box with two tiers. The lacquer on the exterior surface is finely painted in dark brown, to which is applied a film of gold powder, mixed with little amount of silver powder. Finally, cloud and mist patterns are painted in yellow, white and red on the surface, which shines brightly with magnificent decorations. The upper layer of the box contains mitts, silk scarf, mirror bag and so on. The bottom of the lower layer is thicker, with nine concaves of various shapes carved in it. Smaller boxes of different shapes are inserted into the concaves. In these delicate boxes we found perfume, a powder puff, combs, a brush, rouge, powder, a wig and so on.
Lacquer Tripod with Cloud Design
The tripod called “Ding” in Chinese is a sacrificial utensil for holding food. It had been adopt ed as symbols of a state’s power and a person’s authority from the Xia Dynasty to the Han Dynasty. There was a set of rigid rules for the using of Ding: the emperor used 9 Ding, dukes or princes used 7 while general officials used only 5. From Mawangdui Tomb No.1 were discovered 7 Ding, which embodies the social status of the tomb owner. Well-preserved, each Ding was shaped by rotating a single piece of wood against a knife. They have grave shapes with black lacquer painted on the exterior surface. On the brim of the mouth of each Ding you can find a band of lozenge pattern. Red and gray green whorl and connected squares form geometric cloud on the surface of the cover and the body. On the feet are painted red beast mask and the handles are decorated with cloud. The interior surface is in red lacquer and has “Er Dou” inscribed on it indicating its capacity.
Lacquer Ji-table with a Dragon Design
In ancient times, people used to sit on the floor and used the Ji-table to support their hand for comfort or to support things they need for convenience. This Ji-table has a flat surface in black lacquer on which is patched a dragon souring among the cloud and mist. The Ji has a pair of fixed short legs and a pair of long moveable legs that can be folded up to the underside of the table. To raise the table higher, unfold the long legs and fasten the thatches; to lean on the table, the person just need fold up the long legs and put the short ones on the ground. The design of this Ji-table is really unique and practical.
The Brilliance of the Silk Country
“Xin Qi Embroidery” on Damask with Lozenge Design
The amount of Xin Qi embroidery is the largest among the unearthed pieces. Twenty of its kinds were unearthed from just Tomb No.1. Damask with lozenge design is a light textile woven with interwove warps of different thickness. The patterns are clear and elegantly simple. The embroidery on such light damask shows superior workmanship. This kind of embroidery has reasons to be named “Xin Qi Embroidery”. “Xin Qi” in Chines e means “at fixed time”. The motif of the embroidery is the swallow, which is a kind of migratory bird that come in spring and leaves in fall. You see here on the textile are embroidered stylized swallows with long tails flying among clouds. They have bright red head and beak and brown or deep green swings.
Brocade with Piled Circles in Geometric Pattern
Brocade is a kind of textile with a raised pattern achieved by weaving several warps of different colors. The brocade with piled circles is of the most complex technique among the pieces of textiles from Tomb NO.1. It is obtained by weaving warps of different colors and wefts of single color. The circles on its surface pile in geometric pattern. They vary in size and length and therefore form layers of texture. This kind of brocade looks bright and well-developed, providing a three-dimensional effect. If we cut the circles open and let the threads of the circles spread, we get velvet with raised pattern of later periods. The unearthed textiles at Mawangdui Han Tombs pushed China’s history in making velvet back about three hundred years.
Gauze Gown with Printed and Color Painted Design
This finding is the first ancient silk textile with printed design. It has a surface layer of printed and color painted
gauze, a lining of gauze in a plain color and is padded with silk wadding in between the two layers. The design is stylized climbing plant. The stem and tendrils are finely printed and harmoniously distributed. The connecting area of the stem and tendrils has traces of the printing technique with wooden blocks carved in openwork. The flower buds, petals and leaves are in different patterns and various thicknesses of colors which can not be achieved by printing. Therefore, it is concluded that the color of various thickness were painted by hand after the stem and tendrils were printed. It took great pain to print and paint such a wide gown. The combination of printing and color painting was a breakthrough in technique as well as a masterpiece of ancient Chinese people in printing and painting.
Gauze Gown in Plain Color
Gauze in plain color needs neither printing nor painting. The gauze gown consisting of a jacket and a skirt has no lining.
The two parts weigh respectively 48 grams and 49 grams. The gown has been described “as thin as a cicada’s wing and as light as mist”. Compared with the most light fiber we have nowadays—georgette whose fiber number is 14, the fiber number of this gauze is just between 10.5 and 11.3, which means it is much finer and lighter. In the Han Dynasty, gauze gown of plain color was put on the bright colorful gown to make the magnificent patterns under the thin gauze partly hidden and partly visible.
Treasures on Silk and Inscribed Slips
The ancient nobles hoped to continue their extravagant life after death, for they believed they had an after life. Therefore, innumerous burial projects were buried with their bodies on their death. Before the tombs were sealed inventories of the objects and furnishings were made and put in the tombs. On the day of funeral, the person in charge would read the inventory, telling the dead the listed things were to arrive.
Prescriptions for Fifty-two Diseases on Silk
It is the earliest and most complete manuscript on medical prescriptions, involving 103 diseases in various fields of modern medicine such as internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics, etc. It also includes 283 prescriptions and 254 kinds of medicine. In one prescription, a complete surgery on internal piles was recorded.
