Detail: More than 2,000 years ago, a Chinese marquis and his family began their plans for the afterlife with three lavish tombs in Hunan province which were excavated in the 1970s. For the first time in the US, their extraordinary existence will come to life through some 70 treasures including lacquer ware, wood carvings, jade ornaments, bronze sculptures, seals and silk costumes and textiles from the Hunan Provincial Museum. The extraordinary significance of this assemblage is not only apparent in the variety and quality of objects, but also the time period and place from whence these artefacts originated. The objects preserved in the Mawangdui tombs give a visual dimension to early Han dynasty beliefs, design and technology, while the body of material culture challenges us to re-evaluate our current understanding of early China. Many preserved delicate or perishable materials, such as food, drink and cosmetics, mostly fashioned with wood, silk and paper. Some specific highlights include a two-tiered cosmetic box containing nine small boxes, thought to have belonged to Lady Dai. The exhibition also features one remarkably preserved silk robe and textile fragments two of which are the world’s earliest known examples of printed and painted design on gauze weave. From these superb examples, silk was widely used among nobilities in early Han dynasty. Organized by the China Institute Gallery, a fully illustrated, bilingual catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

A series of lectures will take place:

27 September 2:30 – 3:30 pm: Mawangdui and Its Place in the History of Chinese Funerary Customs by Lothar von Falkenhausen, Professor of Chinese Art History and Archaeology at UCLA and Director pro tem of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA

4 October 2:30 – 3:30 pm: Roaming in the Celestial Realm: Immortality and the Imagination in Han Dynasty China by Peter Sturman, Professor of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, Department of the History of Art and Architecture at UCSB

18 October 2:30 – 3:30 pm: Rethinking Early China in Light of the Mawangdui Finds by Ron Egan, Professor of Chinese Literature and Aesthetics, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at UCSB

15 November 2:30 – 3:30 pm: Artisans of Ancient China by Anthony Barbieri-Low, Associate Professor of Ancient China, Chinese Archaeology and Epigraphy, Department of History at UCSB