The power of images: the model universe of the First Emperor and its legacy*

Abstract

Abstract Elaborately glazed Chinese pottery figures of camels and servants, dating to the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618–906), have been much prized by collectors and museums over the last three quarters of a century. They have been readily admired as a category of sculpture, but little attention has been paid to their functions within the tomb complex. An examination of the tomb of the First Emperor (d. 210 B.C.) reveals tomb figures as just one part of a large complex of structures and images. The famous terracotta warriors were an element in the elaborate burial of the Emperor, which also included ‘real’ people and animals, miniature bronze chariots, models of palaces and images of the heavenly bodies. If we are to understand the purposes of this complex of many different parts, we need to consider how the ancient Chinese viewed images of all categories. It would appear that in the eyes of the ancient Chinese, images were equivalent to the subject of the image. By creating images in bronze, pottery or in pictures, the ancient Chinese were presenting a universe for the dead Emperor. This article describes the philosophical concepts that informed this understanding of images and illustrates the discussion with archaeological finds and textual information. The archaeological discoveries of recent years have made a reassessment of Chinese tomb models necessary. The powers of these images were deemed to be considerable. The Chinese have never collected tomb figures because, in their view, such figures were the actual servants and soldiers of the dead.