The hidden level in space and time: the vertical shaft in the royal tombs of the Zhongshan Kingdom in late Eastern Zhou (475-221 BCE) China

Among the best preserved royal tombs in early China, the tombs of the Zhongshan state (dated to the late fourth to early third centuries BCE) in present-day Pingshan county each featured a concealed earthen shaft in the middle of the tomb. Constructed with rammed earth, this gigantic structure was l...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shi, Jie 1005-1045 (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Taylor & Francis [2015]
In: Material religion
Year: 2015, Volume: 11, Issue: 1, Pages: 76-102
Further subjects:B Space
B Tomb
B Time
B Species
B shaft
B Zhongshan
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)

MARC

LEADER 00000caa a22000002 4500
001 1570177686
003 DE-627
005 20180228084245.0
007 cr uuu---uuuuu
008 180226s2015 xx |||||o 00| ||eng c
024 7 |a 10.2752/205393215X14259900061634  |2 doi 
035 |a (DE-627)1570177686 
035 |a (DE-576)500177686 
035 |a (DE-599)BSZ500177686 
040 |a DE-627  |b ger  |c DE-627  |e rda 
041 |a eng 
084 |a 0  |2 ssgn 
100 1 |e VerfasserIn  |0 (DE-588)1129132021  |0 (DE-627)883806622  |0 (DE-576)486201406  |4 aut  |a Shi, Jie  |d 1005-1045 
109 |a Shi, Jie 1005-1045  |a Shih, Chieh 1005-1045  |a Shi, Shoudao 1005-1045  |a Shi, Gongcao 1005-1045 
245 1 4 |a The hidden level in space and time  |b the vertical shaft in the royal tombs of the Zhongshan Kingdom in late Eastern Zhou (475-221 BCE) China  |c Jie Shi (University of Chicago, Chicago, USA) 
264 1 |c [2015] 
300 |b Illustrationen 
336 |a Text  |b txt  |2 rdacontent 
337 |a Computermedien  |b c  |2 rdamedia 
338 |a Online-Ressource  |b cr  |2 rdacarrier 
520 |a Among the best preserved royal tombs in early China, the tombs of the Zhongshan state (dated to the late fourth to early third centuries BCE) in present-day Pingshan county each featured a concealed earthen shaft in the middle of the tomb. Constructed with rammed earth, this gigantic structure was located above the underground burial chamber, where the deceased's casket and body were located, and below the freestanding offering hall that housed the deceased's soul. Although this empty shaft would eventually be buried and become invisible, it was carefully embellished and sometimes even decorated with false architectural elements. What role did this seemingly superfluous "hidden level" play in the tomb and what meaning did it express? Previous scholarship failed to provide a satisfactory answer to these questions due to its blindness to the shaft's function in the entire architectural space and ritual time. From the hitherto ignored spatial and temporal perspective, this article argues that this prominent ritual structure forms an intermediary space: (1) spatially it links the underground burial chamber (i.e. body) and the top freestanding offering hall (i.e. soul); (2) temporally it forms a passage that symbolically guides the soul to ascend from the underground realm upward to the high offering hall. In doing so, this article examines not only the shaft itself, but also its relationships to the structures below and above it to reveal its forgotten intermediary function. Four problems are discussed: (1) how the architectural elements in the upper shaft simulated real architecture; (2) how the shaft connected the burial chamber with the offering hall to assume its mediating role between the divorced body and soul; (3) how the shaft was built to facilitate the upward ascension of the deceased's soul. (4) Finally, this article concludes that the appearance of these shafts indicates a concrete effort to resolve the contradictory notion of posthumous life - life and death at once, which is unexplained in surviving Eastern Zhou texts. 
650 4 |a Art 
650 4 |a shaft 
650 4 |a Space 
650 4 |a Time 
650 4 |a Tomb 
650 4 |a Zhongshan 
773 0 8 |i Enthalten in  |t Material religion  |d Abingdon : Taylor & Francis, 2005  |g 11(2015), 1, Seite 76-102  |h Online-Ressource  |w (DE-627)490718434  |w (DE-600)2192970-1  |w (DE-576)273875507  |x 1751-8342  |7 nnns 
773 1 8 |g volume:11  |g year:2015  |g number:1  |g pages:76-102 
856 4 0 |u https://doi.org/10.2752/205393215X14259900061634  |x Verlag  |3 Volltext 
936 u w |d 11  |j 2015  |e 1  |h 76-102 
951 |a AR 
ELC |a 1 
ITA |a 1  |t 1 
LOK |0 000 xxxxxcx a22 zn 4500 
LOK |0 001 3000813853 
LOK |0 003 DE-627 
LOK |0 004 1570177686 
LOK |0 005 20180226113629 
LOK |0 008 180226||||||||||||||||ger||||||| 
LOK |0 040   |a DE-Tue135  |c DE-627  |d DE-Tue135 
LOK |0 092   |o n 
LOK |0 852   |a DE-Tue135 
LOK |0 852 1  |9 00 
LOK |0 935   |a ixzs  |a ixzo 
ORI |a SA-MARC-ixtheoa001.raw 
REL |a 1 
STA 0 0 |a Species 
STB 0 0 |a Espèce 
STC 0 0 |a Especie 
STD 0 0 |a Specie 
STE 0 0 |a 种,物种 
STF 0 0 |a 種,物種 
STG 0 0 |a Espécie 
STH 0 0 |a Вид 
STI 0 0 |a Είδος 
SUB |a REL 
SYE 0 0 |a Spezies,Arten , Time magazine