A dog’s urinary bladder was inserted into the patient’s rectum through anus. Then the bladder was inflated to force the piles out, which was then cut. Then pain-killing and antiphlogistic Chinese medicine---the powder of the root of large flowered skullcap was applied to the cut. But at times the rectum could not draw back to its position. First, lubricating medicine paste was applied to the rectum. Then the patient was hung upside down and cold water was splashed to his belly to make it contract. As a result, the rectum drew back automatically.
Divination by Astrological and Meteorological Phenomena or Tian Wen Qi Xiang Za Zhan on Silk About 250 drawings of clouds, mirages, rainbows, stars and comets are contained in this book, which tended to divine catastrophes or results in wars through the interpretation of astrological and metrological phenomena. The most wonderful part of the book is the 29 drawings of comets. Except the last one, each comet was drawn with a head and a tail. The head of the comets was represented with a tiny circle or a dot and inside some heads were found tinier circle or dot, showing the comet core had been found in the head by that time. The tails of the comets were in different lengths and widths. The book is the most ancient work on forms of comets, revealing ancient Chinese people’s outstanding achievement in observing and studying astrological phenomena.
Divination by Five Stars on Silk
It should be the earliest writing on astrology in the world. With 8,000 Chinese characters, it made recordings in sections. The first section recorded the movements of five planets: Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn, and divined luck through the forms or positions of the constellation.
The second section included diagrams about the positions of Jupiter, Saturn and Venues in a period of 70 years from 246 B.C., the first year of the reign of the First Emperor of Qin to 177 B.C., the third year of the reign of the Han Emperor Wendi. It also recorded the period of revolution of the planets through calculation. The recorded results are quite close to those of today. For example, it estimated that it would take the Venus 584.4 days to complete a periodic motion so as to be in line with the Earth and the Sun. That is only 0.4 day in excess of the present day
evaluation of 583.92 days. To our admiration, ancient people got such concrete and exact data without the help of precision instruments we nowadays adopt.
Topographic Map on Silk
Topographic Map of Southern Changsha State is the earliest map adopting scale in the world. It is on a scale of 1:180,000 with standard legend, but has the south at the top and the north at the bottom. The area covers the southern area of the Changsha State, approximately encompassing the present day Jiuyi Maintain and South Ranges. On the left of the map, scale-like whirl pools were painted to indicate Jiuyi Maintain and 9 columns to indicate its nine peaks. Altogether over 30 rivers including the Xiangjiang River, Zhujiang River and so on were clearly shown on the map. The wide dark lines represent the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River, called Xiaoshui River. Along the waterways are more than 80 counties and villages indicated by squares and circles, which are connected by dark lines representing roads. The map drawn on the basis of range estimation and rough measuring can not be as precise as those drawn today with the help of aerial photography and advanced measuring tools. But some of its indications can still lead us to several counties. We have to admit the technology in drawing maps during the Han Dynasty had advanced to a rather high level.
Drawing of Guard of Honor
This drawing was found on the western wall of the coffin chamber in Tomb No.3. It can be divided in to 4 parts: at top left are two lines of people headed by one in the first line with a high hat and a sword. This man should be the tomb owner, a then military officer of the Changsha State; at bottom left is a phalanx of over a hundred guards, some of which are beating drums and striking bells; at top right there are chariots drawn up in a battle formation. Among them, about 40 chariots drawn by four horses are easily distinguished. At bottom right, there are columns of horsemen forming a grand troop of chariots and horsemen. The drawing presents to us a vivid scene before a war, telling us the troops of the Changsha State are ready to march to the front. Characterized by a strong sense of realism, it is regarded as the earliest-known painting in realistic style.
T-shaped Painting on Silk from Tomb No.1
This painting is named after its shape by us, but it was called “Non-Garment” in the inventory of burial objects. On excavation, it was found covering the coffin with the painted side downward. Across its top side is a bamboo pole and to the lower side are attached tapes in silk or hemp cloth. It is believed to be a banner carried in the funeral procession to send the death’s soul to the Heaven.
The painting has a full length of 205cm and contains three sections from top to bottom, depicting scenes of the heavenly world, the human world and the underworld. At the upper middle of the painting is an immortal in serpent’s shape but with a long-haired human head. According to Shan Hai Jing, it is the immense candlelight dragon, which is in charge of the changes of weather and the shifting of night and day. On the right are painted 9 reddish suns looming among blue Fusang trees. Fusnag trees are legendary mulberry trees located at the extreme eastern limits of the world, from which the sum is supposed to rise. In this painting, it is from these Fusang trees that the ten suns take turns to be on duty. The absent sun may be the one on its shift. In the largest sun is painted a black bird, called Jinwu in ancient times. It reflects actually the observation of sunspots by ancient people. On the left is a crescent moon, under which a beauty in elegant robes is dancing. Some say she’s Goddess of the Moon, and is raising the moon with her hand; others believe she is Chang’er who is fleeing to the Moon Palace after st ealing the pills of immortality. With the lines of the moon, there is a little white rabbit and a round toad with a magic fungus in its mouth. These two animals form a sharp contrast in shape. Two heavenly guardians are making a slight bow to the Marquise of Dai with their hands folded in front at the gate to the heavenly world. In the human world, canopies serve as roofs of houses with rose finches decorated on the tops. Beneath the canopies, the Marquise of Dai extravagantly attired is moving forward with the help of her stick. Three maids of honor are attending her. In front of her, there stand 3 alchemists presenting to her pills of immortality. On both sides of the human images are double dragons symbolizing honorability and fortune. At the lower part of the painting, the scene is probably on the vigil kept by her family, whose facial expressions are of sadness and gloom. In the underworld, God of the Earth—Gun, holds up the earth and tramples on。