Ancient Figurines        2008-5-28 11:36:06

t a special handicraft art catering solely to the funerary needs of the aristocracy at the heyday of China's feudalism.
    Wooden figurines have a much longer history which extends back to the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.). They have been found in many ancient tombs of different ages and in different localities. The tomb of Zhu Tan, prince of Lu (the tenth son of the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming), situated in Zouxian, Shandong Province, yielded in 1974 a total of 406 painted wood figures in the formation of a long funeral procession. It consists of three parts: musicians leading in front, followed by attendants and military officers in the middle, and civil officials .bringing up the rear. The figures--a sculptured model of an early Ming(2nd half of the 14th century) funeral-are on display in the Provinical Museum of Shandong in Jinan.
    Some wood figurines have been found in the Dingling Mausoleum of the Ming Tombs. They are few in number and crude in workmanship, showing that wood figures were already going out of vogue towards the end of the dynasty.
    During the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911), paper figures appeared; they were not buried with the dead but were burnt at funerals to follow the dead to the nether world. After the fall of the Qing, tomb figures have fallen completely into disuse.