Remember our friends the zhenmushou and guardians from Monday's post? I've by chance come accross a decent(ish) photo of their painted counterparts from the early fifth century Shaling tomb, so I'm going to talk about them today. (Credit for images: https://www.meipian.cn/1a7f5h1p ) 1/9
Like our friend from the Yunbolu tomb, this guardian has fierce eyes, a grimacing mouth and quite a honker - not someone you want to mess with! This is a feature of early N. Wei guardians that we also see in this rowdy pair from Hohhot (image via China: Dawn of a Golden Age) 2/9
Like our friend from the Yunbolu tomb, this guardian has fierce eyes, a grimacing mouth and quite a honker - not someone you want to mess with! This is a feature of early N. Wei guardians that we also see in this rowdy pair from Hohhot (image via China: Dawn of a Golden Age) 2/9
Like our friend from the Yunbolu tomb, this guardian has fierce eyes, a grimacing mouth and quite a honker - not someone you want to mess with! This is a feature of early N. Wei guardians that we also see in this rowdy pair from Hohhot (image via China: Dawn of a Golden Age) 2/9
Like our friend from the Yunbolu tomb, this guardian has fierce eyes, a grimacing mouth and quite a honker - not someone you want to mess with! This is a feature of early N. Wei guardians that we also see in this rowdy pair from Hohhot (image via China: Dawn of a Golden Age) 2/9
Like the Yunbolu beastie, the Shaling pair have feline bodies and human faces, tho also visible scales, and fabulous coloured manes. The mane comes up in later pieces, but seems to be missing in our Yunbolu friend. (Later example from V&A) 3/9 http://shorturl.at/owMQ2 
Like the Yunbolu beastie, the Shaling pair have feline bodies and human faces, tho also visible scales, and fabulous coloured manes. The mane comes up in later pieces, but seems to be missing in our Yunbolu friend. (Later example from V&A) 3/9 http://shorturl.at/owMQ2 
Like the Yunbolu beastie, the Shaling pair have feline bodies and human faces, tho also visible scales, and fabulous coloured manes. The mane comes up in later pieces, but seems to be missing in our Yunbolu friend. (Later example from V&A) 3/9 http://shorturl.at/owMQ2 
Like the Yunbolu beastie, the Shaling pair have feline bodies and human faces, tho also visible scales, and fabulous coloured manes. The mane comes up in later pieces, but seems to be missing in our Yunbolu friend. (Later example from V&A) 3/9 http://shorturl.at/owMQ2 
Like the Yunbolu beastie, the Shaling pair have feline bodies and human faces, tho also visible scales, and fabulous coloured manes. The mane comes up in later pieces, but seems to be missing in our Yunbolu friend. (Later example from V&A) 3/9 http://shorturl.at/owMQ2 
Similar to how the figurines were placed at the end of the entrance corridor of the tomb, the painted warriors and beasts are placed on the side walls of the entrance corridor. 4/9
Similar threatening-looking warriors appear in the second half of the fifth century in the cave temples of Yungang - possibly showing that such figures had a broader use, possible as apotropaic figures, in the art of the time. (Cave 12 via Nagahiro & Mizuno 1951 v.9) 5/9
Connecting the guardians and beasts on the two walls of entrance corridor are two further figures, commonly identified as the cosmogonic deities of Fu Xi and Nü Wa. 6/9
Fu Xi and Nü Wa are typically shown with lower body of snakes, tails intertwined, as we also see them in this later Tang funerary banner from Astana, Xinjiang. 7/9
Fu Xi and Nü Wa are typically shown with lower body of snakes, tails intertwined, as we also see them in this later Tang funerary banner from Astana, Xinjiang. 7/9
Fu Xi and Nü Wa are typically shown with lower body of snakes, tails intertwined, as we also see them in this later Tang funerary banner from Astana, Xinjiang. 7/9
What is much more unusual is that instead of an astral body, like on the Astana banner, here they have a flame-enveloped gem on a lotus stem. This strongly resembles how the holy Buddhist Chintamani jewel is represented in the Yungang caves, as we see here in Cave 9. 8/9
What is much more unusual is that instead of an astral body, like on the Astana banner, here they have a flame-enveloped gem on a lotus stem. This strongly resembles how the holy Buddhist Chintamani jewel is represented in the Yungang caves, as we see here in Cave 9. 8/9
What is much more unusual is that instead of an astral body, like on the Astana banner, here they have a flame-enveloped gem on a lotus stem. This strongly resembles how the holy Buddhist Chintamani jewel is represented in the Yungang caves, as we see here in Cave 9. 8/9
There's lots more to say about the Shaling tomb, so I will probably come back to it in another thread. For now, I'll leave you with the freely available Metropolitan Museum catalogue "China: Dawn of a Golden Age" that I've referenced several times now: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/China_Dawn_of_a_Golden_Age_200_750_AD
9/9
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