Dancing, singing and story-telling figurines wooden or pottery, have been unearthed from tombs
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| Her is an "entertainer" of the East Han Dynasty, which was unearthed at Chengdu, Sichuan Province. | dating to the mid-and late-Han Dynasty period, during which the dynasty, after a period of chaos, was able to enjoy a political stability and economic prosperity. The most fascinating, most life-like are those wooden entertainers unearthed from some late-Han Dynasty tombs in Yutai and Yangzhou areas under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province, east China.
From a West Han Dynasty tomb on Mt. Wuying near Jinan, the capital city of Shandong Province, archeologists have found a group of two dozen figurines. These include six performers, seven musicians beating a drum, striking musical chimes and playing pluck and other instruments, as well as a man clothed in red who seems to be the conductor of the orchestra. Of the six performers, two women are dancing, their long sleeves waving and swirling, while the four men, in short jackets and barefooted, are doing acrobatics -throwing somersaults, standing on the hands and doing jujitsu. The performers and musicians are placed on a board, and beyond the board are "spectators".
In addition to entertainers, archeologists have unearthed from sites in Henan
Province figurines featuring workmen winnowing rice husks or husking rice with mortar and pestle, as well as models of cattle, sheep, chickens, dogs,geese and
pigs. |
