Divertissement in Western Han

Extract

Among the more unusual pottery items discovered in April of 1969 within Tomb No. 11 in Wu-ying Mountain north of Chi-nan (in Shantung just south of the Yellow River) was a set of twenty-one figures in a rendition of early Han musical entertainment. Since then, the discovery has been widely publicized in both archaeological journals and more popular sources such as the ubiquitous pamphlet, New Archaeological Finds in China (Peking, 1973) and Foreign Language Press postcards (Cultural relics unearthed in China, series I, 1972 and 1975). Four articles which focus on various aspects of this discovery appeared in rapid succession in 1972:

1) Anon. “Wu-ch'an chieh-chi wen-hua ta ko-ming ch'i-ch'ien ch'u-t'u wen-wu chan-lan chien-chieh” (A brief introduction to an exhibition of cultural relics unearthed during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution). Wen-wu 1972.1:70-86. A discussion of the Chi-nan tomb find appears on pp. 81-82. Note also a full-page color reproduction in pl. 11 preceeding the articles.