Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui)

Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui). Han Dynasty, China. c. 180 B.C.E. Painted silk.

• The elite men and women of the Han dynasty enjoyed an opulent lifestyle that could stretch into the afterlife.
• Today, the well-furnished tombs of the elite give us a glimpse of the luxurious goods they treasured and enjoyed.
• Three elite tombs, discovered in 1972, at Mawangdui, Hunan Province; They are the tombs of a high-ranking Han official civil servant, the Marquis of Dai, Lady Dai (his wife), and their son. 
• The Marquis’ tomb was not in good condition when it was discovered. However, the objects in the son's and wife's tombs were of extraordinary quality and very well preserved.
• In Lady Dai's tomb, archaeologists found a painted silk banner over six feet long in excellent condition.
• Lady Dai’s banner is important for two primary reasons. It is an early example of pictorial (representing naturalistic scenes not just abstract shapes) art in China. Secondly, the banner features the earliest known portrait in Chinese painting.
• This remarkable portrait of Lady Dai is the earliest example of a painted portrait of a specific individual in China. 
• n the mourning scene, we can also appreciate the importance of Lady Dai’s banner for understanding how artists began to represent depth and space in early Chinese painting. They made efforts to indicate depth through the use of the overlapping bodies of the mourners. 
• Lady Dai’s banner gives us some insight into cosmological beliefs and funeral practices of Han dynasty China.
• we see images of heaven and the underworld.